Kelly Langgard, Director of Granting, Ontario Arts Council

Kelly has more than 20 years of experience in cultural policy and diplomacy, international exchange, partner and stakeholder engagement and event management. Her career has mostly focused on public arts funding, where she has led various programs and initiatives aimed at supporting more opportunities for artists and arts professionals.

Kelly began her career at Calgary’s Herland Feminist Film Festival before becoming Executive Director of Images Festival in Toronto, during which time she served on the boards of the Canadian Filmmakers Distribution Centre and the Independent Media Arts Alliance. From there, she spent a year as Associate Visual and Media Arts Officer at OAC before moving to the Canada Council for the Arts where she held a number of positions: Media Arts Officer, Head of Audience and Market Development, Head of Partnership and International Coordination and Manager of Strategic Research Initiatives. Other positions she has held include Senior Advisor for Cultural Diplomacy at Global Affairs Canada, and Program Manager at the Canadian Commission for UNESCO.

Ben Schnitzer, PhD candidate, Cultural Studies, Queen’s University; Senior Policy and Research Analyst at the 2SLGBTQI+ Secretariat (Government of Canada)

Ben was awarded a Joseph-Armand Bombardier Canada Graduate Scholarship from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) to support his research on Canadian cultural diplomacy and cultural policy. He is currently Senior Policy and Research Analyst at the 2SLGBTQI+ Secretariat (Government of Canada), and contributed to Canada’s first Federal 2SLGBTQI+ Action Plan (2022), which charts a path to advance rights and equality for Two-Spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex and additional sexually and gender diverse (2SLGBTQI+) people in Canada. Before joining the Secretariat, Ben contributed to federal initiatives impacting the cultural sector as a Senior Policy Analyst at Canadian Heritage. Ben is also a musician. He graduated with a Bachelor of Music (Vocal Performance) from the University of Manitoba and pursued further studies and performance opportunities in Canada and abroad.