ALL OF US
We are people make it work. We work as associates, within a professional community with a shared commitment to support the cultural sector to change, develop and transform. We are established leaders, consultants, coaches and facilitators with track records, deep skills and a wonderful set of values… we are committed to the cultural and broader not for profit sector and guaranteed to go the extra mile when we are helping you deliver your plans.
Miki Lentin
Consultant
Miki Lentin
Consultant
Hi there, My name is Miki, and I love taking an innovative and entrepreneurial idea and running with it. I love developing creative ideas together with colleagues so that they become inspired and more active in their work. I love writing and using words to portray the heart of an organization, and I love leading teams, giving everyone a voice. Clients who are open, innovative, willing to have honest, thought provoking conversations and who live their values are ones that I really enjoy working with. Some of the organisations I have worked with include, British Library as Head of Corporate Affairs for 10 years, more recently consultancy work for the Houses of Parliament and the Imperial War Museum. Created and designed London’s Knowledge Quarter. In the future, I’d love to establish more innovation districts and Knowledge Quarters in cities and towns that see the value of partnership, community engagement strategies that meaningfully support local and underrepresented audiences, supporting organizations in realizing their strategic potential and creative communications campaigns that create impact. Some of the nice things clients have said about me include; “It was a pleasure to work with Miki on a number of projects over several years. He's engaging, an excellent communicator, politically astute and insightful, creative and full of great ideas. He is also an exceptionally nice person, and a great colleague. I'd love the opportunity to work with him again in the future” Katie Matthews – Director, Katie Matthews Consulting
“Miki is a great manager and a genuine pleasure to work with. His quick thinking, good judgment, attentive listening and sense of humour made a lasting impression on me, and I will always be grateful for his commitment to the personal and professional growth of his team.” Tom Johnson, Senior Policy Advisor at LCBO
“In a thirty-year career in publishing and libraries, I have worked with a fair few Comms specialists. For the six or so years that I worked with Miki at the British Library, I have to say he is hands down the best. Creative, proactive, unflappable. I loved working with Miki on a variety of campaigns.” Simon Bell, Associate Publisher John Wiley & Sons.
I’d say my specialist areas are; strategic communications, helping organizations with strategic vision and purpose, corporate leadership, brand development and community engagement. And finally - I am a very values-led person. I do a lot of voluntary work and believe strongly in supporting society and those who are underrepresented where I can. I also believe that the culture and the creative sector can play a vital role in supporting social change.
Laura Drane
Consultant.
Laura Drane
Consultant.
Hello, I'm Laura. I love doing a really broad range of work including facilitation, creative producing, consultancy, public engagement, scoping/ feasibility, bespoke research, organisational development, complex project management, and work with social purpose. The characteristics I value in a client include curiosity, collaboration, generosity, bravery and an investigative attitude. Since 2002, I have worked with many organisations including Royal Museums Greenwich, Nesta, BBC Performing Arts Fund, British Council, National Theatre Wales, ATG, Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, Crafts Council, Theatre Bristol, Science Museum Group, Voluntary Arts, Festival No6, DF Concerts, IETM, Manchester International Festival, National Dance Company Wales, Jazz North, CBSO, Arts Councils in England and Wales, and many universities and local authorities. Nice things clients have said about me include: “Laura has earned widespread respect and is sought out by many artists and organisations for her insight, energy and expertise. Laura’s track record as a cross-artform, multi-disciplinary creative producer is strong and much valued. But I also want to emphasise her impact as a leader and as a person who embodies the values she believes in. Laura has been working in the arts for nearly twenty years; predominantly as an independent. She is a deeply impressive individual; compassionate, activist and engaged.” (Simon Harris, Director of Lucid and Clore Fellow)
Adam Cooper
Consultant.
Adam Cooper
Consultant.
Hi there, I'm Adam. I love working with a blend of creativity and structure, helping organisations to explore plans to improve their resilience and sustainability. I get a real buzz unearthing the deep values and drivers that form an organisation’s identity, and using those to guide our work together in strategic development and income generation.
I love working with clients who have a clear and exciting creative vision, but are also driven by their role in society.
I have worked with a broad range of arts and culture organisations across the UK, including Sage Gateshead, Sound and Music, Dalcroze UK, Boiler Room, Peckham Platform, Stagetext, The Star & Shadow Cinema, Pathway Arts, Blue Cabin, Skimstone Arts, Cobalt, and The Art House.
I would love to continue working with creative organisations who have potential to develop significantly and make increased impact, but need a little help working out their next steps.
Clients I have worked with say I am highly creative and analytical, able to draw together disparate, complex themes and articulate them with clarity and purpose.
My specialist areas include strategy development, fundraising, communications, and project development.
Dr Claire Antrobus
Coach and Consultant
Dr Claire Antrobus
Coach and Consultant
Hi there, I’m Claire.
I love getting involved with leadership development, organisational development and change, strategy development with non-profits, particularly in the arts/culture sector and education.
I enjoy working with clients who are ambitious and passionate about the role of culture and education in society.
Some of the organisations I’ve worked with include: Tate, Hepworth Wakefield, Turner Contemporary, mima (Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art), British Council, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Cumbria Museums Consortium, University of the Arts, Mission Models and Money, University of Leeds, The Poetry School and Creative Scotland.
In the future, I would love to do more work in organisational development, team and leadership development.
Some nice things that clients have said about me:
“The safest pair of hands I know.”
“I would recommend her without hesitation if you want the sort of consultant who will try and get to the bottom of the issue at hand and help you do what needs to be really done. She is an excellent critical friend, someone who will tell you what you might not want to hear, but nevertheless need to hear. In short: fiercely intelligent; analytical; results-driven.”
“As an independent consultant to cultural organisations, Claire’s reputation is second to none in the UK. She is an original and creative thinker in cultural policy, in particular focusing on the real needs of artists within the cultural and wider economy. Moreover, she delivers – on time, on budget and with a complete understanding of the brief given to her.”
My specialist areas include organisational development, change management, strategic planning, coaching, action learning, creative and cultural sector, visual arts/ museums sector, cultural policy and non-profit governance.
