Community Engagement
Amy is passionate about working in community.
Amy received her certificate in Dialogue & Civic Engagement from Simon Fraser University. She is passionate about applying her skills in improvisation to facilitate more effective connection and communication in non-arts settings. She has facilitated community dialogues on topics around the role of failure in artistic practice and creating safer improv communities. She’s excited to learn about new methodologies for facilitation.
Amy worked for three years at Mount Pleasant Neighbourhood House, a locally governed non-profit focused on creating positive social change. She served as Volunteer Coordinator, helping connect passionate volunteers with community members who need support, and Literacy Outreach Coordinator, helping deliver many literacy programs in including IPALS (Decoda Literacy Solutions), The Lost and Found Project, and MPNH’s Digital Literacy initiatives for older adults. Amy also coordinated a project called Laughter is the Best Medicine, supported by Vancouver Coastal Health, which explored the benefits of laughter as a way to combat social isolation, and included online and in-person workshops using laughter yoga, joke writing, storytelling and improv comedy.
She was Lead Artist for Arts + Health: Healthy Aging Through the Arts, where she led an ensemble of older adults in a weekly improv practice in person and then online. Arts + Health aims to improve seniors’ well being and foster a sense of belonging through art making. She began with the project in 2018, working with primarily Cantonese and Mandarin-speaking older adults at Carnegie Community Centre. Adjusting for the pandemic, then the ensemble met online to explore improvisation.
Amy has led workshops for community groups of many kinds. Over the years, she has led comedy summer camps for 5-7 year olds, workshops for senior citizens engaging with the arts, and guided actors hoping to be more spontaneous on stage. Whether you’re looking to foster camaraderie in your arts organization, or use improv to deepen your understanding of community, Amy would love to hear from you.
