Executive Director
Daina Leitold
Daina is a Winnipeg theatre creator and producer, and an award-winning actor and designer. She holds an Honours Degree in Theatre Performance, with minors in Environmental Studies and Education from the University of Winnipeg. She was honoured with a Theatre Educator Award from the Winnipeg Theatre Awards (Evies) in 2022, and was nominated for the 2021 Gina Wilkinson Award for women artists who place community and new creation models at the heart of their artistic leadership.
From 1996 through 2007, Daina worked seasonally with Green Kids Inc. as a playwright, dramaturg, actor, director, designer and tour manager. In 2010, she became the Executive Director, and has since grown Green Kids’ programming to include interactive workshops, projects created with youth and educators and large scale public events.
Board of Directors
Delaine Russo
Chair
I started my path on being a "green kid" as a child watching David Suzuki on “The Nature of Things”with my grandparents. I took my interest and passion for wanting a clean and sustainable earth to school and went on to complete a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Manitoba in the field of Environmental Health and then continued at U of M to obtain a Masters degree in Community Health (continuing my studies in Environmental Health). My goal was always to learn about and then share my knowledge on how environmental degradation can have negative effects to human health in hopes of getting more and more people to care about our planet. I have been with Green Kids now for a few years and love their work and supporting it any way I can.
Michael Hancharyk
Member at Large
Michael is a prairie born graduate of University of Winnipeg with a Bachelor of Environmental Science. He's worked with organizations to teach sustainable living across the prairies and truly believes that sustainable education is the key to living a holistic lifestyle. He's been with Green Kids Inc. for over 8 years, and adores theatre and combining learning with acting. Currently he works with the City of Leduc as their Environment Manager
Jessica McGlynn
Secretary
Jessica McGlynn (she/they) is a Queer, Métis theatre artist that creates theatre as both an actor and director for traditionally underrepresented communities, such as the LGBTQ+ and indigenous community. She uses empathy based and decolonial practices to create a working environment that allows performers to create dangerous work that is fulfilling and fun for them. She also puts forth work that ensures that audiences can have an opportunity to see themselves in it. Audience members and performers feel they have been seen through the work she puts forth and that their experiences are valid.
Lisa Bellemare
Secretary
Lisa is a Métis woman from St. Malo, Manitoba who is a descendant of the pioneers of St Malo, Manitoba. It is imperative for Lisa that we consider the impacts of our actions today on a minimum of seven future generations. Lisa’s independent grassroots-involved voice and work focus on raising awareness around Hydro issues and finding solutions for younger generations to learn to live in a sustainable way.
Alissa Watson
Member at Large
Alissa is a Winnipeg born artist and educator whose passions include physical comedy and “clowning around”. She fell in love with Green Kids watching a production of The Lorax as a student many, MANY years ago and is thrilled to help promote environmental education all these years later. Alissa holds a Bachelor of Music and a Bachelor of Education from Brandon University and has studied theatre across Canada and overseas. She is a co-founder of The Red Nose Diaries and is a proud founding member of Winnipeg’s only all-female Bouffon Ensemble, The Talentless Lumps. Alissa is also a member of Prairie Theatre Exchange’s Emerging Playwrights Unit and recently adapted and directed Robert Munsch’s The Paper Bag Princess for the stage. Alissa spends her summers singing at festivals with the sweet and cheeky, Fu Fu Chi Chi Choir. Alissa’s dream role is still the Lorax.
Eric Rae
Treasurer
Eric (he/they/iel) is a bilingual (English/French), non-binary, anarchist theatre artist and activist. He studied theatre at the University of Winnipeg and at l’Université du Côte d’Azur. Eric firmly believes that grassroots movements grounded in community are our best hope for real change, and that we need to reexamine all of the systems that govern our world down to their foundations. He knows we can do better, we just need more people to believe.
“It’s time for us to take a stance and encourage an understanding and empathy for nature and all its living things...With the help of Green Kids and their performance Wild Wild Wilderness our Early Years classrooms are making connections between habitat, wildlife, water quality and human activity.”
Teacher, Winnipeg Beach
Green Kids Inc. Anti-Racism Policy
Green Kids has always been an organization focused on environmental education and social justice. We are proud of our legacy however, not enough attention has been paid to inclusion and diversity both in the people we work with and in the stories that we tell.
Today, Green Kids commits to doing better as an organization. Operating in Treaty 1 Territory, an area rich in diversity, we will strive to include Black and Indigenous perspectives as well as those from People of Colour into our projects moving forward. We endeavour to treat all peoples with dignity and respect and to work towards amplifying voices in our communities that have been diminished because of inequity or racism.
We are resolved that our anti-racism commitment be reflected in the daily operation of Green Kids through our policies, programs, and practices. We will work to implement strategies that dismantle racism within all aspects of our organization and programming to the best of our abilities, including but not limited to our:
I. Artistic & Educational Content
II. Board of Directors & Advisory Committee
III. Administration & Operations
In all the above, we place faith in our future as environmental educators, storytellers, and advocates. We acknowledge this statement as a living document that will evolve as we come to understand more. Moving forward, we pledge to do our best; to act with open minds and hearts. We commit to meeting any future mistakes with the promise to correct, repair, and improve.
“The children were enthralled! The classroom workshops were very engaging. Thank you again."
Teacher, Saskatoon
Why We Do What We Do
Environmental issues can be difficult to connect to in a classroom setting. By presenting information through story and character, Green Kids engages imagination, sense of humour, understanding, and empathy. We are specialists in drama education, offering fresh ideas for tackling tricky environmental topics, and providing educators with valuable professional development.
Green Kids was established in 1991 to address the need for entertaining, educational programming for school-aged children about the importance of environmental stewardship. Geared towards inspiring a new generation of environmentally conscious adults, Green Kids' productions have tackled such issues as habitat preservation, waste reduction, personal health and welfare, wildlife conservation, sustainable daily habits, organic gardening, agriculture, and our world's water supply. In the past 33 years, Green Kids has performed for more than 1.4 million children in more than 1,400 schools across Canada and the USA.
We live in a time right now that children are rising up and speaking about our climate! We want to empower children by providing them with facts about environmental issues in a positive manner, and then equipping them with simple but effective tools to live “greenly”, and to speak up more wisely!
