Canadian International Dragon Boat Festival Society Leadership Staff

Alexis Gall – Executive Director

Thanks to a drive to do more, Alexis was pulled into the dragon boat world over 20 years ago, and hasn’t looked back since. Originally from Saskatchewan, she moved out to Vancouver for university at SFU, and worked at the Festival’s (then) marketing firm. Her work caught the eye of Society staff, and was quickly brought on as a staff member.

Since 2001, she has served as marketing manager, developed programs, worked with partnerships and marketplace, and now serves as the Society’s General Manager. Her area of responsibility includes board liaison and development, working with key partners, organizational management and development, and staff/volunteer development. She holds a BA (Sociology) and MA (Urban Studies) from SFU.

Dominic Lai – Senior Development, Marketing, and Operations Director

Born and raised in Vancouver, Dominic used to attend the dragon boat festival when he was a child. In high school, he joined Eric Hamber’s dragon boat team, eventually becoming its coach and general manager for multiple national (2013, 2016, 2017) and world championships (2014, 2018). In 2017, he served as Program Director and Head Coach for Team Canada U16/U18 at the 2017 World Championships in France, and raced with Team Canada at the 2018 World Cup in China.

He has been with the Society since 2015, taking on a range of volunteer roles with accessibility and youth development, and in staff roles for marketing, race administration, and operations. Currently, his area of responsibility covers partnerships; sport, cultural, and community program development; marketing; and event production and operations. He holds a BA (Political Science and History) and a MA (Political Science) from UBC. He was named to BC Business’s 30 Under 30 in 2023.

Anwar Flores – Event Operations and Activations Director

Leah Nagano – Race Director

The Canadian International Dragon Boat Festival Society acknowledges its work takes place primarily on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded lands and waters of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh peoples.