← All work
Case study 02EventsDesign

Axé
WorldFest.

Admin and artist liaison at Axé WorldFest, an Ottawa world-music non-profit since 2019 — plus a website rebuilt to win grant funding.

RoleAdministrative Assistant
I ownRecords · Expenses · Correspondence · Artist liaison · Website proposal
OutputYear-round admin, festival green room, a 6-page site
Period2025 — Present
A guitarist singing on stage, from the Axé WorldFest archive
From the Axé WorldFest archive
20–25

hours a week, hybrid, mostly working independently

6

pages rebuilt for the website proposal

4

public funders the website was written for

2

languages planned — English and French

01
The organisation

A small team putting world music on Ottawa stages.

Registered in Ottawa on 28 March 2019, Axé brings local and international artists together, focused on BIPOC artists, newcomers, 2SLGBTQ+ people, artists with differing abilities and others facing systemic barriers. Its work: a World Music concert series, the EWIMI conference with the National Arts Centre (since 2022) and Global Cultural Connections.

A jazz band performing at an Axé WorldFest event
02
Behind the scenes

Clean records are what keep a non-profit funded.

  • RecordsOrganisational records in Excel, including expense tracking and event documentation
  • ReceiptsProcessing, filing and reconciling receipts and supporting documents
  • FilingDigital and physical filing systems kept current and easy to search
  • EmailCorrespondence with staff, performing artists, vendors and community partners
03
Festival days

On show days, the artists are my clients.

During the festival I run artist liaison and the green room: schedules, hospitality and whatever comes up. Most of the job is anticipation, so when the schedule moves the room is already ready.

04
The website

A website built to win grant funding.

Axé’s site runs on Wix. I rebuilt it in code for its funders — the Ontario Arts Council, the Canada Council for the Arts, Canadian Heritage and the City of Ottawa: six pages, a French version set up, clear impact numbers and a page for partners. It’s a proposal, not live yet.

Home page of the Axé WorldFest website proposal
Website proposal · Home
Programs page of the Axé WorldFest website proposal
Website proposal · Programs
05
What I learned

Arts organisations run on trust and paperwork.

A non-profit lives on its funders’ trust, and that trust is built in the details: receipts that match, records anyone can find, emails answered on time. I’d bring the same habits to any team.

Next case study
BALLA