Our Board

Stephanie Chai

President (Co-Chair)

Stephanie Chai is a registered professional planner who practices regional planning at the Edmonton Metropolitan Region Board. She is a born and raised Edmontonian with lived experiences in Finland, Trinidad and Tobago, and Halifax. With local, regional, and international planning expertise, Stephanie believes in creating community and collaborative partnerships. She also understands the complexity of housing and affordability through her work in the Edmonton region and the Caribbean Network of Urban and Land Management (UN-Habitat Participatory Slum Upgrading Programme). 

Over the years, Stephanie’s engagement with The Local Good, MADE (Media Architecture Design Edmonton), TIME (Today’s Innovative Music Edmonton), and CIP (Canadian Institute of Planners) has enabled opportunities to appreciate different perspectives, especially in the arts. Particularly interested in urban interventions, Stephanie’s curiosity propels her to re-imagine underutilized spaces and look innovatively at buildings, infrastructure, and everywhere in-between. Stephanie has been recognized in the community including Edmonton’s Top 40 Under 40 (2018), Urban Design Awards Honourable Mention (2017), Canadian Institute of Planners Award of Merit (2017) and Recognition Award (2011), Alberta Professional Planners Institute Award of Merit (2017), Make Something Edmonton Changemaker (2017), and Dance Like No One Is Watching IllumiNITe People’s Choice (2015). She completed her Master’s in Planning at Dalhousie University and her Bachelor’s degree at the University of Alberta.

Stephanie is passionate about building a more livable, creative, and vibrant city and region for her family and community.

Viktoria Grynenko

President (Co-Chair)

Viktoria Grynenko is a violinist born in Kyiv, Ukraine. She has graduated from Kyiv Glier Music Institute. In 2011 Viktoria received a scholarship from Desautels Faculty of Music at the University of Manitoba and came to Canada to study with Oleg Pokhanovski. Viktoria holds a Bachelor of Music degree in Violin Performance from the University of Manitoba and a Master of Music degree in Violin Performance from the University of Ottawa. In Ottawa, her studies under the tutelage of Yehonatan Berick were funded by the prestigious KUN scholarship. Grynenko has just received a Doctor of Music degree from the University of Alberta studying with Guillaume Tardif. Her research explores the idea of ‘metaphoric intersectionality’ between violin and dance gestures.

She organizes numerous concerts in collaboration with ballet dancers and explores rare violin repertoire related to ballet music. Viktoria holds the Beryl Barnes Memorial Graduate Award, Pamela Farmer Graduate Scholarship, Maria Yaworska Scholarship, Barbara Newbegin Scholarship, Stephanie Perozak Scholarship, St. Andrews College Scholarship, Strauss Foundation Award, Kun Scholarship, Desautels Music Scholarship, and others. Throughout her studies, Viktoria had an opportunity to work with Michael Vaiman, Yosuke Kawasaki, Janusz Wawrowski, Sigrun Edvaldsdottir, Axel Struss, Anatoly Bazhenov, Taras Gabora, and others. Grynenko appeared as a soloist with Oslo Symphony Orchestra (Norway) and Glier Music Institute Symphony Orchestra (Ukraine), she also performed as a soloist, chamber and orchestra musician throughout Canada, Germany, Austria, and Ukraine. She has been serving as a concertmaster and Teaching Assistant for the University of Alberta Symphony Orchestra between 2017 and 2020 under Petar Dundjerski.

Passionate about education, Viktoria leads numerous masterclasses for violin and chamber music students through community organizations and higher education institutions. She has presented at conferences and lectures with such topics as “Hristoskov’s Rachenitsa, an adaptation of Bulgarian Dance for Solo Violin,” “Violin Gestures in Bach’s ‘Erbarme Dich,” and “Rethinking Ysaye: Hidden Treasures in 6 Sonatas for Solo Violin.” In March 2020 Viktoria also served as strings and chamber music adjudicator for the Winnipeg Music Festival.

Viktoria’s interest in new music encouraged her to commission and premiere pieces by such composers as Henry J. Ng, Valentin Bibik, Zach Bales, Jennifer Bachynsky, Jerry Semchyshyn, Mika Pelo, Maxim Shalygin, and others. As a dedicated supporter of El Sistema program of music education for children from low-income families, Viktoria has worked and volunteered with the program in Winnipeg, Ottawa, and Edmonton. Currently, Viktoria works as a Music Director and Violin Teacher at the Society for Talent Education.

Erick Estrada

Treasurer

Erick is a passionate advocate for the arts. He is fully aligned with the values of Arts Habitat Edmonton. With a diverse background in both operational management and community engagement, he is committed to advocating for, building, and managing appropriate and accessible art spaces in Edmonton.

As the Executive Director of the Alberta Avenue Business Association, Erick fosters a thriving business environment while recognizing the vital role of the arts in creating dynamic and vibrant communities. In his previous role at the Canadian Mental Health Association Edmonton Region, he optimized operational capacity, identified gaps, and modernized processes and systems to increase value for their program participants.

Beyond Erick’s professional experience, he has actively engaged in volunteer positions and served on various committees, demonstrating his dedication to community development. Erick is eager to contribute to Arts Habitat’s mission of creating sustainable and entrepreneurial artistic communities through appropriate art spaces. Erick believes these spaces are essential for nurturing creativity and fostering a vibrant arts scene in Edmonton.