OUR TEAM

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Click on each person’s photo or name
to read more.

A young man with dark sunglasses and headphones, smiling, standing backstage at a large outdoor event or festival, with a crowd visible in the background and technical equipment around him.

Ryan Recine
(HE/THEY)

BOard Chair

Close-up of a man with glasses and a beard smiling, wearing a dark suit and light-colored shirt, at an indoor event.

taimoor ali kureshi
(he/Him)

BOard Treasurer

A woman with short brown hair, glasses, and a yellow uniform sitting at a desk in a library, smiling at the camera.

LEANNE GIBSON
(SHE/HER)

Board Secretary

CAmeron Tania
(SHE/They)

Board DirectoR

STAFF

Katrina Riley
(she/her)

Communications and operations Manager

Krizsanta Greco
(she/her)

Fund Development Manager

A smiling woman with short, curly hair styled to one side, wearing a green top and pearl earrings, standing against a plain white background.

APRIL MULLINGS
(she/her)

BOOKKEEPER

ARTISTS

A woman with long dark hair holding an acoustic guitar on stage, singing into a microphone, wearing a burgundy floral dress.

Elsie Morden
(She/They)

Presenter & Founder

NTFT was founded by performing artist and speaker Elsie Morden after surviving years of traumatic bullying. Through story and song, Elsie has delivered 750 keynotes across Canada speaking about bullying prevention, mental health awareness, neurodiversity awareness, 2SLGBTQIA+ visibility, and empowerment.

In recognition of her profound impact across the country, Elsie has been featured on national news outlets and has received prestigious awards including the Canadian Queer Chamber or Commerce’s Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award, the National Change Makers Award from Alan Doyle’s Dollar A Day Foundation, Atlantic Business Magazine's Top 30 Under 30 Award, and the CAMH 150 Leading Canadians for Mental Health Difference Makers Award. As a recording artist she has over 750,000 streams on Spotify and a top 100 song on Canadian country radio.

A woman with long brown hair, wearing beaded earrings and necklace, has a red laser light across her face, against a plain gray background.

DeeDee Austin
(she/Her)

Presenter

DeeDee Austin, is an 19-year-old Indigenous Pop Powerhouse and member of the Abegweit First Nation on PEI.

DeeDee, who you could call a hybrid artist embraces the contemporary and traditional Indigenous music which she creates and implements into each one of her infectious high energy performances. DeeDee’s authentic songwriting is bringing her recognition not only in the Atlantic Provinces but across the Nation and is no stranger to entertaining crowds of 10 thousand plus!

DeeDee sat on the 2024 JUNOS event committee as part of the Local JUNOs team as a voice representing young emerging artists, youth, local artists and the Mi’kmaq culture. She is currently a contestant on Canada’s Got Talent, earning the Golden Buzzer!