PRESS RELEASE: Mass Culture Announces Robin Sokoloski as Director of Organizational Development

Toronto, September 25 2020 – Mass Culture/Mobilisation culturelle (MC) is pleased to announce that Robin Sokoloski has been hired in the new position of Director of Organizational Development. She will begin her three-year term on November 1, 2020. 

Robin has been the Executive Director of Playwrights Guild of Canada (PGC) since April 2010 and is a founding member of MC. She is committed to Canada’s arts and culture scene and volunteers for arts organizations as a way of staying connected to the arts community and ensuring public access to artistic experiences. Robin currently sits on Ryerson University’s Centre For Free Expression Advisory Committee, WorkInCulture’s Research Advisory Committee, and the Cultural Research Network’s Steering Committee. 

As a member of the MC founding team, Robin has been instrumental to MC’s organizational growth and development. During this time, Robin has played key roles within leadership, research and community relationship development. Her immense contribution to MC over the past three years has effectively set up the initial structures to run the network, including overseeing staff, connecting researchers, and developing programs such as MC’s nation-wide Gatherings and a SSHRC-funded research project on Arts Service Organizations in partnership with Dr. Miranda Campbell at Ryerson University. In her new role, Robin will work with MC’s Operations Group to increase MC’s administrative, programming and research capacity to support a rapidly growing network that energizes arts and culture research across Canada. This position will help establish a stable foundation from which MC can support community voices in arts research. 

MC’s Operations Group had this to say about the appointment:

With thanks to the Toronto Arts Council and the Ontario Trillium Foundation, Mass Culture has convened over 700 individuals across the country in conversations focused on arts research subjects to explore topics most relevant to our sector. We congratulate Robin Sokoloski on her new role as Director of Organizational Development. With Robin in this leadership role, Mass Culture will expand our capacity to connect, amplify and identify new collaborations for arts research. We are confident that this position will enable Mass Culture to grow as a sustainable organization and expand its research relevance and network reach as the arts sector navigates and recovers from the impacts of Covid-19.

Looking ahead, MC will continue to gather people through MC Gatherings, share research through its MC Minds podcasts and videos, produce research with its partners, and explore the ways in which research intersects with equity, diversity and inclusion in the arts sector. By circulating robust, inclusive research through a healthy network, MC deepens the capacity of communities to develop an interconnected Canadian arts sector empowered to reflect and make informed decisions towards a future in which the arts sector in Canada can thrive. MC is committed to working with our growing network and expanding strategic partnerships to ensure all communities have the ability to mobilize and benefit from arts and culture research.  

There are multiple opportunities to engage with MC. Find out how you can be involved here. 

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Mass Culture is a collaborative support organization that takes a community-based approach to providing diverse parties with the context and connections needed to enhance the equitable mobilization of arts and culture research. Mass Culture and its activities receive support from the Ontario Trillium Foundation, Toronto Arts Council, Canada Council for the Arts, and the City of Toronto Arts and Cultural Services. 

Media Contact: Kathryn Geertsema, Office Manager

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