Artistic Producer
Daina Leitold
Daina is a Winnipeg theatre creator and producer, and an award-winning actor and designer. She holds an Honours Degree in Theatre Performance, with minors in Environmental Studies and Education. She was honoured with a Theatre Educator Award from the Winnipeg Theatre Awards (Evies) in 2022, and was nominated for the 2021 Gina Wilkinson Award for women artists who place community and new creation models at the heart of their artistic leadership.
From 1996 through 2007, Daina worked seasonally with Wild Roots Theatre as a playwright, dramaturg, actor, director, designer and tour manager. In 2010, she became the Executive Director, and has since grown Wild Roots’ programming to include interactive workshops, projects created with youth and educators and large scale public events.
Board of Directors
Deborah Gay-de Vries
Co-Chair
Deborah is currently the Outreach Coordinator at Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society-Manitoba (CPAWS-MB.) She spends her days keeping Manitobans engaged and excited about protecting Manitoba's lands and waters for future generations...​
Jessica McGlynn
Co-Chair
Jessica is a queer, Métis theatre educator. She has an honours degree in acting from the University of Winnipeg and outside of teaching works as a puppeteer, director, and actor. She has been involved with Green Kids for two years She has worked as an instructor...
Sam Campbell
Secretary
Sarah is a theatre artist & writer who has lived, written and created art all across Canada (excluding only, for the moment, Nunavut) Plays she's written have been produced in festivals across the country...​​
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Hayden Maines
Treasurer
Bio to come...
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Aileen Audette
Member at Large
Aileen has been involved with Wild Roots for several years both as a performer and playwright. She is a graduate of The University of Winnipeg's Honours Theatre and Film program...
Ava Darrach-Gagnon
Member at Large
Ava is a bilingual, Winnipeg-based artist passionate about growing her craft. A graduate of the University of Winnipeg’s Acting: Honours Program, she has performed professionally in theatre and film...
Sarah Higgins
Member at Large
Sarah is a theatre artist & writer who has lived, written and created art all across Canada (excluding only, for the moment, Nunavut) Plays she's written have been produced in festivals across the country...
Eric Rae
Member at Large
Eric is a professional theatre artist who holds a BaH from the University of Winnipeg and an MA from l’Université du Côte d’Azur in Nice. They are an actor, director, playwright, and producer...
Karen Lind
Member at Large
Karen holds a bachelor's in environmental science, a master’s in environmental studies and a master’s in health evaluation. Karen’s academic background has focussed on the intersection...
Tiffany Prochera
Member at Large
Bio to come...
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Qiuyan Yuan
Member at Large
Qiuyan is a Professor of Environmental Engineering at the University of Manitoba, specializing in sustainable waste management, wastewater treatment, and circular economy innovation...
Alissa Watson
Member at Large
Alissa is an artist and educator that has volunteered with the board for over ten years. She has a Bachelor of Music and Bachelor of Education from Brandon University and has taught music, drama, and...
The Team
Ava Darrach-Gagnon
Admin Wizard,
Tour Booking
Ava is a bilingual, Winnipeg-based artist passionate about growing her craft. A graduate of the University of Winnipeg’s Acting: Honours Program, she has performed professionally in theatre and film for over ten years. Alongside acting, Ava has begun training and working as a theatre director. She also performs stunts in films and teaches as a theatre educator, aiming to inspire a love and joy for theatre (and the planet!) in the next generation.
“All of my endeavors fuel my passion for the artistic process, and I strive to bring this positive energy to every project I take on. I'm continually developing my artistry, aiming to create complex and meaningful work that contributes positively to our community.”
Emily Jane King
Admin, Tour Booking
Emily is an actor, musician, teaching artist and administrator based in Treaty 1 Territory (Winnipeg, MB). A graduate of the Studio 58 Acting program, she also studied Voice Pedagogy through a specialized mentorship at the school. She is passionate about accessible arts education and has taught voice with Realwheels Acting Academy, Vancouver Film School, Arts Club Actors Intensive, and more. She has taught drama with Green Kids Inc, Aim4All, MTYP, and Gateway Acting Academy. Acting credits include Waabishkizi in White Girls in Moccasins by Yolando Bonnell, The Collector in Mx by Lili Robinson, Sarah Jean in Infinity by Hannah Moscovitch. She is the director of Sick+Twisted Theatre’s drop-in community choir.
