Passionate about fusing art and social change from an early age, Ilona’s diverse experiences range from being a Canadian delegate to the United Nations at 17 years old to producing concerts across Canada. Along the way, she gained extensive hands-on experience in reaching unengaged youth, active citizenship, and artist management.

A life long social entrepreneur, in January 2004 Ilona co-founded Apathy is Boring, a national non-partisan charitable organization that uses art and technology to educate Canadian youth about democracy.

As Apathy is Boring’s current Executive Director, she has accompanied the Governor General of Canada on the 2009 State Visit to the Ukraine and Norway, been featured by the national media (CTV’s Canada AM, MuchMusic, CBC’s The Current, The Ottawa Citizen), worked with rock stars (K’naan, Nelly Furtado, Melissa auf der Maur, Raine Maida), and given thousands of youth the tools they need to get involved in their communities.

Ilona has won awards including the Yukon Women’s Award: Young Women Leader, and was recently named as an Ashoka Fellow. She was also featured in the book "Notes from Canada's Young Activists."

Raised by socially engaged parents in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan and Whitehorse, Yukon, Ilona currently lives in Montreal, Quebec and continues to speak around the country about innovative ways to reach unengaged 18 to 35-year-old Canadians and give them the tools to become active citizens.

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