Donna Spencer

Donna Spencer is a founding director of the Firehall Theatre Society in Vancouver and currently the Artistic Producer. An advocate of cultural understanding and awareness of diversity, she established BC’s first culturally diverse theatre company and established an apprenticeship training program for artists from diverse cultural backgrounds. She enthusiastically supports non-traditional casting. She received a Jessie for Outstanding Direction in 1999 for Reading Hebron and was awarded a Jessie for Multi-Cultural Innovation in Theatre. She has also received the City of Vancouver’s Cultural Harmony Award for her dedication and long-term commitment to cultural awareness in Vancouver. Spencer has developed three original scripts collectively with teenagers, dealing with racism, acceptance of immigrants, peer pressure and suicide. As the Artistic Producer of the Dancing On The Edge Festival and the Firehall Dance Series, she has brought contemporary dance from a variety of cultures to Vancouver stages.She is the founding chairperson of the Vancouver Cultural Alliance and a founding member of both the Vancouver Professional Theatre Alliance and the Women in View Festival. She also served on the BC Arts Board and received the YWCA Women of Distinction Award for Arts & Culture.