Speakers

Kate Johnston is the Executive Director of Hillside Community Festival of Guelph, a non-profit which operates the annual summer Hillside Festival and winter Hillside Inside in Guelph, Ontario. Hillside Festival, celebrating 43 years in 2026, is a net-carbon-zero festival and is award-winning for its progressive programming, community engagement, environmental sustainability, and non-commercial atmosphere. Kate is an experienced artistic administrator with a passion for participatory community engagement in arts and culture as a means of building vibrant and inclusive communities.