Dr Hilary Palmer
Director of Care and Support
Dr Hilary Palmer
Director of Care and Support
Hello, I’m Hilary. As a consultant systemic psychotherapist, I love working collaboratively to create and accomplish agendas for change. I pay close attention to diversity and culture, and aim to harness the richness and resourcefulness inherent, but sometimes hidden, within teams. As understanding is gained, organisational objectives can be realised, new thinking emerges and ideas develop to become action. I love curious clients: clients who are willing to shake up their sense of the world, and look through a different lens to experiment with different ways of being, seeing and operating. I value and admire not only an organisation’s creative endeavours, but the creativity of every team member, and enjoy helping or-ganisations embrace this creativity in the pursuit of positive change and difference. I have worked within the NHS for twenty-five years and I am currently a lead consultant in Surrey. I have also worked in various higher education establishments and am a consultant at the Tavistock Centre where I lecture and supervise on the integrated professional doctoral programme. I would love to bring my broad experience of the arts and organisations to en-rich your team’s potential and help facilitate positive change. My style is one of warmth, wisdom and humour. Clients frequently remark upon my energy, commitment and passion. My work incorporating arts into the systemic field has been described as ‘ground-breaking’ and my recent publication has been critically reviewed as ‘outstanding’ and ‘a great development for the systemic community’. I have a doctorate in systemic psychotherapy and my research explored how change can be embedded in organisations. This included cultural and personal challenges in promoting innovation within teams, how we might identify and respond to individual, group and organisational default positions, and what is needed to be in place for change to be realised and sustained. As a musician, I am aware that some things can be communicated more fully without words. I am keen to help organi-sations also find these unspoken narratives and include them in their thinking.
Lilli Geisendorfer
Consultant and Facilitator
Lilli Geisendorfer
Consultant and Facilitator
Lilli is an independent consultant and facilitator, working at the intersections of culture, climate and change. She is currently p/t Director of Theatre Green Book, supporting the performing arts sector to transition to net zero, and works with a wide range of cultural and creative organisations and programmes towards a transformative future.
Lilli has extensive experience of developing strategic plans and programmes to support arts and culture to become more inclusive and equitable. She enjoys designing and facilitating sessions that help people find the right ways forward for themselves, and specialises in empowering teams to develop new ideas, have difficult conversations and support each other.
She is passionate about improving the quality of policy making across arts and culture, and developing policy to support transition to circular economies, green jobs and a sustainable future. She’s obsessed with approaches to decision making, and loves to share the secret power of using random selection to revolutionise selection processes, or bring everyone along through consensus decision making.
Current/recent work includes projects with British Fashion Council, Creative UK, West Midlands Combined Authority, and Paul Hamlyn Foundation.
Before going freelance in summer 2024, Lilli was Deputy Director of the Creative Policy and Evidence Centre (PEC), where she delivered the first four State of the Nations reports, and Director of Jerwood Arts for five years, channelling £10 million of funding to over 1000 early-career artists from all art forms across the UK, as well as designing and delivering leadership programmes such as the Weston Jerwood Creative Bursaries.
She started her career in think tanks, before co-founding HighTide and becoming a theatre producer, including for the Almeida Theatre, and working for Arts Council England.
She is Co-Chair of Fuel Theatre, a Trustee of Projekt Europa and a mentor with Arts Emergenc.
Della Hill
Consultant and speaker
Della Hill
Consultant and speaker
Hi there, I’m Della. I love equality, diversity, inclusion and all that comes with it. My passion lies in supporting the development and implementation of meaningful change to ensure the focus on improving diversity and inclusion is deeply embedded within organisation and businesses. I also enjoy working on the creation of Strategic or Business Plans which really hone in on an organisation’s values to pull that wider picture, vision and mission together. I value open-mindedness, innovation, boldness, curiosity and dedication in my clients. Essentially, that ‘give it a go’ attitude is a great starting point and essential to build and grow. In turn, I’ll mirror those qualities and work alongside you to achieve your goals. I’ve managed and delivered large-scale initiatives to address structural inequalities alongside advocating for social change within the Arts, Culture and Creative Industries, Higher Education institutions and the Equalities sector. I’m the Diversity & Inclusion Lead for Wales’ leading gender equality organisation, Chwarae Teg. I was previously Literature Wales’ Creative Lead where I oversaw their Representation & Equality priority. Alongside those roles, I’ve supported impactful and important programmes across sectors which advocate for the importance of diversity. Most recently, I’m supporting the Weston Jerwood Creative Bursaries Programme as an Associate Alumni. I’d love to support organisations and businesses who are working towards improving their focus on diversity and inclusion. From those who are at the very beginning of their journey, to others who are looking to move to the next stage of their long-term plans, I can help answer those tricky questions or encourage you to test and trial new and exciting ideas. Clients have said that I provide a solution-focused, authentic and calm approach to solve and support those tricky, top-level, priority developments. My specialist areas include diversity and inclusion, strategic development, project management and delivery, and inclusive recruitment approaches. In addition, I can chat for England, so I’ll almost always say yes to a panel or event where I can share my opinion – it’s always handy to give me a time limit!
Amber Massie-Blomfield
Consultant
Amber Massie-Blomfield
Consultant
Hi, I'm Amber. I'm passionate about the power of the arts, and I love working with organisations and artists to understand their vision and create the strategies that make them possible. With 16+ years' experience working in theatre, as well as my own practice as a writer, I have a holistic approach and believe firmly in integrating the philosophy and values of the art into every element of an organisation's work. My particular areas of specialism are internationalism, communications and, increasingly, environmentalism. I'm also a supportive mentor for people at the beginning of their leadership journey, a bid writer with an excellent hit rate, and I facilitate events with tenacity and humour.
I've worked with and for organisations like Complicité (as Executive Director), Camden People's Theatre (as Executive Director/Joint CEO), Pro Helvetia, the Albany Deptford, Barbican, Bristol Old Vic, Battersea Arts Centre, Theatre Green Book, Ticketmaster International, Universal Music Group, Trowbridge Town Hall and many more. As a journalist I've contributed to titles including the Guardian, Independent, TLS and The Stage, and I'm author of two books - Acts of Resistance (Footnote Press, June 2024) and Twenty Theatres to See Before You Die (Penned in the Margins, 2018). I have a diploma from the Chartered Institute of Publicists.
Sam Allen
Consultant, Facilitator...
Sam Allen
Consultant, Facilitator...
Hi, I’m Sam, the Founder and CEO of Creative Arts Social (CAS) Consulting Ltd.
I've worked in the international contemporary arts and cultural heritage sectors since 2012, predominantly working on strategic project management and research to advise arts and cultural organisations how to build relevance, develop accountability and adopt and implement impactful and sustainable practices to benefit, develop and diversify their workforce and audiences.
I'm a passionate advocate of anti-racism and social justice in the arts and heritage sectors. Since I've worked to dismantle structural inequities to catalyse positive and sustainable change in the sector by developing audience engagement and development strategies, improving opportunities for marginalised people in the workforce and building inclusive business development plans to positively transform organisational cultures inside and out.
I've worked with a range of leading cultural, heritage and educational organisations in the UK and internationally and I'm frequently invited to share my expertise as a keynote speaker, University lecturer and thought leader on anti-racism-in-practice, Identity & Belonging, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion in the workplace, Black British history and De-colonisation in the arts and heritage sectors.
