METCALF - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Advisor
- Inclusive Local Economies Program Director
Adriana Beemans joined the Metcalf Foundation in 2013, bringing extensive experience in community development, capacity building, and program innovation. Most recently she spent five years as the Director of Programs & Services at Working Women Community Centre, overseeing community engagement and settlement programming. As the Social Investment Fund Manager at Toronto Community Housing, she spent four years as a grant-maker working with community leaders in low-income communities. Before moving to Toronto, Adriana worked overseas with the Aga Khan Development Network in Pakistan and UN-Habitat in Afghanistan. She holds a graduate degree from the University of Toronto in Political Science and a Bachelor of Arts in International Development from Trent University.
Job Titles:
- Advisor
- Environment Program Director
Andre Vallillee joined Metcalf Foundation as Environment Program Director in 2014. Prior to joining the Foundation, Andre worked as a Program Manager with the Ontario Trillium Foundation (OTF), overseeing the province-wide environmental grants portfolio and serving as OTF's Strategy Lead for the environment sector. He is a past Chair of Environment Funders Canada and the Ontario Nonprofit Network, currently serves as a Steering Committee member of the Arctic Funders Collaborative and the Public Voice Fund, and is an External Advisor to Definity Foundation.
Job Titles:
- Independent Artist / Consultant
Anne Perdue joined the Metcalf Foundation in 2012. She is a multi-skilled communications specialist and has held a variety of positions - writer, editor, graphic designer, and publications consultant - with Cadbury Adams Canada, Kellogg Canada, Workplace Safety and Insurance Board, Royal LePage, and CIBC Wood Gundy. Anne studied English at the University of Toronto and graphic design at OCAD. She is an award-winning published author and has completed a residency in the Literary Arts Program at The Banff Centre.
Job Titles:
- Advisor
- Executive Assistant
- Office Manager
- in 2017 As Officer Manager and Executive Assistant to the President and CEO
Annie Rawlings joined the Metcalf Foundation in 2017 as Officer Manager and Executive Assistant to the President and CEO. Before coming to the Foundation, Annie worked as a Senior Executive Assistant at Roots of Empathy for over 10 years and as an office manager in the healthcare sector.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Investment Committee
Job Titles:
- Fellow on Arts and Society
David Maggs is the Metcalf Foundation's inaugural Fellow on Arts and Society (2022-2023). As a Metcalf Fellow, he wrote Art and the World After This (2021), an extensive report on the disruption and transformation of the arts in the wake of COVID-19. The impact of the report led to the creation of this new full-time role where he will explore the role of art in society, with particular focus on innovation, climate change, and cultural policy.
David carries on an active career as an interdisciplinary artist and researcher focused on arts, climate change, and sustainability. A student of Jane Coop, Andre Laplante, and Marc Durand, he is the founder and pianist for Dark by Five (darkbyfive.com), has written works for the stage, and collaborated on large augmented reality and virtual reality projects. David is the artistic director of the rural Canadian interarts organization Gros Morne Summer Music (gmsm.ca), and founder and co-director of the Graham Academy. He initiated and co-produced the CBC doc channel film The Country along with leaders from Newfoundland's Mi'kmaw community, exploring the Canadian government's handling of Indigenous identity in Newfoundland.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Investment Committee
Job Titles:
- Administrative Coordinator
- Advisor
- in 2021 As Administrative Coordinator
Gabrielle Applewhaite joined the Metcalf Foundation in 2021 as Administrative Coordinator. Prior to joining the Foundation, she spent over five years with Green and Spiegel LLP, an established Canadian immigration law firm, where she started as a client intake coordinator and eventually moved on to become an immigration case analyst. Gabrielle holds a Honours Bachelor of Arts from the University of Toronto, with a major in English and a double minor in Book & Media Studies and Religion.
was established in 1960 by George Cedric Metcalf.
