Board of Directors

Synapse C announces the members of if its Board of Directors for the year 2022-2023. Officers were appointed at the Board of Directors meeting on June 17th, 2022.

Composed of directors from the cultural, philanthropic, and academic sectors, the Synapse C Board of Directors contributes to each pillar of its mission.

Jean-Sébastien Bélanger, Synapse C
Triangle jaune

Jean-Sébastien Bélanger

Treasurer

Chief External Relations Officer - National Theater School of Canada

With over 20 years of marketing experience, Jean-Sébastien Bélanger led a team of 60 employees at the Montréal Museum of Fine Arts. He transformed the relationship between the MMFA and its members. Because of his strategies, the number of members increased from 45,000 in 2011 to 133,000 in 2017, making the museum one of the most successful in North America in its field. Notably, he and his team carried out a complete overhaul of the loyalty program and, fueled by data, implemented new retention and acquisition strategies which made it possible to double the number of memberships and increase business turnover. In June 2011, he was appointed the Chief External Relations Officer for the National Theatre School of Canada.

Louise Poissant, Synapse C
Triangle jaune

Louise Poissant

Vice-President

Scientific Director - Fonds de recherche du Québec – Society and culture

With a PhD in philosophy, Louise is the Scientific Director of the Fonds de recherche du Québec – Société et culture. She was the dean of the Faculty of Arts at the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) from 2006 to 2015, and professor of aesthetics at the École des arts visuels et médiatiques from 1989 to 2006 where she headed the Groupe de recherche en arts médiatiques (GRAM). She is the author of numerous books and articles in the field of media arts in Canada and abroad. She is a member of the Royal Society of Canada.

Guillaume Thérien, Synapse C
Triangle jaune

Guillaume Thérien

Partner - Triptyq

A graduate in finance from HEC Montréal, Guillaume is known for his collaborative nature and his commitment to finding innovative solutions. He has established himself as a proven business development strategist who adapts to changes in industries and their different clientele. Most notably, he worked at BMG and Sony Music before leading marketing campaigns with the Mosaic agency and subsequently taking up the challenge of democratizing opera as the sales and marketing director for the Opéra de Montréal. He has also worked on the management teams of large companies such as TVA and Just for Laughs and served on the board of directors of Mutek, the Conseil québécois de la musique, and Pop Montréal. Currently, he was the managing director of , a non-profit organization with a mission to gather, help, and promote creatives in the entertainment sector to develop world-class innovative project.

Jean-Noé Landry, Synapse C
Triangle jaune

Jean-Noé Landry

Obama Scholar 2021-2022

Jean-Noé Landry is a social entrepreneur who uses data and innovative technological solutions to create collaborative cross-sectoral processes that redefine power relations between local community actors for the common good. He recently completed the Obama Scholars 2021-2022 program at Columbia University in New York City where he actively contributed to the School’s community of climate researchers while becoming involved locally in several environmental justice initiatives.

Between 2015 and 2021, Jean-Noé was the Executive Director of Open North, a Montreal-based organization that advises communities and governments of all sizes on data governance and sharing, digital transformation, and open technology strategies. During this time, Open North has grown from a civic technology start-up to a multi-disciplinary international non-profit organization specializing in open governance. Her applied research approach confronts systemic socio-economic issues and has been published in several international publications.

Prior to working at Open North, Jean-Noé spent more than a decade in the field with the National Democratic Institute and the United Nations alongside pro-democracy civic and political leaders in the Balkans, Afghanistan, Russia, Kenya, Tunisia, and Ukraine. Jean-Noé holds a BA from the College of Humanities at Carleton University in Canada and an MA in Philosophy from Trinity College Dublin. He was also a Community Leadership in Justice Fellow at the Centre for Research on Law, Technology and Society at the University of Ottawa. Jean-Noé is currently engaged in a number of cross-sectoral data collaborations that link climate science, action and justice.

Marie-Josée Desrochers, Synapse C
Triangle jaune

Marie-Josée Desrochers

President and CEO - Société de la Place des Arts de Montréal

Marie-Josée Desrochers is the President and CEO of the Société de la Place des Arts de Montréal. With twenty years of management experience in the cultural sector, she mainly assumed executive roles at the Montreal Symphony Orchestra where she actively participated in the development of the organization and the implementation of new initiatives and in overseeing the marketing-communications, planning, and artistic operations sectors before becoming the general manager and Chief Operating Offier from 2015 to 2019. Involved in her community, she is a member of the board of directors of the Quartier des spectacles Partnership, the Montreal Council on Foreign Relations, and of Synapse C. She was also a member of the board of directors of Orchestras Canada, chair of the educational orientation committee of the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal, and a member of the executive committee of the Conseil québécois de la musique. She holds a Master of Business Administration from McGill-HEC Montréal.

Triangle jaune

Émilie Chabot

Director of Strategic Development - Quartier des Spectacles Partnership

With more than 15 years of experience in the cultural, innovation and social inclusion sectors, she brings her expertise in business development, government relations, financing and the creation of innovative partnerships to bear on the Partnership’s projects. She ensures that the important mission of cultural enhancement of the territory is pursued with an eye to urban, tourism, social and economic growth opportunities. Émilie Chabot began her career in public and private financing in the cultural sector. In 2015, she joined the team of the Conseil des arts de Montréal and then became assistant director, philanthropy and partnerships. A graduate of HEC Montréal and the Université de Montréal, Émilie initiated the “Rethinking Cultural Philanthropy in Montréal” project in collaboration with HEC Montréal and the Conseil des arts de Montréal’s Social Impact project with Innoweave, a program of the McConnell Foundation.

To read the full article, it’s here.

Triangle jaune

Patrick Joly

CEO - Société de gestion de la BTLF

Patrick Joly holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, specializing in Finance, as well as a Master’s degree in Applied Economics from HEC Montreal. He has more than 20 years of experience in the technology sector where he has served in turn as Director of Finance, Vice President of Client Services and General Manager. In May 2018, he was appointed Executive Director of the French Language Securities Bank Management Corporation (BTLF). This interprofessional organization acts as an aggregator of the book chain’s metadata, in Quebec and French Canada, by marketing the Memento bibliographic database. In addition, the BTLF collects and processes, through its sales information service Gaspard, sales data on French-language books from retailers mainly in Quebec.