I am a Mentor and Associate Training Consultant for Women of Colour Global Network (2023 - present) and a practicing mentor and AoEC qualified Executive Leadership Coach. Formerly, I was a Director of Museum Detox CIC (2021-2023), a trustee of UP Projects (2022-2024), Chair of the board for Seeta Patel Dance (2022 - 2024) and a member of the Museum Association’s Decolonisation Leader’s Network (2022-2023). I'm a Fellow of the RSA (2023 - present) and a Creative Community Fellow (2021-2022).
Claire Doherty
Consultant.
Claire Doherty
Consultant.
Hello there, I’m Claire.
The kind of work I love doing includes strategic creative visioning (with particular consideration of place and context), reimagining inclusive programming and establishing a civic role for an organization; cross-artform cultural programming – helping places to reconnect with audiences; organisational and partnership development with a particular focus on inclusive practice; leadership development, organisational change and business planning and finally cheerleading and mentoring young women in particular. Some of the characteristics I most love in a client are, courage to work differently, curiosity and commitment to artistic independence and commitment to public engagement, a willingness to act swiftly and smartly for fast results as well as transparency and honesty. Some of the organisations I have worked with include; British Council; City of Melbourne; Oslo Harbour Development; English Heritage; Historic England; National Trust; Torbay Council; Plymouth City Council; Bristol City Council; Bristol City Council (Cultural Strategy Steering Group); Tate; Creative People and Places; Bristol Old Vic; European Network of Public Art Producers; Arnolfini (Director) and Situations (Founding Director); Artes Mundi (Trustee)
Foundation for Art and Creative Technology (FACT) (Associate Curator)
Some of the work that I’d like to do more of in the future includes; Theatre and performing arts – executive consultancy/leadership and engagement development; Working on a creative strategy for a particular location – helping partners to come together – envisioning work of scale and ambition with long-term impact; cross-artform, festival strategy development; and civic leadership.
Nice things clients have said about me include; “Inspiring and approachable”; “Lead thinker in place-based commissioning and programming”; “Entrepreneurial and courageous”; “Confident public speaker” and “Fast!”
Some of my specialist areas are; Place-based creative visioning; Strategic partnership development; Reimagining public engagement; Public art and cross-arform commissioning; Inclusive Leadership; Organisational Development and business planning; Organisational Change.
Emma Wilcox
Consultant
Emma Wilcox
Consultant
Hi, with thirty years' experience in the cultural and creative industries, my passion and focus is in purposeful placemaking, delivering culture-led regeneration with equity and relevance. I am a strategic thinker with an excellent delivery record, and I work with clients and colleagues flexibly and responsively. With an excellent appreciation of strategy and vision I can analyse information in an organised and effective manner, understand complex issues and quickly propose realistic solutions.
I have honed my expertise across a wide range of roles, most recently as the founding Director of Creative Estuary, an ambitious £7.7m programme to transform the Thames Estuary through investment in cultural and creative industries. I have worked as a consultant to local government, and to arts and cultural organisations including Turner Contemporary, Creative Folkestone and Culture Trust Luton. As a Senior Manager at Arts Council England I devised and developed national funding programmes including Creative People and Places.
I’m highly skilled in leading ambitious projects with multiple stakeholders, building dynamic and durable partnerships, securing partnership investment and with significant bid writing successes. My leadership style is facilitative and enabling, creating strong highly motivated teams.
My work has often been situated in the area between private and public sectors and I am highly accomplished at managing the transition between different organisational cultures, structures and sectors, translating needs into action. I’m firmly committed to equity and inclusion, ensuring that my work enables diverse voices and those with lived experience to shape the most relevant solutions.
Sarah Boiling
Consultant.
Sarah Boiling
Consultant.
Hi there, I’m Sarah.
I love doing work which brings cultural organisations and audiences closer together. This ranges from training and presenting through to facilitation, planning and audience research. I enjoy working face to face with people and having the opportunity to make a real tangible difference to their work.
I love to work with clients who are open minded and genuinely want to change, and it is energising and rewarding to work with people who have a really clear creative vision.
I have worked with a wide range of cultural organisations of different scales and in different sectors, including National Trust, Crafts Council, Photographers’ Gallery, Streetwise Opera, London Borough of Camden, Independent Cinema Office, National Gallery of Ireland, Fevered Sleep, British Council and Into Film.
In the future I would love to do more work that encompasses both organisational and audience development.
Nice things people have said about me include:
“Working with Sarah was both highly effective and a complete pleasure. Her knowledge and expertise enabled us to design an innovative and valuable piece of collaborative research with a number of national partners. Her analysis and advice was always highly relevant and trusted.”
Hayley Skipper, Curator of Arts Development, Forestry Commission England
My specialist areas are audience development, training, facilitation and audience research.
Dr Ernest Taylor
Consultant, researcher
Dr Ernest Taylor
Consultant, researcher
Hello, I am Ernest. Writing/storytelling tasks stir my passion. This skillset has been honed over an extensive journalism career and undertaking doctoral research using ethnographic methodology. They now allow me to privilege the voices of others, particularly those that are representative of marginalised groups or communities, or those who, for whatever reason, are less able to do so. My versatility is in grasping the strange or unfamiliar rendering them in the narrative of the embodied. Words, the tool of my trade, are primary carrier of norms and values – culture – can be powerful and transformative. Typically, I have a penchant for tasks, which challenge the status quo. From a standpoint of multiple realities, I remain open to and accepting of new concepts, ways of doing and seeing. In various roles as journalist, academic/social researcher or lecturer, I have sought to work co-creatively to promote the objectives of the client, group or organisation. A critical feature of my work is its public awareness underpinning, which stems from my experiences as a journalist and knowing what is newsworthy. I have worked as a Senior Reporter with the Coventry Evening Telegraph, served as Features Editor of The Voice and contributed various freelance features to The Guardian, Independent and other publications. I have lectured in tourism and human geography for both Coventry University and the University of Worcester. I led the research, writing and editing of the report: ‘Structures for Community and Territorial Cohesion’ for RICHES (Renewal, Innovation and Change: Heritage and European Society), a multi-million dollar research project involving ten European Union partners and Turkey. The study examined new ways of engaging with heritage in the digital age. I also wrote think papers such as: ‘Cultural Heritage Festivals: belonging, sense of place and identity’ and ‘Digital Heritage: intellectual rights, democracy and commoditisation of cultural heritage places’ and the policy brief: ‘European Minorities and Identity: strengthening relationships for a sense of belonging in the digital era’. As the aforementioned indicates, my specialist areas of interests are imbued in notions of belonging, sense of place, identity and social cohesion. In my doctoral thesis, ‘Culture, tourism and sustainability: an ethnographic study of rural community development in Jamaica’, I interrogated some of these themes, as well as concepts relating to culture economy, indigenous and rural knowledge and spirituality. My work is seen as ‘novel’ and ‘excellent’ examples of thematic writing. I welcome the opportunity to draw on my array of skills in co-creating outputs that are engaging, privileging voices, generating awareness and empowering organisations or individuals.
