Over her 15 years of leadership, Leah Houston has developed strong skills related to strategic growth, governance and partnership development. In that time, MABELLEarts has emerged as a powerful example of what’s possible when people come together to make art and solve problems. With a team of compassionate, smart and imaginative colleagues, Houston and MABELLEarts are re-defining the role of the arts in low-income communities. Leadership development and civic engagement, public space transformation and design, and grassroots tower renewal and local economic development are all integral to the work of MABELLEarts under Houston’s leadership. Houston is a graduate of York University’s Environmental Studies Department and holds an M.A from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto. In 2021, she was awarded the inaugural Tim Jones Creative Placemaking Award for her work in the Mabelle neighbourhood.