Karen Tisch is an arts manager, programmer and consultant with over 30 years of experience. She has served as Managing Director of the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival, Programming Director of the Images Festival, Executive Director of the Ashkenaz Foundation, and Executive Director of the Koffler Centre of the Arts, as well as in grants management roles at the Toronto Arts Council and the Canada Council for the Arts. She created foundational equity policies for the City of Toronto’s Economic Development and Culture Division, FACTOR and the Toronto Arts Council, and served as a longtime equity advisor for the Canada Council, where she led initiatives focused on racial equity and co-authored Canada’s first disability arts funding program.

Karen is a current Board member of Red Sky Performance, and a past president/chair of the Toronto Arts Council, A Space Gallery, the Toronto Book Awards and the Racial Equity Fund. She is a graduate of Canada’s National Ballet School and OCAD University.