Kate Fielding
Consultant
Kate Fielding
Consultant
Hello, I’m Kate. I love helping people to look at the big picture, articulate a powerful vision and purpose, and figure out the long-term strategy to can make it happen. It’s about getting to the heart of an organisation’s story, and bringing it to life for the audiences, stakeholders, funders and partners who can help you achieve success.
The best clients have big, hairy, audacious goals, lots of energy and the openness to try new ideas and approaches.
I’ve worked with the Natural History Museum, Tate, Exhibition Road Cultural Group, and with charities and universities including the Institute of Cancer Research and Imperial College London.
Cultural organisations have a unique ability to move people and create change. I’m particularly keen to work with clients on honing their purpose, and aligning internal and external communications strategies to deliver social impact.
People have been kind enough to share some complimentary views of my work including; "Kate’s experience and knowledge have been invaluable in supporting us and helping us grow our ambitions with confidence."
"Kate creates campaigns and strategies with real impact on organisational brand, profile and reputation. She has impeccable judgement and clarity, consistently delivers insightful ideas and is fun to work with - I highly recommend her."
My specialist areas include: strategic communications; brand purpose and narrative; integrated communications strategies; reputation and issues management; change communications; communications audits.
Chris Gorry
Consultant & Coach
Chris Gorry
Consultant & Coach
Hi, I'm Chris. I'm driven by social impact and ensuring arts and cultural organisations are genuinely serving the audiences or stakeholders they are intending to serve. I enjoy working with organisations to develop their Artistic and Operational Co-Creation methods and delivery plans, to ensure equitable and inclusive engagement frameworks. I have experience in leading festivals, producing, local authority creative compact work, programming, youth and community arts in both small project funded organisations and for Arts Council England, National Portfolio organisations. I'm experienced in entrepreneurial approaches, mixed model income generation, scale up and theory of change driven business planning.
I've worked for a number of organisations as both a freelance and employed member of staff including; The Spark Arts for Children, Warts and All Theatre (Founder), Royal & Derngate, Theatre Royal Plymouth, Almeida Theatre, The Point, The Castle Theatre, Birmingham Repertory Theatre and Chichester Festival Theatre.
As a values driven leader, it all comes down to the Vision and Mission for me! I enjoy rigorously evaluating how organisations Vision, Mission and Values are embedded in everything from Governance to PR and marketing. I'm also a theatre director specialising in co-creation, so I love working with all kinds of artists, and have previously led a number of Diversity and Inclusion driven Talent Development initiatives co-ordinating national and international partnerships. Deep down I'm driven to ensure that arts and culture is accessible to everyone, and you'll usually find me exploring a provocation or two, on how to make this industry more relevant and inclusive to places, spaces and people.
Joanne Launder
Coach and Consultant
Joanne Launder
Coach and Consultant
Hi there, I'm Joanne. I really enjoy supporting people and organisations to identify their needs and aspirations and to deliver at their best. That could be through supporting them in the organisational changes and transformations that they are trying to make or supporting leaders to optimise their individual impact and performance. I love supporting problem solving, analytical thinking and looking at things with a real attention to detail.
As a consultant and freelancer I am led by my motivation and commitment to working with people and organisations that are looking to make a positive lasting impact and a real difference to people’s lives, supporting them to deliver at their best. I love organisations and people that display openness, integrity and transparency. I have worked strategically with Arts Council England, British Library, Carnegie UK Trust, Libraries Unlimited, Libraries Connected, Wellcome Trust, WOW festival & Southbank Centre, Local Authorities and a range of public library services across the UK, Exeter Cultural Partnership and the Higher Education sector. I’d love to do more talent nurturing, supporting organisations to build leaders at every level and enabling leaders to thrive. I really enjoy mentoring, employee engagement, managing people, performance and relationships. My specialist areas include; working within the arts, culture, libraries and charities sectors. Leadership, organisational change and development, running a charity, governance and sector change. I love working with communities and in partnership. My background is as a qualified and chartered librarian, but over the past 10 years I have worked in senior management roles in the library and charity sector with a focus on creating sustainable organisa-tions which make a real difference to communities and individuals. I’m an empathetic, innovative and resilient leader with a strong track record in organisational delivery, operations and development within the culture sector. I’m experienced in leading cultural change within a large, growing organisation, engaging with staff, communities and strategic partners to deliver lasting transformational changes.
Azieb Pool
Director of Creative Ambition
Azieb Pool
Director of Creative Ambition
Hi there, I’m Azieb, I’m a senior creative leader, arts strategist and writer, passionate about the power of culture to connect people, unlock hidden stories, and spark radical change. From 2019–2025, I led the Bernie Grant Arts Centre in Tottenham, north London, helping it become a nationally recognised home for bold, Black-led creativity. During that time, I secured Arts Council England National Portfolio status for the first time in BGAC’s history, founded the Tottenham Literature Festival and BGAC Windrush Festival, rebuilt relationships with the Local Authority, and built exciting partnerships with brilliant organisations like Talawa, Dance Umbrella, LIFT, Greater London Authority, National Youth Theatre, Punchdrunk, and major funders including Paul Hamlyn Foundation, Freelands Foundation and Barings Foundation.
Before BGAC, I was Senior Programmer at Southbank Centre, London, where I led Africa Utopia, an annual festival highlighting African and diaspora arts and ideas. I also played a key role in growing and expanding the Women of the World festival (WOW), including internationally to Somaliland, Nigeria, and Baltimore, USA. I’ve also been a trustee of LIFT, an Artistic Advisor to Manchester International Festival, a patron of the SI Leeds Prize, and a member of the Mayor of London’s Black Cultural Events Advisory Group.
I began my career as a journalist, writing for The Guardian for over a decade and contributing to The Times, Stylist, and Vogue UK. I’m also the editor of Fashion Cities Africa and the author of My Fathers’ Daughter — reprinted in 2022 as part of Bernardine Evaristo and Penguin’s Black Britain Writing Back series. I believe that for work to be truly ambitious, it must be inclusive and collaborative. My specialist areas are; creative ambition, vision, artistic strategy, artistic development, racial and gender equity within the arts and embedding diverse practices. I’m also a Hamilton superfan, but we’ll get into that another time.
Vicki Igbokwe-Ozoagu
Director of Empowerment
Vicki Igbokwe-Ozoagu
Director of Empowerment
Hello! I’m Vicki Igbokwe-Ozoagu.
The types of work I love doing is collaborating with people and organisations who are ready to step outside of their comfort zones and explore possibilities and opportunities they do not think are available to them. They are ready for real change, willing to have meaningful conversations (including the difficult ones), understand the importance of their team and can trust the journey even while hitting temporary bumps along the way. This can be done through 1-2-1 coaching and group facilitation.
