About Us
Balancing Act was founded in 2019 by Lisa Marie DiLiberto, Artistic Director of Theatre Direct, with the goal to affect change and increase access to employment for mothers, parents and caregivers* working in the arts. We collaborate with artists, arts workers, and arts organizations to develop pathways for change at an individual, organizational and systemic level.
*Balancing Act defines ‘caregivers’ as individuals who care for children, aging adults, or those in need of personal or primary care. We acknowledge that care work can include care for blood, adopted, or chosen family, colleagues, and caring for others out of duty.
The team behind The Toronto Fringe Festival, Level UP! Strategy Partner 2021-22, Flexible Working Models
%
of artists surveyed in 2019 stated they had to turn down work due to caregiving responsibilities
Since 2021, 155 Balancing Act partners have implemented caregivers supports within their arts organizations
%
of artists surveyed in 2023 have been able to participate more fully in their work due to this caregiver support
Balancing Act acknowledges that our work is built upon the work of women, artists and companies who, for generations, have been caring for loved ones, for each other, and for our sector. We are here to help uplift this work.
Vision
Balancing Act envisions a future where care is a central value within the cultural sector in Canada, and where robust support creates greater access to equitable work for women, artists and cultural workers, creating a healthier, more diverse, and vibrant arts community.
Actor, playwright, storyteller Diana Tso and her superstar father, Daniel Tso.
Balancing Act Steering Committee Member and Artistic Director of SpiderWebShow Adrienne Wong and her child. Photo credit: Tetsuro Shigematsu
Our Mission
We champion and advocate for increased access to employment and leadership opportunities in the workplaces of the arts, so that artist/arts worker mothers, parents, and caregivers can thrive.
We develop and offer care-centred programs for both individuals and organizations that empower workforce participation.
We educate employers and the arts sector at large by sharing research and tools for supporting and advancing mothers, parents, and caregivers working in the arts.
Purpose
Caregivers working in the arts, primarily women, face distinct challenges and barriers. Rehearsal and production schedules require long hours and lack flexibility, and artists and arts workers often have to turn down opportunities because of conflicting caregiving responsibilities and financial barriers to childcare. Outdated models of arts production, coupled with limited awareness and stigma, contribute to the exclusion of caregivers at decision-making tables, and within the arts in general.
Balancing Act is a response to the call for reduced barriers to employment and greater support for those with caring responsibilities, as well as those with specialized care needs working in the arts in Canada.
Values
Lean In and Listen
Responding to calls from within the arts community inspire our actions and knowledge mobilizations.
Explore and Learn Together
Collaborating with partners and the arts community to discover new ways of supporting one another.
Serve and Help
Creating supportive containers that facilitate better practices to empower artists and art-making.
Acknowledge and Uplift
Recognizing that care labour has been ongoing for generations, and offering attributions.
Anti-Oppressive Statement
Balancing Act is committed to the ongoing work of engaging with anti-oppressive principles and practices. We strive to provide spaces conducive to engaging generatively across differences, free from harassment and discrimination. All are invited and supported to participate meaningfully, regardless of social location and values including age, ethnicity, race, ancestry, place of origin, citizenship, sex, pregnancy & breastfeeding, gender expression, gender identity, sexual orientation, ability, class, and religious or spiritual beliefs.
We recognize that caregivers from underrepresented groups experience greater barriers to employment and work-life balance. Balancing Act aims to amplify support for those who identify as equity-deserving, and create increased opportunities for these artists and cultural workers.
Raising children in not a private hobby, not an individual duty. It is a social responsibility, one that requires robust community support.
Angela Garbes
Author, Mothering as Social ChangeÂ
Healthy villages are organized and governed by grannies and aunties. We need to reconceive ourselves in the process, ‘all our relations’ outside of colonial and patriarchal models.
Dr. Kim Anderson
Canada Research Chair in Storying Indigenous Relational Futures
The Team
We’d love to hear from you! Contact us here.
Lisa Marie DiLiberto
Balancing Act
Before moving into her current role as Artistic Director of Theatre Direct, Lisa Marie…
Susie Burpee
Balancing Act
Susie Burpee is a dance artist, creator, teacher, and mother to two young children…
Margaret Evans
Balancing Act
Margaret is a Dora nominated actor and producer. As Artistic Associate…
Meryl Ochoa
Balancing Act
Meryl (she/they) is a multi-disciplinary artist and producer who immigrated to Canada with her family in 2012…
Cynthia Lickers-Sage
Balancing Act
Cynthia Lickers-Sage is the Executive Director of Indigenous Performing Arts Alliance…
Level UP! 2025-2026
Sector Leads and Advisory Committees
As Balancing Act expands Level UP! into the disciplines of Visual Arts, Music, and Screen-based Media Industries, we warmly welcome Women in Music Canada, Women in Film & Television – Toronto, and MOTHRA: Artist-Parent Project as partners and Sector Leads, along with their Advisory Committees.
Visual Arts Sector Lead
Sarah Cullen
Sarah Cullen is a visual artist currently living on Mnisiing, in Toronto.
