Board of Directors
The Drive Foundation is proud to present its global board, made up of seasoned music industry and mental health professionals from around the world. Together they work to advance the Drive Foundation’s vision to support mental health through music, arts and holistic recovery.
Peter Åstedt
Peter has been working in the music industry for over 35 years and has developed a global community of colleagues through his extensive career. He has started record labels, distribution systems,publishing companies, developed promotional and marketing for artists, managed campaigns, having worked with the Top Ten most-streamed songs as well as had music on both the Olympics and Super Bowl. Peter currently runs several major showcase festivals while being an advisor for INES and co-founder of MusicHelp/Discover Sensation, with Future Echoes in Norrköping, Sweden, while holding the position of Station Manager of Cashbox Radio and journalist/managing partner for the legendary Record World International magazine.
“This is one of the biggest things that we never talk about in the music business, and how mental health and its effects on the creative world of not just the artists but the music professionals. I am excited to join the Advisory Board of the Drive Foundation to share my knowledge and contacts to further develop awareness of not just the growing concern of mental health and addiction, but the goal to provide tools for recovery and mental health.”
Peter Åstedt
Sandy Graham
Quoted as having one of the most diversified and interesting careers in the Canadian music industry, Sandy Graham is known as a trailblazer, who relishes in using her decade long career to uphold integrity and maintain a moral compass in a business that is known to have challenges on that level.
Various accolades in her career include being one of the first female Music Directors in Canadian radio, being the first female a major label hired in the Quebec market (RCA), a celebrated choreographer both in film and stage, a nightclub owner, an event producer, manager, strategist and consultant, the Drive Foundation is the perfect initiative for this driven and focused professional to help create awareness and exposure to a growing concern for mental health and addiction.
Currently an owner of two legendary music magazines, Cashbox Canada and Record World International, an on-air Host and Program Director of Cashbox Radio, and the founder and CEO of Entertainment Music Group (EMG CANADA), Sandy sees and experiences the daily challenges of working in a business that has one of the highest stress levels imaginable.
“Having been personally affected by loved ones suffering from alcoholism, mental health challenges along with my own personal anxiety, the Drive Foundation is such a wonderful opportunity for me to spread the word in my personal and professional world to shed light on this fast growing affliction on so many levels. The Drive Foundation, unlike so many other organizations, has a platform to address these issues while providing support and solutions. It is time to shake the stigma attached to these traits and issues that I feel most creative people (and others) suffer in silence. Together we can change that, moving forward to healthier happier lives through healing and support. I am honoured and humbled to join the Advisory Board of the Drive Foundation.”
Sandy Graham
Kayleigh Lebak
Kayleigh Lebak is a graphic designer and illustrator with nearly two decades’ experience. American by birth and international by choice, she and her trusty laptop have circled the globe, working with clients ranging from Fortune 500 companies to independent upstarts. She first cut her teeth working with non-profit organizations and to this day has a special love for working with charities and festivals. Together with her partner Boyan Pinter, she is one of the forces behind SPIKE – Bulgarian Music Showcase, Bulgaria’s first showcase festival and music conference, and its precursor SIMC – Sofia International Music Showcase.
The Drive Foundation is the perfect partner for this designer to use her skills and connections in service of the greater good.
“I am excited to join the Drive Foundation as a part of the Board of Directors and put my skills and passion to work using the power of design to share the Drive Foundation’s powerful message about the importance of speaking openly about mental health and addiction and supporting each other on our journeys.”
Kayleigh Lebak
Michael Loveless
Michael has 30 years of management experience in the entertainment, IT, and hospitality industries. Michael is the owner of Vancouver-based Process Flow Consulting. Mr. Loveless leads a team of IT professionals that provides digital business solutions to a broad range of industries for small to medium businesses around the world.
“I think it would be hard to find a person on the planet that has not been touched in some way by the pain and suffering of mental illness and addiction and I am by no means an exception to that rule. When Steve Brown (London based award-winning record producer) and I began working with Michelle Titian’s music career, we immediately became inspired by her mission to help people suffering from what she had overcome. Subsequently, the three of us decided to establish Drive Foundation to amplify Michelle’s personal mission and build a network of like-minded people who can come together to fill the gaps in our current overloaded mental health care system. We felt that it would be effective to use music and the arts as a vehicle to reach the masses and create a conduit between the people suffering with mental illness and addiction with the providers of mental health care and addiction services. With the Drive Foundation, I found a vehicle to action my desire to help others.”
Michael Loveless
Boyan Pinter
Boyan Pinter has been working in Music for 22 years. He was formally trained as guitarist and composer in Houston, Texas. Jumping from being a stage performer to a production coordinator, Boyan wanted to get involved on a deeper level with the programming and organization of large-scale events, which led him to work with the Lotus World Music And Arts Festival in Bloomington, IN. He also obtained an MA in Arts Administration from Indiana University, Bloomington. In the early 2010s Boyan was called to work as an event production specialist in Bulgaria where he worked with some of the biggest names in music including Aerosmith, Mark Knopfler, Nigel Kennedy, Hans Zimmer, Cirque Du Soleil, Iron Maiden, Roger Waters, Queen + Adam Lambert, etc.
Boyan is a regular attendee and speaker at music conferences where he talks, among other things, about the grueling behind the scenes schedule that production crew members face on a daily basis. He currently books international shows for venues in Bulgaria and the wider Eastern European region and is the founder of SPIKE – Bulgarian Music Showcase: a platform for networking, education, and showcasing young artists and songwriters. He has also earned a place in the crew of the Green Futures Field at Glastonbury Festival, the largest and most prestigious event in Europe.
“It is a real privilege for me to be joining the Drive Foundation to sit as a Board Member. Mental Health is truly the proverbial elephant in the room that we never properly address when dealing with the stresses of the industry. I see many examples of the impact it has on both seasoned and developing music professionals across the industry. I am excited to share my knowledge and experiences and use my network to raise awareness of these issues. I look forward to developing workshops and programs that help our people recognize triggering situations and help them cope and recover from the inherent mental imbalance that our work brings about.”
Boyan Pinter