The Staff

Passionate about fusing art and social change from an early age, Ilona’s diverse experiences range from being a Canadian delegate to the United Nations at 17 years old to producing concerts across Canada. A life long social entrepreneur, in January 2004 Ilona co-founded Apathy is Boring, a national non-partisan charitable organization that uses art and technology to educate Canadian youth about democracy. As Apathy is Boring’s Executive Director she has been featured by the national media, worked with rock stars, and given thousands of youth the tools they need to get involved in their communities. Raised by socially engaged parents in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan and Whitehorse, Yukon, Ilona currently lives in Montreal, Quebec.

Back on home turf following post-grad adventures in fishing, farming, and development work around the world, Stephanie is now A is B's link to Atlantic Canada. When she's not planning her next road trip, running around the city, or knitting misfit garments, Stephanie is putting her marketing degree to good use back in Montreal where life is anything but boring.

Obsessed with the idea of social innovation, Lauren has been involved in many non-profits over the years and engaged in issues ranging from youth and student engagement, to Canadian food security, to agricultural development in Africa. An Ottawa-native, her interest in the political scene brought her to study Political Science at Carleton University and become an active member of the student community. After spending a year post-graduation working in agriculture and private sector development in Ghana and Uganda, Lauren is excited to shift gears and bring start contributing to social change back at home. If she’s not cooking, reading, travelling (funds permitting), or eating what she’s cooking (or copious amounts of chocolate), she’s probably deep in thought about the future of the world and her role in shaping it.

As someone who has always been interested in the way art can affect social change, A is B’s approach is especially unique and exciting to Sylvia. She first got involved as an intern, and is now happy to re-join the team as staff. After finishing her BFA in Art History from Concordia, she taught English to high school students in France, traveled, and ate as much cheese, wine and pastries as she could. She’s now happy to be back in Montreal enjoying everything the city has to offer.

Bekky O’Neil is a multidisciplinary artist, animator and the Artistic Director of Quality Slippers Productions, a Montreal based company that produces original puppet plays for adult audiences. She is a graduate of Concordia and holds a BFA in Playwrighting. Bekky is usually covered in papier-maché. She dislikes bad manners, but doesn't mind nudity. She believes in acts of resistance, and absurd quantities of garlic – but not in bad grammar.

Passionate about politics, current affairs and travelling, Judith Handfield holds a Masters degree in Political Science from Université de Montréal. After her studies, she spent two years in Alberta and time in South America before returning to her roots in Montreal. Judith is very excited about contributing to the mission at Apathy is Boring, and about the opportunity to be involved in her community through this work.

Excited about words and any opportunity to use them for a good cause, Laura has been advocating for Indigenous people since she worked in the Inuit community of Cambridge Bay, Nunavut. After her degree in English Literature at U of T, she improved her French while teaching English to kids in France. When she puts down her pen/keyboard, she is cultivating sourdough bacteria to bake her own bread or stretching out her writers block in ballet class.