Alka joined Folk Music Ontario as the Executive Director in 2013. Prior to that, she worked as the Interim Executive Director at the Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival and spent many years as the Senior Manager of Operations with the prestigious Toronto International Film Festival. Alka has also worked at CBC Radio as the Associate Producer for Outfront and in campus/community radio in Ottawa, Guelph, and Toronto. She sits on two Board of Directors including being the President of the Ottawa Music Industry Coalition and as Treasurer on the Folk Alliance International Board, which is based out of Kansas City, Missouri, USA.
The theme for IWD 2021 is #ChooseToChallenge. What does that mean to you in your personal or work life?
The theme of #ChooseToChallenge I incorporate in both my personal and work life. In my personal life, when I was growing up my parents, who were immigrants from India, instilled in me a sense of ethics and values. They always told me that I would have to work twice as hard as everyone else in Canada since I am a woman, and a woman of colour which makes it especially important to work harder. I have always kept this in mind as I started my work life and advanced in my career to always work hard and to always face challenges head on in a positive manner.
How important is it for women to lift each other up and what does that look like to you?
I believe that it is very important to have women lift each other up. We must find positive qualities in each other and encourage women to use their skills to make sure that they can reach the highest potential that they so choose. More than anything, we need to have each other’s backs and know that we are not competing, but progressing together. I think that as we are older and more involved in the music industry, it is important to encourage young women and young women of colour to pursue a career in music and we should be mentors to uplift young women and each other.
What do you think are the biggest issues facing women in music today? Do you have any suggestions for the industry to make progress in alleviating these issues?
I think the big issue facing women in the music industry are still the barriers that don’t allow women to become the CEO’s of major record labels, or producers of their own music, or are put in the background when they are in bands. There are many more issues, but I think these ones are common and can be easily rectified. I would say that women should be brought up to be in charge and I am a firm believer in succession planning. When there is a succession plan in place, bring women in to be the successors by having them shadow the inner workings of what a CEO does, or bring them in when albums or tracks are produced so that they are actively learning. It’s important to have women involved on every level in order for women to succeed.