The eldest of ten children, Metcalf left school at an early age to help support his family and worked as a stock boy at William Neilson's ice cream plant. His drive and tenacity led him to work in sales, where he frequently crossed paths with Garfield Weston who was building his grocery business in Toronto. In the late 1940s, Weston persuaded Metcalf to join Loblaw as a vice-president. By 1954, Metcalf was President and Managing Director of George Weston Ltd. and Loblaw Companies. For the next fifteen years he helped turn Weston's into a North American food empire.
In its early years, Metcalf's philanthropy focused on social, educational, and health issues in Ontario. In the 1970s, Metcalf's son, George Jr., a history professor, assumed responsibility for the Foundation and broadened its interests and geographic scope. Upon George Jr.'s death in 1990, his wife Johanna, and their children, worked with a board to direct the Foundation. In 1998, George Cedric Metcalf died and left his estate to the Foundation. This gift led to significant changes and the Foundation focused its resources in three areas: performing arts, environment, and poverty reduction. The Foundation views its priorities and strategies as evolving responses to the social challenges it seeks to affect.
Heather Dunford joined the Metcalf Foundation in 2008 after spending nine years with The School of Toronto Dance Theatre as Student Services Coordinator and three years with the Toronto Children's Chorus as Box Office Coordinator/Development Assistant. Heather holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Waterloo and completed the reputable Arts Administration Specialization with co-op placements at the Manitoba Theatre Centre, the McMichael Canadian Art Collection, The School for Performing and Visual Arts at The Centre in the Square, and the Living Arts Centre Mississauga.
Jamison Steeve joined the Metcalf Foundation in 2024, bringing over 20 years of public policy and strategic leadership experience to his role as President & CEO. Most recently, he was the Chief Strategy Officer at the YMCA of Greater Toronto. Previously, he served as the Executive Director at the Martin Prosperity Institute and the Institute for Competitiveness and Prosperity, and the Senior Advisor at the Schwartz Reisman Institute for Technology and Society. He has held significant roles in the Ontario government, including Principal Secretary to Premier Dalton McGuinty and Chief of Staff to the Minister of Health.
Jamison has also spent time teaching public policy at both the University of Toronto and McGill University. He is a Senior Fellow at the C.D. Howe Institute, a past fellow at the Public Policy Forum, and advises various organizations on strategy, policy, and implementation. Jamison holds a BA (Honours) and a BEd from Queen's University, an LLB from Dalhousie University, and is a graduate of the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
Job Titles:
- Advisor
- Communications Manager
Jennie Tao joined the Metcalf Foundation as the Communications Manager in 2021, bringing over a decade of experience working in communications, marketing, and fundraising roles at foundations and nonprofit organizations. Prior to joining Metcalf, she was the Senior Communications Manager at Green Economy Canada where she led all aspects of communications from strategic planning to content creation to media relations. Jennie held various roles at MakeWay (formerly Tides Canada) over eight years, working with donors to maximize their impact, guiding shared platform projects on the best ways to tell their stories, and supporting overall communications and marketing. She holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Toronto.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Member of the Investment Committee
- ( Board Member )
Job Titles:
- Advisor
- Director of Performing Arts
- Performing Arts Program Director
Michael Trent joined Metcalf as Director of Performing Arts in 2015. Over his thirty-year career, he has contributed to the development of the dance field as choreographer, performer, teacher, artistic director, curator and arts community activist and volunteer. Most recently, Michael spent eight years as the Artistic Director of Toronto's Dancemakers and the Centre for Creation. Michael has frequently consulted and collaborated with artists and arts organizations at the local and national levels on issues including strategic planning, transition, curatorial expertise, artistic assessment and training. He received a BSc from the University of Toronto in physiology and bioethics and was the co-recipient of the 2004 K.M. Hunter Artists Award in dance.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Investment Committee
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Member of the Investment Committee
- ( Board Member )
Job Titles:
- Treasurer of the Board
- ( Board Member )
Job Titles:
- CEO
- Member of the Board
- Member of the Investment Committee
- President
- ( Board Member )
Job Titles:
- Independent Labour Market Expert & Metcalf Fellow