Meet your coaches
Fane Tse
CO-FOUNDER, COACH
Mr. Tse started performing at a young age. At seven years old his parents enrolled him in a speech arts class, hoping he would speak louder and make better eye-contact with other people. He enjoyed the class so much that he continued to enrol in more performance based activities, including: Theatre classes, speech writing, debate, high school main-stage theatre productions, and improvisation classes.
All those experiences have changed his life for the better, and he hopes he can inspire his students to to become confident, eloquent, and empathetic members of society. He is honoured to be a small part in each of his student’s individual public speaking journeys!
Mr. Tse graduated with a double degree from the University of Calgary with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatre, and a Bachelor of Arts in Communications Studies, and he also has Performer's Associate certificate in Speech and Drama from Trinity College London, United Kingdom. He is also a professional actor in film and television. You may see him appear on some of your favourite movies and TV shows, and he often pops up in commercials across Canada and the U.S.
Josette Jorge-Tse
CO-FOUNDER, COACH
Josette Jorge-Tse was born and raised in Vancouver, British Columbia. She studied at a French immersion elementary school and attended high school at a top-ranked all girl's private school where she was voted Student Body President. She then earned her bachelor's degree in Theatre Performance at Simon Fraser University School for the Contemporary Arts. She also holds a Performer's Associate Certificate for Speech and Drama from Trinity College London, United Kingdom.
The youngest of a large family, Josette started off as a quiet and timid young girl. Her parents enrolled her into speech and drama classes in order for her to work through her shyness. Through the art of performing she discovered her ability to make people laugh, the freedom to express herself, and the permission to be seen. Since then, she has never stopped performing and is now recognized as an acclaimed professional actress on stage, TV, and film. In fact, children often recognize her as "Pam Fontaine" from the popular TV show "The Stanley Dynamic" on YTV. Josette came a long way from being quiet and timid!
Because of her background Josette has a passion for helping youth discover their voices and leadership skills through speech arts, much like she did. She has been teaching speech and drama at several schools and colleges for over 14 years. As a teacher, her goal is for her students to find their personal power and highest potential through public speaking.
Shawn Ahmed
COACH
Mr. A is an award-winning actor and filmmaker hailing from Scarborough. In grade 4, his teacher recognized his wild imagination and cast him as the lead in their school production of Grease. Thus, began his love for storytelling. Even while he earned a Specialist in Economics and Economic History at the University of Toronto, he found a way to perform; working on stages in the backs of bars, church basements and street festivals.
Mr. A proudly sits on the board of directors at POV FIlms, a not-for-profit that helps marginalized youth break into the Film, Television and Advertising industries. There he mentors, develops and trains students in the various parts of production, as well as Executive Producing several young creatives' projects for Bell Fibe TV1.
He is also the co-founder of Crazy Shirt Productions where he acts, writes, and directs. Crazy Shirt’s projects have toured festivals around the world, sold for national distribution and garnered multiple awards.
Jeff Yung
COACH
Mr. Yung. (He/Him) is an actor, martial artist and sometimes poet. He’s a member of the Artistic Leadership Collective of the outdoor theatre company Shakespeare in the Ruff and has acted on stages and screens across Canada.
In addition to acting Mr. Yung has always been passionate about helping people of all ages become more comfortable with communicating through speech. He hopes that he can help your students find the fun that can come from being able to speak from their true voice.
Jenna Phoa
COACH
Known at Ivy Speech Arts Academy as “Miss Jenna”, Jenna Phoa (She/Her) always had a lot to say growing up, but didn’t quite know how to get the words out! She spent a lot of time mumbling and stumbling through conversations and presentations… until she joined a community theatre company in middle school, and found the confidence to express herself.
Now, having graduated from the Acting for Camera and Voice program at Seneca@York in 2019, Jenna is an actress in film and television, and still takes vocal and acting classes herself. She credits all her teachers and classmates with helping her to discover the joys of communicating, performing and unleashing your voice, and she can’t wait to support students as they do the same! When she isn’t acting or coaching, Jenna can be found painting, paddle boarding, or playing with her family dogs, Pepper and Oreo. Excited to see you in class!
Wilex Ly
COACH
Wilex Ly is a professional actor who has appeared on a variety of tv shows and films. At the start of his artistic journey, Wilex received his foundational training in music theatre where he went through vigorous vocal training. After graduating Wilex has performed at theatre companies like Solar Stage, Sudbury Theatre, Theatre Aquarius, and more! However, his biggest (and most relevant) accomplishment pertaining to speech arts is audibly performing Shakespeare plays at Berczy Park–an area that is frequented by construction crews, downtown nightlife, and fire truck sirens. Through that process, Wilex had to refine his speech and vocal techniques to be able to safely project his voice through some of the most unforgiving environments.
Wilex has recently branched off into film and tv as of 2020. He has acted on screen in projects such as The Expanse, Kings of Napa, Nurses, Handmaid’s Tale and others. Even more recently he has started out his voice acting career appearing as a supporting role in the movie Fireheart alongside William Shatner, Kenneth Brannagh, Laurie Holden, and Olivia Cooke. He recently finished recording 41 episodes of Mittens and Pants that you can watch on CBC Gem!
Mikalah Reid-Beckette
COACH
Mikalah Reid-Beckette is a Toronto based actor with experience in the world of both film and theatre. She completed her training at York University and holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in theatre. With her background in childcare, Mikalah is passionate about finding and catering to the learning style of each child in order to give them a positive learning experience. She is looking forward to instilling confidence and positivity into students so that they are able to grow into the best versions of themselves and have fun doing so.
Vicki Kim
ONLINE COACH
Vicki Kim is a Toronto based actor. She also wrote and performed stand-up comedy in Toronto for two years.
Vicki holds a BSc. in Psychology from the University of Toronto with minors in Drama and East Asian Studies.
Select credits include a recurring role on The Expanse, The Boys, Utopia Falls, The Handmaid’s Tale, Shadowhunters, Second Jen (Television);
Work It (Film); Band Ladies (Web series); Comfort, Miss Saigon (Theatre). And recently filmed on Season 7 of Workin Moms, new series Robyn Hood and Disney film Out of My Mind.
Vicki has been teaching at Ivy Speech Arts Academy since 2018 and has had the pleasure of watching her students grow into confident young speakers, debaters and even actors! She’s passionate about students finding their voice and building the confidence to use them. She also loves to travel and speaks a little Italian, Korean, and French.
Erin Eldershaw
ONLINE COACH
Ms. E will be teaching her 7th school year with Ivy Speech Arts Academy and she can't be more excited to offer online classes again! Ms. E started her love of teaching through the arts world, offering Stage Combat classes at high schools and postsecondary institutions across the GTA. Ms. E has been acting in the Toronto area for over a decade, having completed her education with George Brown Theatre School's classical conservatory program in 2010. Although she now lives in Montreal, you can still catch her in a few holiday television movies every winter! She can't wait to see all your smiling faces this season. Let's work and explore speech and performance online!