Since 2013, the Caisse d’économie solidaire’s General Director, Marc Picard, has headed Quebec’s leading financial institution specializing in social economy. Managing over $ 1.8 billion, part of which is dedicated to cultural enterprises, he works alongside more than 100 unionized employees in 3 points of service with a participatory approach in mind. His financial cooperative is made up of over 15,000 members throughout Quebec.

In the past, Mr. Picard’s social entrepreneurship has been noteworthy in terms of mobilization, consultation, organization and strategic management. From 2008 to 2013, notably with the Fonds de développement-emploi Montréal (FDEM), he substantially transformed specialized services in business management offered within the social economy, particularly in the management of those experiencing rapid growth.

Marc Picard is primarily a practitioner. But he is also a man of reflection holding a master's degree in management from ENAP (University of Public Administration). Bachelor of urban planning as well as training manager, Mr. Picard is experienced in systematic approaches that he reconciles with technical skills and social goals.

Experienced and committed manager who collaborates in building strong and high-performing teams. My experiences in public affairs roles within various rich and diverse companies have sharpened my political acumen, enhanced my understanding of different sectors, and expanded my network. As a leader who works with a solution-oriented and collaborative approach, I also excel in bringing recognition to my colleagues and my company.

Since 2020, I have been leveraging my experiences and network within the offices of the Honourable Pablo Rodriguez. My exceptional adaptability and creativity have allowed me to develop a hybrid role between two offices, enabling me to use my management strengths to facilitate collaboration between the two teams and ensure their complementarity. I am responsible for strategic initiatives, including organizing Canada Day on Parliament Hill.

For 18 years at Cirque du Soleil, I provided leadership in the creation and maintenance of sustainable strategic relationships with various sectors encountered by the company at both local and international levels, in a complex and constantly evolving socioeconomic and geopolitical context. I managed the implementation of various social initiatives wherever the big top was set up. I have considerable management experience in a business reengineering context.

Furthermore, I have repeatedly demonstrated how creativity and boldness can enable doing things differently, with a focus on continuous improvement. Ten years at Radio-Canada radio in Ottawa as a researcher and producer allowed me to develop a critical sense, particularly in the entertainment sector, to navigate multiple projects simultaneously, manage teams and budgets, and advocate for the interests of Canada's linguistic minorities.

I had the opportunity to experience behind the scenes by participating in all phases of the project to build and implement the performance hall at the Casino du Lac Leamy, from the development of the architectural concept to its operation, including the selection of equipment, tracking of operating budgets, programming, and marketing!

In addition to my professional journey, my involvement in the community reflects the diversity of my interests, where I contribute through my passion and evident commitment to the importance of civic engagement.

Anne Dongois founded her communications agency in the early 2000s. An outstanding communicator, Anne is known for her dynamism, professionalism, perseverance and organizational skills. She quickly grasps her clients' issues and knows how to develop creative and effective communications and positioning strategies. Over the past twenty years, Anne Dongois has put her expertise and know-how to work for numerous clients such as the Société des célébrations du 375e anniversaire de Montréal, C2 Montréal, the Commission d’enquête sur la protection de la confidentialité des sources journalistiques, the City of Montréal, the Mira Foundation, the Musée d'art contemporain, Just for Laughs and the Grande guignolée des médias, in addition to passing on her passion for communications by teaching at ESG UQAM.

She joined Lune Rouge in 2016, first as a consultant, then as Chief of Communications. She is now Chief of Staff to the founder and continues to leverage her management and communication skills.

Ianik Lajeunesse has been working in the event and communications industry for 25 years.

As one of the first employees of the event agency Altitude Concepts in 1999, Ianik bought the company in 2010, renaming it Altitude C and positioning it as a strategic agency. He introduced the concept of smart events as business solutions. Under his leadership, Altitude C established itself as a market leader, notably by organizing more than 70 international events and becoming the first event agency to join the Association of Creative Agencies (A2C). Ianik served on the A2C board of directors in 2018. In 2019, he sold his shares to his partner, who took over the company.

Passionate and committed to training the next generation, Ianik has given more than 40 lectures to students at ESG, UDM, UQAM, HEC, ITHQ, and USherbrooke. As a training expert at Infopresse, he has provided around twenty training sessions on the themes of creative business events and mobilizing philanthropic causes through event strategies. He has also participated in several special Infopresse conferences as a guest specialist, where he notably presented the future of post-COVID event management in 2023.