Characteristics I love to find in a client are those who are open to doing things differently, curious, able to laugh at themselves, open to being vulnerable, willing to let go of the façade, want what is best for them/their team/organisation and not with being right, want to have fun and enjoy the process.
Some of the organisations you have worked with include Dance4, Looks Like Me, AkomaAsa and Diverse City.
I’d love to do more work in the future with organisations that are ready for change, consulting on strategies that embed Diversity, Inclusivity and Equality in the heart of the organisation, empowering individuals within organisations to find strategies to lead their teams more effectively and generally creating space and time for organisations to connect with the individuals who are the foundation of their business.
Nice things clients have said about me include my ability to create a safe space for open conversations free of judgement, enable them to own being empowered, entertained and educated, bring focus and clarity, enable them to breathe and relax, let go of anxiety, tension, doubt, to laugh (sometimes while shedding a tear).
My specialist areas are dance, theatre and people. Working from the inside out.
My work will enable you to think fierce, be fabulous and live spirited in a way that brings value to you and those around you.
Claire Williams
Consultant
Claire Williams
Consultant
Hi-
Do you have big ambitions but are overstretched? Do you need a critical friend and a kind, helping hand? If you are reading this you will probably be a brilliant, creative person who is committed to making the world a better place to live in. What you don’t need is someone to come along and tell you how to do your job. What you might need is an extra pair of hands to do something you don’t have time to do. Or you might want someone to help you to take a fresh look at a difficult problem.
I do all sorts. I’m excited by a well written business plan, a meaningful evaluation, a great funding bid and an inspiring case for support. I love a challenge. Throw me a ball a ball and I’ll catch it.
I can help you to produce a succinct, jargon free busines plan that will ensure that you stay focussed and on track. Together we can produce a persuasive Case for Support through demonstrating your social impact. You might want a hand to review your funding model and to enhance your fundraising strategy. You might have ambitions to become a truly inclusive company, if so, I can help you produce a step by step action plan that will transform the way you recruit staff and engage with the public. I can also evaluate a project, a scheme of work or your entire organisation.
As a consultant I have worked with the National Museum of Wales, Welsh National Opera and the National Dance Company of Wales but my specialism is in working with organisations or groups of people who are marginalised or living with discrimination because of neurodivergence, race, religion, sex or perceived status.
It is hugely pleasurable to work with amazing people who work in the arts and heritage sector.
Clare Williams’ empowering training session for our core staff team reminded us that we have to model what we preach, and really helped us to find our own authentic voice and power. Her style is warm and empathetic with the right amount of challenge, energy and pace. Clare offers expert, skilled and engaging training and I would wholeheartedly recommend her.
Justine Wheatley, Chief Executive, Peak
Clare Williams presented at our January 2020 Congress in New York. The 500 delegates were beyond engaged in the conversation and the importance of inclusion of divergent artists. Enlightening would be my description of Clare’s work.
David Baile, CEO, International Society of Performing Arts
Zara Rush
Creative Producer
Zara Rush
Creative Producer
Zara has spent the last 12 years producing a wide variety of UK based cultural projects. She started out at Sadler’s Wells working in the community and engagement team connecting local and national communities with the theatres exceptional artists and resources and project managing large scale community productions and festivals. She went on to work with Corali, a learning disabled dance company, to develop new performance work and secure a national tour. Simultaneously Zara was creative producer for MOVE IT 2018, Europe's largest dance expo at Excel Centre, overseeing the creative programme and infrastructure for the event which saw 30,000 people enjoy the show. Recently her work has seen a shift into the wider cultural sector working across museums, heritage, libraries, performing and visual arts. In 2019 she produced a series of conferences for Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation on the Civic Role of Arts Organisations which developed an in-depth enquiry into what cultural spaces represent for communities. Most recently she is working for people make it work producing leadership and change programmes. During summer 2020 she produced CULTURE RESET a rapid response programme for 192 producers in the UK to reimagine the future of arts and culture and address the topic of relevance in their work and organisations. Zara is also a yoga coach and approaches all her work with a deeply invested interest in what it is to be human and to lead with compassion and equanimity.
Hardish Virk
Consultant
Hardish Virk
Consultant
Hello there, I am committed to equality of opportunity and participation, which has driven my work over the last thirty years. My focus is audience and organisational development work through consultancy, training and campaigns. I love working with clients that are authentic, transparent, committed and have a genuine willingness to learn, share and where applicable develop. A few of the organisations I have worked with Arts Council England; British Council; Arts Marketing Association; Royal Shakespeare Company; Royal Albert Hall and Coventry UK City of Culture Trust.
'Hardish Virk is a highly effective and thorough Marketing Consultant with excellent vision, insight and a can-do attitude. His experience working with diverse communities and his strategic approaches to each campaign means the client is always in safe hands!' Mary Rahman, Press & PR Consultant, MRPR
Laura Twemlow
Head of Belonging
Laura Twemlow
Head of Belonging
I’ve worked in marketing and communications in large, complex organisations, managing culture change programmes, internal, external and stakeholder communications, audience engagement, customer research and brand management. I love working on complex projects, defining the scope, understanding the reach and delivering the details to achieve the bigger picture results. Along the way, I’ve worked with and developed high performing teams that have shaped organisational and sector thinking.
I love working with people who are committed to making a difference, challenging existing practices, open to new ideas and passionate about achieving meaningful outcomes. It’s great to work with organisation that embraces an ‘all company’ approach, empowering individuals and teams to learn, engage, develop and celebrate success.
I have always chosen to work with charities, and non-profit organisations in the fields of Education, Arts and Community Regeneration.
I’m passionate about communication and engagement in all forms… whether it’s helping to improve satisfaction, reinforcing brand values through internal communication, or enhancing service delivery and the customer experience. I’d love to continue working with people and organisations on projects that make a real difference.
People I’ve worked with have called me passionate, positive, emotionally intelligent, supportive, with an ability to focus on the detail and the bigger picture to deliver results on time.
Communication strategy, employee engagement, customer experience, brand management.
Pearl Jordan
Coach and consultant
Pearl Jordan
Coach and consultant
Hi there, I’m Pearl! The work I love doing is performance and wellbeing based and looking at how closely the two are entwined. How we ‘be’ inside impacts how we perform outside. And I love helping people to go within, identify their unique rhythm and to dare to dance freely on the stage of life.
My passion is self-leadership and authentic, creative, self- expression. Questions such as who am I? what do I want? bring a ‘tingle to my fingers and a tingle to my feet’ because in that space, truth is bubbling up inside, a voice is about to be released, clarity is on the horizon and a renewed confidence is about to soar and lead the way. It is an honour to be able to facilitate this process for individuals and teams, through coaching, workshops and speaking. Characteristics I love to find in a client are a willingness for deep change, taking full responsibility for their process, a client who feels the fear of vulnerability and shows up anyway and who is ready for fun along the way. Some organisations I have worked with include Brunel University, The Pipeline Executive Leadership Summit, , Ready Steady Go Pre-school Nurseries, Centre of Advanced Training, Swindon Dance, The Professional Speaking Association, LAMDA, British Association for Performing Arts Medicine, One Dance UK. I would love to bring my directing skills to team building development. Over the years I have witnessed such personal and professional growth within individuals and groups, way beyond the stage, that it has inspired me to want to provide team building programs through the art of performance. I consider working with clients’ to be a two way street, I learn from them as they learn from me.
