Arts, Learning & Cultural Leadership Across Borders
Jennie Suddick is a dynamic cultural leader, artist, and educator with over 15 years of experience spanning arts administration, applied research, and strategic roles in education. She has a proven track record in program development, stakeholder engagement, and advancing financial sustainability across multidisciplinary contexts. Adept at balancing complex priorities, she leads innovative, high-impact programming that fosters artistic excellence and aligns with institutional goals. Jennie is experienced in overseeing public-facing initiatives and collaborating with boards, funders, and civic stakeholders to deliver bold, inclusive cultural work. She is also a regular speaker at national and international forums, advocating for progressive arts policy and creative sector innovation.
A Maltese-Canadian artist based in Toronto, Jennie has exhibited widely across North America, Europe, and Asia, both as a solo artist and in collaboration on social practice-based projects. She is co-founder of Crazy Dames (crazydames.com), a collective that creates dialogue around the role of the artist in interdisciplinary research and practice.
Currently a PhD candidate in Education at the University of Ottawa, her research advocates for social, collaborative, intercultural, interdisciplinary, and environmental approaches in arts learning and advocacy. Her areas of interest include cultural competencies, creativity in education, and educational strategies for upholding intangible cultural heritage.
Jennie brings deep experience across both formal and non-formal educational environments, having worked with post-secondary and community-based institutions. She served as Assistant Professor and Associate Chair at OCAD University (2014–2017), where she received the OCAD U Non-Tenured Teaching Award. She has also taught at Toronto Metropolitan University, York University, and Sheridan College, and currently holds adjunct status at OCAD U. In 2024, she was the recipient of OCAD U’s Employee Equity Award.
Her portfolio includes six years of focused work on internationalization as Manager, International Programs & Collaboration at OCAD U, where she prioritized reciprocal learning with the Global South—particularly communities historically excluded from traditional study abroad models.
She has presented her work at high-profile global events including Expo 2025 Osaka, the UN-Habitat World Urban Forum, the New European Bauhaus Festival, the Conference of the Americas on International Education (CAIE), and the Asia-Pacific Association for International Education (APAIE).
