Tara Lapointe named Executive Director of the Michaëlle Jean Foundation

The Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean and Jean-Daniel Lafond, co-founders and co-presidents of the Fondation Michaëlle Jean Foundation (FMJF), are pleased to announce, on behalf of the Board of Directors, the appointment of Tara Lapointe as Executive Director.

As our Foundation celebrates its 10th anniversary in 2021 with a rich calendar of events, activities and programs, we know Tara will employ her extensive experience and leadership qualities, including her sensitivity to social issues and her warm personality, to enhance the Foundation’s strategic mission to
support thousands of youth in mobilizing against isolation, exclusion and all forms of discrimination, injustice and appalling inequity in our society.

Tara will maximize the impact of the Foundation’s actions on a national scale, broadening and consolidating the established connections we have with numerous valued partners across the public, private, cultural, community, and academic sectors.

About Tara Lapointe

For the last decade, Tara has held leadership roles at the Canada Council for the Arts as Director of Communications and Director of Arts Promotion, where she oversaw the growth of the Art Bank’s programs and increased the visibility of the Canada Council’s prizes and prize recipients. 

Alongside her passion for the role of the arts to address social issues, including identity, community and social justice, Tara brings extensive communications, partnership and program management experience. Deeply engaged in her community, she serves as a mentor to newcomers and as a Board member of the Ottawa Community Housing Foundation. Her leadership has been recognized with the “40 Under 40” Award and the International Association of Business Communicators’ Distinguished Service Award. 

“I am delighted to join such an important national organization that continues the mandate ofCanada’s 27th Governor General, Michaëlle Jean, with the invaluable support of her husband, filmmaker and philosopher Jean-Daniel Lafond, both passionate about the power of the arts as catalysts for social change. Together, they have mobilized the Foundation in support of youth facing exclusion across Canada, celebrating their creative and civic efforts and initiatives and engaging their leadership in the revitalization of their communities,” says Tara. “These actions are more necessary than ever in these uncertain times where so many gaps are widening.”

“Tara Lapointe is a passionate, energetic individual who brings the sensitivity, experience and expertise we are looking for. She joins the Foundation at an important time in its history to help further anchor the work accomplished over the last 10 years, with targeted projects and strong partnerships that respond to emergencies at a time of solitude and divide, but also of youth-led mobilization, as exemplified by the Black Lives Matter movement among others,” adds Michaëlle Jean.

“Indeed, as we celebrate our 10th anniversary, we look forward to setting new and ambitious
goals now and for the future. We know that Tara will bring new strategies and fresh perspectives to our work,” concludes Jean-Daniel Lafond.

The mission of the Michaëlle Jean Foundation is to facilitate far reaching connections and create platforms for dialogue and action to eradicate systemic racism, chronic unemployment, homophobia, Islamophobia, sexism, hate speech and criminality, exclusion, and homelessness, all of which are sensitive realities that affect the well-being, safety, and mental health of thousands of youth at risk across Canada from all walks of life.

The Foundation focuses on culture, education, innovation, and entrepreneurship among youth. It involves decision-makers from a variety of sectors, creating spaces of opportunity and visibility that offer young people a platform through which to amplify their voices, explore and showcase their talents, and discover and strengthen their leadership, harnessing the power of art to raise awareness, help find and implement solutions, and create change.

For media: Please contact for more information Paul Cormier at (613) 697 8300, communications@fmjf.ca.