Nice things clients have said about this journey include... "Pearl Jordan is an energetic and intuitive trainer...Her sessions made us think about why we do what we do and helped us to believe that we can achieve great things".... "such positive energy, we left after her much engaging talk recharged and ready to win the race..." evokes a sense of trust, respect and wisdom"... "I felt relaxed and safe and revealed truths in myself I hadn’t acknowledged before’...A wrap around experience of love"... "she is so intuitive and I felt truly held while being free to explore all aspects of me..." I was left feeling SO clear and energised. The last thing I wanted to say was that I am positively enthusiastic about real lives and encourage new stories for a better life.
Charles Beckett
Consultant.
Charles Beckett
Consultant.
Hello, I am Charles. I love to help cultural organisations think about their strategy and work through major changes and transformations so that they can make their work more effective and achieve greater impact.
In particular, I like to help leaders think about the whole model of their organization and their businesses, to make sure that they can deliver the most important elements of their mission as effectively as possible.
I have a long background in public funding or the arts and culture, both in the UK and internationally, so I am able to offer specific advice about fundraising from public sources and aligning organizational strategy with funders’ requirements.
I have also worked on several large digital projects in the cultural sector and advised several organisations on digital strategy and digital projects. And I am always hapy to give advice about how to design and develop digital projects and look at organization-wide digital strategy.
I have a particular interest in literature and publishing, and a very good knowledge of the issues affecting organisations working in this sector as well as current trends, business models and reader development, and I love to work on literature projects.
Some of the characteristics I love to find in a client include;
• openness to new ideas;
• clear strategic thinking;
• friendly and inclusive teams;
• positive and inquisitive approach to change;
• interest in understanding audiences and audience behavior;
Some of the organisations I have worked with include;
BBC; Nesta; The Poetry Society; European Cultural Foundation; Centre for Contemporary Culture in Barcelona and Literature Wales …
In terms of work I’d like to do more of in the future, I’d like to help more cultural organisations make the most of digital opportunities, strengthen relationships with their existing audiences and connect with new ones, and focus on the things that they do best so that they can achieve their goals and overcome organizational issues which prevent them from being as effective as possible.
Some of the nice things clients have said abvout me in the past include;
• ‘exceptional service’
• ‘consistently high standard [of work]’
• ‘reliable and very professional’
• ‘your help has been invaluable’
If I have to describe my specialist areas, I’d say they are;
• public funding;
• literature and publishing;
• digital technology and strategy;
• international working
And finally…. I am always interested in working with new organisations, getting to know new teams and discussing new challenges or objectives. I feel that I have a range of knowledge and expertise which can offer insights across a number of different fields and I am always ready to discuss potential solutions or signpost other sources of support and advice when I am not able to provide answers myself.
Amanda Colledge
Consultant
Amanda Colledge
Consultant
Hi there, I’m Amanda. The type of work I relish is joining the dots in complex and challenging situations and working collaboratively to articulate and plan the delivery of an organisation's ambitions. I particularly enjoy working with people across organisations, whether board members, senior teams or operational teams, to ensure that any plan can be successfully delivered. I love working in the cultural and heritage sector due to the ambition of these organisations to serve their audiences and constantly challenge themselves to do better. I passionately believe that work environments where people learn from each other, share different viewpoints and perspectives, and have the bravery to challenge the status quo are the most rewarding and deliver the best results. I have worked in a diverse range of organisations, both in finance and capital programme roles, including Tate, the House of Commons and the Palace of Westminster Restoration and Renewal Programme. In the future, I would love to help more organisations define their strategy and plans for successful implementation, ensuring a solid evidence base. This includes developing or adapting financial and business strategies and models to meet new strategic, financial or operational challenges. Things people say about me? ‘You have always been totally collaborative and constructive… and that has been very much appreciated across our team’. ‘I just wanted to say that I enjoyed working with you and really came to admire your analysis and the unusual combination of strategic thought and attention to detail’. ’Great strategic thinker and expert at positioning the big messages to get the desired outcomes. My sense of humour and pragmatism is often positively commented upon. My areas of specialism include strategy and business planning, programme management, business case development and approvals, change management, governance, transforming an organisation's financial management capabilities and improving financial performance and planning. I am dedicated to helping organisations make better decisions, change and develop, and gain positive results
Anna Dinnen
Consultant.
Anna Dinnen
Consultant.
Hi there, I’m Anna.
I love solving messy problems since I’m a glutton for punishment – the kind where you have to unpick lots of threads and look beyond surface symptoms to help people and organisations get to grips with a particular challenge. I like enjoy helping people make sense of what is going on and working through the options to move on in a positive way. This is often with leaders but I’m also keen on working with whole teams, including both staff and trustees.
I enjoy working with people to find a step by step pathway through a process to a successful outcome – particularly when it involves change in programmes, processes and people. It’s great to collaborate on new approaches and getting ‘future fit’. I tend to be more comfortable with a facilitative rather than prescriptive approach.
The work I enjoy commonly fits under labels like ‘organisational development, strategic thinking, programme planning, and aligning stakeholder perspectives but
• I love to work across the arts and cultural sector, with individuals, organisations and collaborations
• I love working with people who can be flexible and imaginative, and who are happy to use creative methods to unlock thinking and borrow good ideas from elsewhere. Bravery is also an important attribute.
• It’s great to work with people who pay attention to how things happen and who is involved, not just what happens or what the output is.
• Work is most satisfying with a client when it is mutually challenging–both sides pushing each other to be sharper, finding the moment to play devil’s advocate, ask questions and be curious about innovative approaches
Some of the organisations I’ve worked with include Metal, Birmingham Music Hub, Wordsworth Trust, National Glass Centre, Nesta, Theatr Genedlaethol Cymru
• In the future I’d love to support people and organisations to be more customer-oriented and to think creatively about how to use technology to deliver their mission more effectively. I’m also particularly interested in helping people take an idea to scale and to absorb and plan for the changes that requires.
What have people said about me? They’ve been kind enough to say
• “Anna is fantastic to work with, displaying a rare combination of strategic vision and a rigorous, methodical approach to practical problems. She communicates with great facility and works very well with people at all levels, whilst showing an impressive ability to hold her conviction in a diplomatic way.
• “Anna is quickly able to identify and hone in on the real issues”
• “She has a great breadth of perspective, pulling in this knowledge to help inform discussions and decisions”
• “She delivers! Simple as that.”
