Introducing our Accessibility Accelerator Co-Designers

We’re very excited to introduce the members of the Xenia Concerts Accessibility Accelerator! Working with Xenia’s Accessibility Advisor, Kayla Carter, the members of the AccA will help develop implementable, sustainable design adaptations that support accessibility. Xenia Concerts will use these learnings to develop and share resources with the broader arts community, to support the inclusion of disabled and neurodivergent individuals across Canada, both onstage and off.

This is an important step for Xenia Concerts, as we continue to improve our own accessibility practices while helping fellow artists and organizations develop a more accessible performing arts landscape across Canada. The Accessibility Accelerator will run for 18 months, from October 2023-April 2025. Watch our news posts and social media channels for updates on the process. 

The Co-Design Team

Fatima Adam (she/her)

Picture of Fatima, a light-skinned Black woman, facing the camera and smiling. She has short curly black hair, parted down the middle. She is wearing a long sleeve, dark green shirt, and standing in front of a blue and gray backdrop indoors.
Fatima Adam (she/her) is a Toronto-based producer, writer and, performer. Passionate about creative collaboration, she has worked with a variety of organizations and collectives to develop her artistic practice. READ MORE

Mabe Kyle (they/them)

Mabe Kyle a white person with brown hair and brown eyes is smiling standing in front of a large fallen down tree with a light blue shirt with white suspenders, white bow tie, and trans pride colour earings. There is long brown grass and green trees in the background.
Mabe Kyle (they/them) Expressive Arts Therapist in Training. Peer support worker in practice. Maker of poetry, pottery, and photography who loves being creative. READ MORE

Vanessa Ng (she/her)

Vanessa is wearing a black blazer with a white shirt underneath, and she has short black-brown hair. She is holding a trombone at her side and smiling at the camera. There are trees in the background and they are blurred out to put Vanessa in the spotlight.
Vanessa Ng (she/her) is a music educator, activist, and graduate of the University of Toronto Faculty of Music. She is currently attending the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto for her Masters of Teaching. READ MORE

Hannah Sullivan Facknitz (they/them)

Hannah, a white femme with round black glasses and curly dark brown hair, stands in dappled sunshine in front of a bookshelf with a very faint smile. Their blue green eyes are prominent as they ruffle their hair.
Hannah Sullivan Facknitz (they/them) is a queer disabled cultural worker and care-mongerer living on the unceded, stolen lands of the xʷməθkʷəy ̓əm, səlilwətaɬ and Sḵwx̱wú7mesh peoples. READ MORE

Jasmine Noseworthy Persaud (they/them)

 [Image Description: Jasmine Noseworthy Persaud, a mixed race Guyanese person with light brown skin and dark curly hair smiles wide with teeth showing and hand holding their face. They are in front of an emerald green wall and wear a brown-black tie-dye shirt.]
Jasmine Noseworthy Persaud (they/them) is a nonbinary, mad and multiply disabled, digital media artist of Guyanese and English descent living in Treaty 13 territory. They are interested in where community arts meets community health. READ MORE

Taylor Stocks (they/he)

Taylor Stocks (they/he) is a trans crip artist, activist, and researcher whose work focuses on the intersection of trans identities and chronic illness. They manage a severe and stubborn form of ulcerative colitis and inflammatory arthritis. READ MORE

Thanks to Our Funders

The Accessibility Accelerator is made possible by funding from the Toronto Arts Council, The Azrieli Foundation, and the Canada Council for the Arts.

by Xenia

Re-imagining music and arts events and activities to make them inclusive, relevant, and accessible to all members of society.