Jelina Haines was born in Manila, Philippines in 1970 and migrated to Australia in 1997,holds a Graduate Certificate in Business Information Management (Archival & Preservation Mgmt), a Bachelor of Arts (Interdisciplinary Visual Arts) and a Diploma in Community Cultural Development (Dip.CCD).
In 1967 (presiding until 1990) he was appointed the first president of the NOVA SCOTIA COLLEGE OF ART AND DESIGN (Halifax) and in a very short time transformed a conservative and traditional art school into an energetic avant-garde institution au courant with the newest developments in the visual art