My specialist areas are
• Change management, project management & programme design.
• Organisational development including governance, culture and values, learning
• Strategy & business planning, including new venture design and business modelling
• Integrating technology and off line solutions
Dan de la Motte
Consultant
Dan de la Motte
Consultant
Hello there, I love embedding accessibility, community and inclusion into artistic and cultural projects. Finding links and building unlikely alliances amongst audiences, artists, venues, communities and all stakeholders. I enjoy working with clients that have a sense of play, joy and mischief in the work that they want to make and do and an openness and willing for collaboration over competition. I love it with there is an understanding that our work with audiences and communities should be a relationship, not a transaction. I have worked with Alexandra Palace, Alleyne&, Arcola Theatre, Donmar Warehouse, Equity, Fevered Sleep, Jonny Woo/The Glory, London Theatre Consortium, Museum of London & Museum of London Docklands, Queer Tours of London, Repowering London, St Margaret’s House, Unity Arts, Watermill Theatre, What Next? and Young Vic Theatre. As I look the future I aspire to make long-lasting and meaningful connections between audiences, communities and organizations. Placing a sense of play and joy at the heart of projects and offering insight into how to make this thrive. “Dan has the ability to empower those around him to express themselves, whilst also making the experience itself enjoyable.” – Megan Cronin, Director, Carnation for a Song, Young Vic
Karenjeet Kaur Bains
Consultant, speaker
Karenjeet Kaur Bains
Consultant, speaker
I am hugely passionate about inspiring and motivating people to excel with both their professional and personal ambitions and goals. This is why I love motivational and guest speaking be it face to face or engaging with an audience on a virtual level. I thoroughly enjoy being able to draw upon my own knowledge from both a professional standpoint as an ACA Chartered Accountant with 6 years’ experience at KPMG, and as a sportswoman as a Great Britain Powerlifter who is the reigning Commonwealth Champion and the First British Sikh Female to represent Great Britain at the World and European Championships placing in the Top 10. I embrace the chance to be able to work with individuals, teams and organisations to help transform their ways of working, truly understand the importance of having a healthy work life balance, and to be able to ignite a spark of hope to encourage the pursuit of your dreams.
I thoroughly love working with clients that take the time to invest in their employees and are keen to ensure both the physical and mental wellbeing of their staff. I have learnt from working in an intense corporate environment the importance of having a healthy work life balance, and certain practices I have adopted myself centre around knowledge I would love to share. I am especially keen to work with organisations that are enthusiastic towards promoting female empowerment, as well as those championing individuals from diverse and minority backgrounds to excel in the world of work being a young, female, South Asian myself. I am extremely passionate about working with clients that value education and helping the next generation, being an individual who came from humble beginnings as a state-school student who rose up the ranks through sheer hard work and determination. I have grown up with core values of both education and sport instilled into me whereby working with schools and universities as a positive role model is a cause I hold dear to my heart.
I have seasoned experience working at KPMG for 6 years working my way up to Assistant Manager level. I have demonstrated success of delivering high profile audits within set time frames and budgets for industry leaders in Telecommunications, Engineering, Advertising, and Business Process Outsourcing. I was the Senior Auditor in charge of a portfolio of clients including the UK and South Africa Division for NTT (the 4th largest telecommunications company in the world with operating revenue of $111.18 billion). As well as accumulated significant technical knowledge and end to end audit delivery for clients such as Virgin Atlantic, Capita, BBDO, ITV and Channel 4. During my time at KPMG, I was nominated as one of the Faces of KPMG and was a leading face for the 150th Anniversary Campaign that was presented to Her Majesty the Queen. I also refined my talent as a motivational speaker for the KPMG Sikh Network, where I gave speeches to business leaders and founders of charitable organisations such as Khalsa Aid due to my sporting and professional achievements.
I am currently an ambassador for charities including the Sikh Games and the Sikh Assembly. I have been featured in two of Malala Fund’s campaigns as one of the Faces of the 2020 Game Changers series, as well as a contributing author as one of 25 girls in Malala’s upcoming anthology due to be published by HarperCollins India in April 2022. I am keen to inspire the next generation through my work, and have seized opportunities including being an upcoming Children’s Book Narrator for IM1313 aiming to bring the message of Sikhism universally with the ambition of becoming one of the mainstream children’s books. I am a strong advocate for gender equality between males and females; being one of the leading Faces of the VatikaUK Campaign promoting the importance of strong female role models such as Sportswomen.
I would love to work on projects which are keen to explore innovative, out of the box approaches to thriving in the workplace. Any organisations that are eager to invest in their employees physical, and mental wellbeing who would be interested in learning more about my approach towards life coaching in a professional sphere, but also learning about my mindset as an athlete. I would be very excited to work with organisations who are geared towards breaking barriers, societal stigmas, and are advocates of female empowerment. At the same time I enjoy giving back to the community, as a Sikh I believe in the act of “Seva” which is selfless service so would thrive working with charitable organisations, as well as being a role model to young people giving motivational talks at colleges, schools and universities. I believe I am a dynamic, multi-faceted individual who would be adaptable and be able to mould into various campaigns championing change i.e. the Black Lives Matter movement being a woman of colour myself.
I received some excellent feedback on my first engagement with People make it work having being invited as a motivational speaker whom is also an Athlete for the Coventry City of Culture Event. It was truly heartwarming to hear from Richard himself that I had a brilliant impact during this virtual conference, where the difference could be seen in people’s face to what I had to say. He mentioned how I had made a difference to so many people that day attending the call by sharing my story, whilst also being myself in such a powerful way. The lovely Zara Rush also reached out to me commending me on my performance stating that my contribution to the event was incredible, and that I was a true inspiration whom the City of Culture staff loved hearing from! These were some of the most incredible comments I had received throughout my professional career and was one of the reasons I have jumped at the chance to freelance and collaborate with such an amazing organization!
My specialist areas include public speaking/virtual conferences drawing upon my experience as both an elite athlete as the reigning Commonwealth Powerlifting Champion and the First British Sikh Female to represent Great Britain in Powerlifting; and my professional experience as a qualified ACA Chartered Accountant with 6 years experience at a Big 4 Accounting Firm. I have an ability to run successful workshops drawing upon my approach towards hard work, discipline and determination in both my sporting and professional career available for schools, universities and the corporate world. I am also able to offer tailored guest speaking providing an insight into what my competitive experience has been like as an elite athlete juggling a demanding professional career; including PowerPoint presentations showcasing videos of my performance representing Great Britain specific to each event.
As well as that key skill sets I have include project management of both an onshore and offshore team, ability to work under pressured situations whilst remaining calm and composed, strong interpersonal and communication skills, the ability to work proactively and effectively in a team, leadership skills, time management as well as a professional demeanour when communicating with clients building strong rapport for long lasting fulfilling relationships. Professionally I am a qualified ACA Chartered Accountant with significant experience working with a range of small and large organisations in the Consumer and Leisure sector. I would also be able to draw upon this knowledge to provide professional input to clients from a financial standpoint.