Brenda McLean
Producer, Website
Brenda (she/her) is an interdisciplinary artists based on Treaty 1 Territory in Winnipeg, Manitoba. She designs, directs, and dreams up imaginative worlds through movement, clown, physical theatre, and costume design.
She was delighted to help bring Bike and Circuses to life in 2022 and 2024—an outdoor environmental spectacle blending circus arts, theatre, dance, ecological awareness, and community engagement in Whittier Park. Through this project, she channels her passion for active environmentalism and physical storytelling into a vibrant, site-specific experience.
She is deeply thankful to be part of a company that values innovation, sustainability, and the power of performance to inspire change. Working with this passionate team fills her heart—and handlebars—with gratitude.
“It’s time for us to take a stance and encourage an understanding and empathy for nature and all its living things...With the help of Green Kids and their performance Wild Wild Wilderness our Early Years classrooms are making connections between habitat, wildlife, water quality and human activity.”
Teacher, Winnipeg Beach
Wild Roots Theatre Anti-Racism Policy
Wild Roots has always been an organization focused on environmental education and social justice. We are proud of our legacy however, not enough attention has been paid to inclusion and diversity both in the people we work with and in the stories that we tell.
Today, Wild Roots commits to doing better as an organization. Operating in Treaty 1 Territory, an area rich in diversity, we will strive to include Black and Indigenous perspectives as well as those from People of Colour into our projects moving forward. We endeavour to treat all peoples with dignity and respect and to work towards amplifying voices in our communities that have been diminished because of inequity or racism.
We are resolved that our anti-racism commitment be reflected in the daily operation of Wild Roots through our policies, programs, and practices. We will work to implement strategies that dismantle racism within all aspects of our organization and programming to the best of our abilities, including but not limited to our:
I. Artistic & Educational Content
II. Board of Directors & Advisory Committee
III. Administration & Operations
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In all the above, we place faith in our future as environmental educators, storytellers, and advocates. We acknowledge this statement as a living document that will evolve as we come to understand more. Moving forward, we pledge to do our best; to act with open minds and hearts. We commit to meeting any future mistakes with the promise to correct, repair, and improve.
“The children were enthralled! The classroom workshops were very engaging. Thank you again."
Teacher, Saskatoon
Why We Do What We Do
Our purpose is to create impactful theatrical experiences that promote a real sense of belonging for our audiences in order to connect, care, and participate in climate protection. Through theatre and play, we hope to inspire environmental stewardship and create meaningful community experiences that help people see where they fit within the solutions to our climate emergency.
Curiosity is crucial to our company’s development and creativity. We want our productions to reflect exactly that: to act as a catalyst for people, connecting climate change to environmental racism and capitalism, and to inspire audiences to become more curious themselves. By experiencing our work, we hope audiences will ask questions about the systems in place that threaten the environment’s well-being and how they might be implicated in those systems. Our ultimate goal, in all our work, is to ignite positive change for a sustainable future.
For many folks, environmental issues can feel difficult to connect to and many people feel powerless in the face of the climate crisis. Our theatre aims to share a positive perspective, creating productions that blend imagination, humour and empathy with knowledge and agency in order to give hope and resilience to our audiences. By celebrating environmental action and offering practical pathways to change, we encourage our audiences to shift personal habits, engage in community activism, and advocate for systemic reform.
​In 1991, Green Kids (now Wild Roots Theatre) was established to address the need for entertaining educational programming. With the hope of inspiring a new generation of environmentally conscious adults, we created productions for school-aged children about the importance of climate care. We now make theatre for people of all ages, to involve and inspire the whole community in climate action. We have mounted productions exploring a multitude of topics such as climate change, circular economy, active transportation, biodiversity, habitat and wildlife conservation, water systems, and waste reduction, with our creativity and passion for this work continuing to grow.
