Pete brings multiple years of experience in event production to the VEC, with a focus on live sound and production management. Previously a board member, he now brings his skills to the VEC team as a technician and arts administrator.
Staff and Board
Elizabeth is the Booking Manager at the VEC with multiple years experience in the event industry. She has a passion for performance and performs frequently on the VEC stage and across Canada as a burlesque and dance artist.
Cody Evans is an active, energetic marketer who aims to promote the events hosted at the VEC to their full potential and get as many people in the space as capacity allows! With a background in marketing and events, Cody found the VEC in early 2023 after just moving to the island.
After learning more about the venue and its values, Cody felt there wouldn’t be any better place to put her promoting efforts to work. With a passion for honing community and connection through shared experience, the decision to join the VEC staff felt like the perfect fit.
Meet Dane, our Bar Manager with over a decade of experience in the hospitality industry from restaurants, to bars, to breweries, he has been around the block. A passion for all things art and music led him to the VEC where he worked part-time while enjoying a career in Wildlife Management and Conservation.
Eventually making VEC home to help build onto an already wonderful foundation. A lover of dark beer and nice whiskey on the rocks, he hopes to transfer that love and help to create some fun rotating cocktails and taps, and help to serve a beautiful community in a fun and safe environment for everyone. Cheers!
Amanda is a queer artist, dreamer, and friend with a passion for safer spaces and community care. After seeing her first variety show at the VEC in 2021, Amanda felt so inspired by this space and the many communities of artists it fosters that she moved to Victoria just two months later to be a part of it however she could.
Now, she is so grateful to be working in the space as the assistant bar manager as well as frequently performing burlesque, drag, and music at the VEC and many other venues around town!
Bartender and Tech
Keith Williams (aka Keith Sonic)
He/him
Keith Williams has worked on and produced over a hundred shows at the VEC since 2010. Keith is regularly seen behind the bar or in the tech booth. You can also find him painting at Art Battle or bombing at a comedy show.
Board
Board President, Interim Executive Director summer 2022
Kurt Archer
Kurt served as Interim Executive Director at VEC in 2022. For the past 8 years Kurt ran TEDxYYC, one of Canada’s largest independently organized TED events in Calgary. He has over 15 years experience working in non-profits, with over 8 of those years working with Arts based organizations. In spring 2022, Kurt co-founded Shift Talks, a speaker and conversation series aimed at empowering ideas for our fast changing world.
Kurt also coaches speakers, and does communication consulting for small businesses and non-profits doing great work in the community. Kurt loves to work and be at the intersection of technology, climate issues, and art – which also inspires a lot of his Sci-Fi writing and theatre he does on the side.
Board Vice President
Shayli Robinson
Known to many as their burlesque alter ego, Scarlett Hummingbird, Shayli Robinson is proudly queer and a Member of Lyackson First Nation, with lineage to the Lekwungen, Quwut’sun, and Sḵwx̱wú7mesh mustimuhw. She has an extensive volunteer background in non-profit boards & administration, performance art, and community engagement; and several years’ experience working with provincial government, Indigenous tourism & education, political organizations, and Coast Salish governance & administration. When they aren’t hamming it up on the VEC stage, she loves to nerd out over governance, art, policy, and Salish woolly dogs.
Shayli has been grateful to serve in a number of community-based roles: as a member of her Nation’s Comprehensive Community Planning Committee; board director and affiliated artist of The Hustler’s Art Collective; member of the Isle of Tease Burlesque Festival’s diversity and executive teams; member of Peers Victoria Resource Society’s Gender-Based Housing Advisory Committee; co-founder of ColorQoded Arts Collective; and board secretary then executive director of Victoria Poetry Project Society.
Board Member
Shannon Hope
Shannon (she/they) is a queer administrative professional with a passion for organization and working with Indigenous communities. Shannon holds a BA in Anthropology and Indigenous Studies from UVic and has called Victoria home for over 8 years. Her professional career has spanned the non profit sector, affordable housing, Indigenous language revitalization, international education, economic development, and travel and tourism. Shannon works on anti-racism initiatives with a local non-profit and they are currently a grant writing consultant working with nonprofits serving people with disabilities.
Since joining the VEC board, they made their burlesque debut at Miss Rosie Bitt’s Brand New Boobies Showcase. Shannon is an advocate for social and systemic change through education, community-building, and action. She is an avid supporter of the arts, regularly attending VEC events like burlesque, drag, Confabulation, concerts and comedy. Shannon is proud to serve on the board of this integral community gathering place where acceptance, inclusivity, affordability, creativity, and equity are centred and celebrated.
Board Member
Haley Jenkins
Haley has been working in the film industry for over 14 years, currently in the capacity of a Location Manager for films and television. She has a background in theatre, event planning and volunteering at festivals. Born and raised in Victoria, she is grateful to be part
of an organization that promotes a safe, dynamic space to showcase local talent and expression. She hopes to give back as a board member of the VEC, where she has enjoyed so many events, shows and gatherings throughout the past ten years.
Board Member
Alex Miller
Alex is a newish Victorian and an even newer board member. They are proudly queer and determined to create and be a part of safe and inclusive communities. A former head brewer for Herald Street Brew Works, Alex loves to nerd out about fermented foods and beverages. They enjoy live music across genres and have experience in event promotion and ticket sales.
Board Member
Renate Ringer
Renate grew up in Northern B.C. but has called Victoria home for the last forty years. Her background is in health with a passion for co-creating diverse, healthy, vibrant, resilient communities.
Board Member
Irvin Naidu
Irvin “Ivan” (he/him) brings a unique blend of professional expertise, community spirit, and dedication. His vision for the VEC is rooted in the belief that art and community are interconnected forces capable of inspiring change, fostering growth, and building a more vibrant, inclusive society. He is thrilled to be serving as a board member.
Irvin is a dynamic professional engineer and a regional business unit leader for a local engineering consultant firm. With a keen eye for innovation and a deep commitment to excellence, Irvin excels in fostering business opportunities and solving complex technical challenges.
His role requires a unique blend of external engagement with clients and internal leadership to facilitate his team’s engineering services. What sets Irvin apart is his passion for mentorship, coupled with a desire to learn and grow alongside his team.
Beyond his professional realm, Irvin is committed to community service, actively participating in the mutual aid group Community Food Support. This engagement reflects his belief in the transformative power of collective action and his natural inclination toward nurturing meaningful relationships.