Tara Flynn

Festival Director

I am grateful that my role at SFU’s Office of Community Engagement allows me to meet and work with some truly remarkable people in the City of Burnaby and beyond. Bringing this festival to life with our friendly Burnaby community is a real joy.

I am passionate about food—the socio-cultural intersections of food, culture, environment, health and systems change—and about respectfully applying my newly acquired Master’s in Ecological Psychology to addressing the complexities of our failing food systems.

For pleasure, I write and I play with cameras. I also do my best as the mother of a 28-year-old daughter and a six-month-old Shiba Inu. They rule the house, to be sure.

Shelley Levis

Communications Assistant

As a green industry veteran, I love to inspire growth and bring a fresh perspective to marketing and communications for community projects. My passion for sustainability and biodiversity led me to start a blog (back when blogs were cool) and now I’m an author, speaker, and communication specialist who champions all things green. I’m thrilled to be a part of the Burnaby Festival of Learning, where we can come together and share knowledge to build healthier, sustainable communities in a rapidly changing world. Let’s go green!

Janet Yan

Graphic & Web designer

Connect Fest is a platform for bringing people together from different backgrounds and communities. Working for this year’s festival, I am extremely excited that I could help build community connections and foster a sense of belonging and inclusion. Can’t wait for it to begin, see you there!

Producing a festival is a team effort! Without the numerous volunteer hours and dedication of all the folks in front of and behind the scenes, this event would not happen. A hearty thank you goes out to the following people:

Advisory Committee

Chair: Heidi Schiller (Burnaby Public Library)

Abdul Zahir (Civic Innovation Lab)
Ana Maria Bustamante (Burnaby Intercultural Planning Table)
Angela Boal (City of Burnaby Marketing)
Asmita Lawrence (Culture Chats)
Cynthia Henson (SFU Faculty of Science)
Deirdre Grace (BCIT Library)
Janet Yan (SFU’s Office of Community Engagement)
Lois Dawson (City of Burnaby Special Events)
Melody Monro (Fraser Health)
Rebekah Mahaffey (Civic Innovation Lab)
Sheri Brattston (Burnaby School District)
Simone Brandl (Burnaby Neighbourhood House)
Tara Flynn (SFU’s Office of Community Engagement)

Special Advisors to the Program:

Heather McCain

Programming Adjudication

Abdul Zahir, Simone Brandl, Tara Flynn

Marketing Sub-committee

Angela Boal, Janet Yan, Sheri Brattston

If you’d like to get involved in committee work, get in touch here.