From 2019 to 2021, Ianik acted as a strategic event consultant, supporting clients and agencies during the pandemic to exploit the potential of virtual events and adapt to new realities through engaging creativity and interactive content.

At the end of 2021, he officially joined the management team of the Niché agency as a development and creation strategist, contributing to the agency's success and growth ever since.

Viviane is an experienced manager in the renewable energy sector, recognized for her sharp business development acumen and her ability to build dynamic teams. Trained as an anthropologist, she specializes in sustainable development, decarbonization, and community relations. She has chaired the board of the Quebec Association for Renewable Energy Production (AQPER) and currently serves on the Quebec Council of Nature Conservancy Canada (NCC) and the board of the Nouveau Théâtre Expérimental (NTE). A friend of Les 7 Doigts for 20 years and a lover of the arts, she enthusiastically joins the foundation.

From 2002 to 2013, she was executive director of the Conseil des arts de Montréal, a para-municipal organization that supports artistic creation, production and distribution by some 400 cultural companies in Montréal. She is an experienced manager of cultural institutions and was at one time  in charge of the Canadian Centre for Architecture Foundation. For fourteen years (1987-2001), she held the position of director of communications and development at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts.

A graduate in political science from the Université de Montréal, Danielle Sauvage is a board member of a number of non-profit organizations, including the Foundation of Greater Montreal, the Festival Trans-Amériques (FTA), Le Cube, centre international de recherche et de création en théâtre pour l’enfance et la jeunesse, and the Fondation Guido Molinari.  Founding member of Culture Montréal, she is also a Community Board Member of TELUS Montreal, a member of CECI’s (Centre d’étude et de coopération internationale) Club des Ambassadrices, and a member of the HEC cultural mentoring program. In 2017, she was appointed commissioner of the Office de consultation publique de Montréal. From 2015 to 2019, Danielle Sauvage was Director of the Foundation Les 7 doigts de la main,  the fund-raising arm of the world-renowned circus company based in Montréal. 

Danielle Sauvage was nominated Knight of the Ordre du Québec in June 2018.

Patrick Léonard expresses his acrobatic and clowning talents with an intrepid, daredevil style. Trained as a chemist, this four-time champion figure skater, a graduate of the National Circus School of Montreal, began his career as a diabolist and clown at the Montreal Casino, then in German cabarets such as Pump Duck and Circumstances, the Wintergarten and the Freidrichbau, with the Swiss circus Knie, at the Teatro ZinZanni in San Francisco, and with the Cirque du Soleil. He won the Nicouline prize at the Festival Mondial du Cirque de Demain.

His ecological and social commitment leads him to contribute to benefit shows such as the Dans la rue organization in Montreal or Square Circle which he directed in 2018 and 2019 in Toronto. He also serves on the board of directors of Productions Carmagnole.

Patrick enjoys artistic collaborations. In 2015, he co-directed the acrobatic performances of Moby Dick, directed by Dominic Champagne at the Théâtre du Nouveau Monde. In 2019, he directed the show Looping for Comic Opéra (Switzerland), and in 2020, he directed the new creation of the Gypsy Kumbia Orchestra (Canada). He has regularly traveled to the Canadian Arctic to develop projects with Inuit communities, which led him to co-direct Unikkaaqtuat, a multidisciplinary creation co-produced by Artcirq and Taqqut Productions, notably presented in Ottawa in January 2020.

Since 2018, Patrick has been collaborating with the Research Chair in Emergency Medicine at Laval University and the Research, Innovation, and Transfer Center in Circus Arts. Together, they have created a knowledge transfer artwork based on the results of a scientific study on rural emergencies in Quebec. Since 2021, the film of the show Urgence Rurale 360 has been regularly screened at numerous conferences and training sessions.

As a co-founder and co-artistic director of Les 7 Doigts, Patrick co-directed Temporel, Vice & Vertu, La Vie, and Loft, shows in which he also performed. He created his first solo show, Patinoire, in 2011, which he still tours today. Played for a month at the famous Avignon Festival in 2014, this show mixes acrobatics and crazy prowess with a whimsical humor flirting with the absurd. In 2013, he played the main character in Un dia alongside his two eldest daughters in Mexico. In 2022, he played the comic character in the ice show Cadence.