Board of trustees

Susanne Notman (Chair)

Susanne has been part of the cultural and arts community in Bermuda for more than 30 years, as a volunteer and as a writer and journalist. She earned a bachelor of art's degree from Concordia University in Montreal, majoring in English literature and art history. Susanne is the chair.

David O'Beirne

David has served as director of programming since the festival's inception in 1997. A senior architect at Bermuda firm, OBM, David studied at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, earning a diploma and bachelor's degree in architecture. David is a founding member of the festival.

Andre Perez

Andre joined the festival's board in 2007. He and his wife, Catherine, are long-time supporters of BIFF. He has more than 20 years of experience in insurance, reinsurance and alternative risk transfer, and is the founder of the Horseshoe Group. Andre has a bachelor's of science degree in mathematics from the University of Montreal.

Juan Wolffe

Juan joined the festival's board in 2008. He and his wife, Francoise, are ardent supporters of the festival. Juan was appointed a Magistrate in 2005 and primarily sits in the Civil Court of the Magistrates' Court in Bermuda. He has a bachelor of art's degree from York University, and earned his LL.B. Hons from the University of Kent.

Shelly Hamill

Shelly is a mosaic artist working in three-dimensional mosaic dress sculptures and Italian smalti portraits. Shelly lived in Bermuda for 17 years where she worked with numerous arts organizations including creating and running for five years the popular Art in the Park program for children. Before becoming an artist full time, Shelly owned and operated Bermuda Weddings and Special Events for 15 years and coordinated the bridal fair at Dockyard for 10 years.

Joe Gibbons

Joining as a Trustee in 2010, Joe has several years experience in Bermuda's not-for-profit sector, having served as chair of the Allan Vincent Smith Foundation (AIDS) and Montessori Education Trust (education). He is currently president of Meals on Wheels (Bermuda) Ltd. After an early career in banking, he retrained in the culinary arts and has since coached Bermuda's junior culinary team, judged local food competitions, written on local food and restaurants, produced his own television food show Cooking with Friends, and partnered with Gourmet Solutions to offer evening cooking classes.

Patrice Horner

Patrice sits on the Board and leads the fundraisng sub-committee, making her the first point of call for corporate sponsors and private patrons. In her professional life, Patrice was previously Vice President of North Atlantic Asset Management Ltd, where she was an investment manager of corporate pension plans. Patrice gained an MBA (Finance) from Seidman College of Business.