Wende Cartwright

President

 

Wende is one of the foremost cultural entrepreneurs in North America, pioneering techniques for integrating business and economic modeling with creative concept development for both landmark capital projects and signature cultural events.

 

Wende has an extensive background in capital project planning, having worked with many prestigious clients in Canada and abroad.  She recently completed the planning process for the new Globe and Mail Centre in Toronto and Symphony Hall in Boston. Wende is currently at the helm of planning significant mixed-use projects in Toronto, Halifax, and Nunavut.  

 

As Director of Performing Arts for the Vancouver 2010 Olympics ‘Cultural Olympiad’, Wende played a critical role in its success - delivering an audience of over 5.8 million, 1438 contemporary performances, 60 venues, 60 days, 116 community partnerships and 7000 volunteers...all on time and on budget. 

 

Prior to the Olympics, she was Executive Director at Canada’s Royal Conservatory of Music and project director overseeing all aspects of the building planning process for the award-winning Telus Centre for Performance and Learning, hailed as one of the most beautiful yet functional venues in the world. 

 

Additional capital projects include The Globe and Mail Centre, St. Michael's Cathedral, Global Centre for Pluralism, University of Toronto Faculty of Music and Elgin & Winter Garden Theatres. Leadership roles include Executive Director/Producer at Roy Thomson Hall & Massey Hall, The Elgin & Winter Garden Theatres and CBC TV

 

Wende studied Political Science & Film at UBC and is a graduate of The University of Toronto Rotman School of Management; ICD Governance Essentials for Directors, Advanced Financial Literacy, Women in Leadership and Harvard University ‘Smart Cities & Intelligent Buildings.

 

In Toronto, Wende Co-Chairs the board of directors for ROM Contemporary Culture and is a board director for MOCCA and Pan Am Games Advisory Council.  In 2015 Wende was named by the Women's Executive Network (WXN) as one of Canada's Top 100 Most Powerful Women. In 2019 she was recognized as an Urban Land Institute Women’s Leadership Initiative Champion and appointed by the City of Toronto to the Board of Directors for Waterfront Toronto.