Since the birth of her daughter, the focus of Sarah’s art practice has turned to ways of incorporating, and working alongside, her child(ren)…
Mamie Bell
Visual Arts Sector Advisory Committee
Mamie Bell is an interdisciplinary artist and baker born in Epekwitk living in K’jipuktuk…
Xiao Han
Visual Arts Sector Advisory Committee
Xiao Han is a multidisciplinary artist-curator from Wuhan, China…
Kerri-Lynn Reeves
Visual Arts Sector Advisory Committee
Kerri-Lynn Reeves (she/her) is an interdisciplinary artist, educator, and mother…
Marlene Yuen
Visual Arts Sector Advisory Committee
Marlene Yuen (she/her) is a multidisciplinary artist who lives and works on the unceded…
Music Sector Lead
Robyn Stewart
Winnipeg-based Robyn Stewart has been executive director of Women In Music Canada since 2022, after more than eight years in the same position at Breakout West and Western Canadian Music Alliance. A frequent panelist and keynote speaker,
Jill Barber
Music Sector Advisory Committee
Jill Barber is a three-time Juno Award nominated singer-songwriter…
Desiree Dorion
Music Sector Advisory Committee
Desiree Dorion grew up a mile and a half from the grounds of Dauphin Country Fest…
Margaret McGuffin
Music Sector Advisory Committee
Margaret McGuffin is the CEO of Music Publishers Canada. Margaret’s career has focused on research…
Gabrielle Rubaine
Music Sector Advisory Committee
Gabrielle is an agent of change. As a performing artist who opened for acts like Mos Def…
Screen-based Media Industries Sector Lead
Karen Bruce
Karen leads the team dedicated to the professional development, advancement and celebration of its members in the screen based industry.
Prior to joining WIFT Toronto, Karen was the Director of Membership & Fan Engagement…
Amy Matysio
Level UP! Sector Program Manager – Screen-based Media Industries
Amy Matysio is an award-winning actor, writer, host and creative producer who has captivated audiences for over two decades. She has earned acclaim on stage with renowned companies such as the National Arts Centre, Northern Light Theatre, and Young People’s Theatre (Dora Award)…
Ella Cooper
Screen-based Media Industries Advisory Committee
Ella Cooper is an award winning producer, director, writer, multi-media artist, educator and cultural leader…
Jennifer Chen
Screen-based Media Industries Advisory Committee
Jennifer Chen is Head of Channel Zero (CZ) Studios, producing a slate of scripted series with international partners…
Laura Churchill
Screen-based Media Industries Advisory Committee
Laura Churchill is the Chief Executive Officer and Film Commissioner for PictureNL. With 15 years of experience…
Tracey Deer
Screen-based Media Industries Advisory Committee
Tracey Deer is a Mohawk filmmaker whose two decades of experience includes co-creating, directing, and co-showrunning…
Performing Arts Sector Advisory Committee
Alen Dominguez
Performing Arts Sector Advisory Committee
Alen Dominguez (He/Him) is a Mexican-Canadian theatre artist who trained at the University of…
Jagroop Mehta
Performing Arts Sector Advisory Committee
Jagroop Mehta is a visionary arts leader with over two decades of international arts management…
Olivia C. Davies
Performing Arts Sector Advisory Committee
Olivia C. Davies creates and collaborates across multiple platforms including Contemporary Indigenous…
Johanna Bundon
Performing Arts Sector Advisory Committee
Johanna Bundon is based in Saskatchewan where she has been dedicated to the development of new work…
Our Steering Committee 2023-24
Composed of cultural leaders from across the country, Balancing Act’s Steering Committee guided the project from a diverse set of perspectives and experiences. We are grateful to other past committee members Neema Bickersteth, Andrea Donaldson, Lisa Karen Cox, Sheila Kearney-Miller, Julie Lebel, Viv Moore, Janelle Rainville, Kelly Read, and Claire Wynveen for their foundational contributions.
Intisar Awisse
Why Not Theatre
Waterloo, ON
Maev Beaty
Stratford, ON
Brefny Caribou
Toronto, ON
Ella Cooper
Black Women Film! Canada
Toronto, ON
Sarah Cullen
MOTHRA: Artist-Parent Project
Toronto, ON
Ruth Howard
Jumblies Theatre
Toronto, ON
Geneviève Doyon
Open Pit Theatre
Whitehorse, YK
Penny Couchie
Aanmitaagzi
Toronto, ON
Lucy Eveleigh
Luminato Festival Toronto
Toronto, ON
Chelsea Haberlin
Neworld Theatre
Vancouver, BC
Beth Helmers
Community Arts Guild
Toronto, ON
Cynthia Lickers-Sage
Indigenous Performing Arts Alliance
Toronto, ON
Shira Leuchter
Toronto, ON
Djennie Laguerre
Toronto, ON
Jacoba Knaapen
TAPA
Toronto, ON
Karine Ricard
Théâtre français de Toronto
Toronto, ON
Adrienne Wong
SpiderWebShow Performance
Banff, AB
Ken MacKenzie
Associated Designers of Canada
Toronto, ON
Anne-Marie Ouellet
Montreal, QC
Jagroop Mehta
Museum & Culture Experiences, City of Guelph
Guelph, ON
Liz Forsberg
Impact, Ontario Trillium Foundation
Toronto, ON