Rachael Van Fossen is a theatre artist, former artistic director, teacher, arts consultant, and researcher whose particular focus has been the development and promotion of engaged community arts practices. She has frequently acted as a consultant for community-engaged theatre projects across Canada, and has traveled to England, Ireland, France, Greece and Australia to lead workshops and/or speak about her work. She was the founding artistic director of Common Weal, a company acknowledged as a Canadian leader in community-based arts. During her tenure as Artistic Director of Black Theatre Workshop (2001-2005) she successfully integrated community arts programming into the life of this Montreal professional theatre company. Rachael is on faculty in the MFA in Interdisciplinary Arts Program at Goddard College (Vermont) and teaches in Theatre and Development at Concordia University, a program for which she contributed to development of curriculum. She is also a co-founder and artistic associate of the Collectif MOYO in Montreal.

Rachael Van Fossen is a Primary Writer for the Connect Publication