Board of Directors

Photo credit: Risa Payant

“We are small but mighty here. We need to work together, across disciplines, to share resources - not just tangible resources like space but knowledge and networks - and keep pointing out how the arts make this a better place to be, a richer life, a stronger community.”

— Former Board Chair, Yvette Nolan —

CHAIR OF THE BOARD
TENIELLE BOGDAN

Tenielle (she/her) is the Senior Director of Programs and Partnerships at the Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce, where she spearheads initiatives that strengthen collaboration, innovation, and economic growth across Saskatchewan’s business community. Previously, she spent three years as the Director of Development and Stewardship at the Saskatchewan Science Centre, where she led the organization's fund development and partnerships portfolio. Passionate about inclusion, community engagement, and educational growth, Tenielle excels at forging partnerships with government, corporate sponsors, and non‑profits. She continues to champion meaningful collaboration and drive systemic impact across Saskatchewan’s economic and social landscape. Tenielle has been with Common Weal since 2023.

TREASURER
CARLI DOWN

Carli (she/her/they) is Director of Operations with Prairie Harm Reduction (PHR) and has been working with the agency for over four years. She started her role as Peer Coordinator, a role that continues to mean alot to her because it upheld people or humanness first. As Director of Operations some of the things she is involved in are program design and implementation, policy, knowledge holder as a person with living experience, research initiatives, community initiatives, administration, human resources and finances. Carli upholds the strength of living experiences as primary, but also has a BA hons in Sociology from the University of Saskatchewan in 2006. Carli lives on Treaty 6 land where she spends a lot of their free time in nature with her heart and companion, Drift. Carli has been with Common Weal since 2022.

photo provided by Colin grant

MEMBER-AT-LARGE
COLIN GRANT

Colin (he/him) is a Canadian trumpet player, composer, and music educator. He completed degrees in B.Mus (2017), B.Ed (2019) and a Certificate in Jazz (2018) at the University of Saskatchewan. An active member of Saskatoon’s music scene, Colin co-leads the instrumental jazz/hip-hop duo “My Friend and I”; as well as playing in a variety of other ensembles. Colin’s compositions have been performed at the Strata Festival of New Music and the Sasktel Saskatchewan Jazz Festival. Colin has been with Common Weal since 2026.

MEMBER-AT-LARGE
XIAO HAN

Xiao (she/her) is a Saskatoon-based artist and curator originally from Wuhan, China. Xiao’s creative practice focuses on lens-based performance, photography, and public engagement with visual arts. Xiao’s research explores diaspora stories based on the relationship between immigrants and Indigenous land. Her projects and programs investigate the Chinese one-child policy, the identity of Chinese Canadian immigrants, and the aesthetics of community relationships. Xiao has been with Common Weal since 2026.

MEMBER-AT-LARGE
SOLA JOHN

Sola (he/him) is an experienced coach and mentor with over 15 years of experience working with diverse groups, from young people to leadership teams in the development space, to Business start-up entrepreneurs. His clientele includes the GIZ, PEF, NMDPRA, Aiducation Int’l, Eramet, and others across Nigeria, Africa, Europe, and North America. His focus on problem-solving in leadership crisis management, change management, and emotional intelligence has led to significant results, even in some African countries. Sola is a coach, workshop facilitator, conference speaker, and trainer in leadership and organizational skills development. He is a certified Emotional Intelligence, Career Coach, and NLP Coach. He got a PhD in Arts Management from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria. He is currently a Postdoctoral Fellow in Media Arts and Performance at the University of Regina. Sola has been with Common Weal since 2026.

MEMBER-AT-LARGE
CHELSA (REIL) RACETTE

Chelsa (she/her) is German, Irish, Chippewa, and Cree from the Nekaneet First Nation in Saskatchewan. In 2005, in an effort to introduce the excitement and presence of modelling and indigenous fashion into the community of Regina and area, Chelsa opened the Indigenous modelling agency Glacsy Model and talent Management Canada (Glacsy) and the business 306 Fashion Week Productions Inc. (FWP). Five years later, Chelsa launched the first National Aboriginal Fashion Week on Turtle Island. Through this exciting endeavour, Chelsa provided a platform for aspiring and established fashion designers, models, entertainer, hair and makeup artists, and Indigenous event planners to network and share their experiences within the fashion community. Since then, her events have expanded to an international stage, thus, the name change to International Indigenous Fashion Week Inc. (IIFW) in 2016, and most recently, has taken designers to NYC, Paris, London, Cannes. Chelsa has conducted business in the fashion industry for over 25 years, and during this time she found that the presence and influence of Indigenous fashion is growing rapidly. Chelsa has been with Common Weal since 2024.

Common Weal Membership is made up of the Board of Directors, which has a minimum of four and maximum of ten members. The Executive consists of a Chair, Vice Chair, Treasurer, and Secretary. The board is committed to a governance model as outlined in the following statement:

The Board will govern with an emphasis on outward vision rather than an internal preoccupation, commitment to obtaining community input, encouragement and diversity in viewpoints, strategic leadership more than administrative detail, clear distinction of Board and Executive Director role, collective rather than individual decisions, future rather than past or present, and proactivity rather than reactivity.

Each member of the board also sits on a minimum of one of six committees (Communications and Marketing, Finance, Fund Development, Nominations, Personnel, Policy and Planning). Committees support the work of the staff and are governed by each committee’s Terms of Reference.

Interested in joining our board? Please contact Executive Director Danielle Richardson.