Inner City Youth Development Association

Jay is from Yellowknife, Northwest Territories. He has lived, played music, and worked in Edmonton, Alberta, since 1997. Jay also spent 5 years studying Anthropology at the University of Alberta then left his field of study to become a working musician and a full time letter carrier for Canada Post. He is a father of four with his partner Lana. Jay has experience in the live music industry and is working to be more proficient with arts funding models and grants for organizing.

David's passion for lifelong education lead to a role on the Board, of which he has been a part since March of 2017. He graduated the University of Alberta with a degree in Electrical Engineering followed by an MBA from the same institution. Currently, David is in Business/Project Management at EPCOR. During his free time David is active outdoors and enjoys cooking.

Cory is passionate about promoting positive change within the community and empowering high risk youth to be a part of that change through education. He was appointed to the Board in 2017 and currently serves as Treasurer for ICYDA. Cory holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Alberta (2010), a Juris Doctor (JD) from the University of Saskatchewan (2013) and is a designated Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA) (2017). He is a Tax Lawyer at Moodys Gartner Tax Law and has provided strategic counsel to corporations and individuals with a primary focus on tax law.

Lori is part of the Edmonton community and teaches at the secondary level with Edmonton Public Schools. Lori has a Bachelor of Education with a major in mathematics (University of Alberta) and a Master of Education in educational leadership (University of Portland). Lori joined the Board in January of 2022, looking to positively impact Edmonton’s most vulnerable youth through supporting life-changing opportunities that are aimed at addressing barriers that marginalized Indigenous and other urban youth may face.

Before retirement, Alexina served as the Artistic Director/Program Coordinator at ICYDA and was a cofounder of ICYDA and Inner City High School. She holds a BA from the University of Calgary and a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Alberta. She is passionate about community development and the power of the arts. She currently writes full time. Her debut novel will be published in the fall of 2023 by Liquorice Fish, an imprint of Cinnamon Books, an independent U.K. publisher.

Nikolai is a part of the Board as a non-voting staff representative. He is Executive Director of the Inner City Youth Development Association. Nikolai graduated from Inner City High School, completed a BA in Psychology from the University of Alberta and a number of psychology courses at the Graduate level from the University of Calgary. He is currently in the process of completing a Masters in Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies: Leadership at Athabasca University.

Joe is part of the Board as a non-voting staff representative. He is currently Chief Operating Officer of ICDYA and Superintendent of Inner City High School. Joe is a co-founder of both ICDYA and the school. He holds a B.Ed., M.Ed., and Ph. D. from the University of Alberta and an M.A. in Education and the Virtual World from the University of the West of England.