David Micklem
Consultant.
David Micklem
Consultant.
Hi there, I’m David. I love working with artists and arts organisations to help articulate their core vision, mission and values. I’m a storyteller to my core and I relish the chance to work with senior teams and boards to articulate their stories, right across the arts and cultural sector. I love using creative techniques to problem solve and to generate new ideas. The Characteristics I love to find in a client are openness, responsiveness, reflectiveness, and humour. Some of the organisations I have worked with include Arts Council England, Arts Council Wales, British Council, London International Festival of Theatre, Artsadmin and In Between Time Festival.
What I’d love to do more of in the future includes supporting organisations with strategy, rethinking core purpose, supporting succession planning and organisational change. Some of the things that clients have said about me include; David is brilliant at getting straight to the heart of the things that need doing. He’s expert at maintaining the big picture and whilst good on detail too, he thrives at supporting strategic development. He’s got heaps of real world experience (he’s run stuff, problem solved, has a producer’s instinct to making things happen) and brings this to his work as a consultant. He’s brilliant at bringing the best out of others, and he’s fun to work with. I suppose my specialist areas from an art form perspective are theatre, dance, contemporary performance. Thematically I tend to spe-cialize in strategy development, ‘organisational dramaturgy’ and leadership succession planning.
Richard Watts
Director
Richard Watts
Director
Hi there, I'm Richard. I help run people make it work, and support or direct programmes and support the team as they work with our clients.
I love helping leaders understand their amazing strengths as well as the areas that will benefit from some attention and development.
I really enjoy helping organisations and their leaders to explore and develop their ideas, expanding their sense of what is possible and turning audacious ideas into real, sold cultural businesses that are resilient and create extraordinary impact in our society.
I believe in people make it work, and the ethos that we all embody - that human beings have infinite potential, that each of us is always on a development journey, that connecting with our values and our organisations' mission can release huge amounts of energy, that organisations thrive when they tend relationships, support each other and grow positive cultures.
We work in the arts because I fervently believe in the power of arts and culture to transform lives through helping each of us understand the world through other peoples eyes, connect with our wider humanity, see opportunities beyond our direct experience and have sublime experiences.
The people in this team are a daily inspiration to me, and it's a humbling experience to support our clients in their magnificent endeavours.
Caroline Collier
Coach and Consultant
Caroline Collier
Coach and Consultant
Hello, I am Caroline. After a thirty five- year career in the arts and cultural fields, most recently as Director of Partnerships and Programmes at Tate, I set up my own practice in the summer of 2018. I wanted to collaborate with other people to draw on my deep and varied experience as a director and CEO of arts organisations and to apply coaching skills in order to support organisations and individuals to succeed in a complex and fast changing environment, where people often feel strained.
I have led multi art form organisations, reported to local authorities and independent trusts, worked for regional and national museums, devised artistic programmes, curated and organised exhibitions, produced a pantomime, written about art, delivered major capital projects and worked as a funder and strategist regionally and nationally. During twelve years at Tate, my responsibilities included the two regional galleries, learning and research across the four museums and UK and international partnerships. I am qualified at senior practitioner level as a coach-mentor, recognized by the European Mentoring and Coaching Council (EMCC). Throughout, I have taken inspiration from art, people, animals and the natural world.
I believe that career success and enjoyment of life are heightened through developing an inner sense of purpose and meaning. When I feel I can make a difference, I work with organisations and individuals to increase their core strength and vision, encouraging flexibility, imagination and pragmatism. I help foster a culture of reflection and learning to achieve effectiveness. I adapt my approach to suit the style and needs of specific cultural contexts, different kinds of organisations and diverse individuals. I measure my effectiveness by the impact that my work has on others.
Michèle Taylor
Consultant.
Michèle Taylor
Consultant.
Hello. I’m Michèle Taylor. The types of work I love doing? I especially enjoy delivering training; facilitating groups to explore decisions, change and development; I am an accredited coach and love to offer one to one coaching. I work most effectively in one-off sessions and in a relationship where I am offering medium-term support.
The characteristics I love to find in a client are an ambition for change and growth, ones who work reflexively and are open to having their organisational traditions challenged. I welcome an attitude of creativity and play.
Some of the organisations I have worked with include Royal Opera House; British Museum; Arts Council England; Sheffield Theatres; Wellcome Collection; Local Authorities; University of the Arts, London; Balkan Museums Association; Gothenberg University
I would welcome more opportunities to work in team alongside colleagues with complementary skills and areas of specialism; and I would love to design more bespoke training and development programmes
Nice things clients have said about me include “Michèle has the enviable ability to train with a potent mixture of challenge and compassion. For thought provocation, a forensic examination of one’s inner moral compass and some really practical guidelines to deal with disability issues this was outstanding” (Bill Morris, London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games); “Best training I’ve had in any organization I’ve worked in” (training participant).
My specialist areas are diversity, specifically Disability and particularly in relation to the arts and culture
And finally, I suppose I’d like to say that I love to work with arts and heritage organisations and see the skills I have developed over the last 30+ years as being particularly relevant to these sectors. I also recognise the transferability of much of what those sectors are facing to other areas. I am very excited by the way in which a Disability Equality lens can be such an effective way into other fundamental organisational development issues since it represents a deep focus on good practice and encourages a reflection on organisational values.
Ellen O’Hara
Consultant.
Ellen O’Hara
Consultant.
I love working with people and organisations that want to foster a more entrepreneurial approach to leadership and change. Projects and complex problems that benefit from a combination of coaching, startup methodology and design thinking techniques are what I enjoy the most. I particularly like working as part of an interdisciplinary team as this is how I think magic really happens.
I love working with people who are ready to embrace change, take leap of faith and try new ways of working to achieve their goals. Enabling people to discover untapped potential, play to their strengths and bring more of the real them to their work what I find most satisfying. Connecting with clients that share my own values of curiosity, generosity, compassion, collaboration and community is also a big bonus!
Organisations that I’ve worked with include Nesta, Creative Industry Finance, Business & Arts South Africa, Innovate UK, British Council, Clore Leadership Programme, National Arts Council Singapore, Little Earthquake Theatre, Bearspace Gallery, Theatr Genedlaethol Cymru.
I’m keen to do more work that enables organisations to draw on the collective insight from their staff, volunteers, supporters, audiences and beneficiaries to create collaborative solutions to the challenges they are facing and discover more creative ways to deliver on their mission. I’d also like to work with more organisations and people to adopt a more entrepreneurial, experimental approach and support them through the journey of culture change that this often requires.
“After 40 years of professional creative practice I found Ellen is the first business coach that I have worked with who really understands what motivates creative practitioners. She has a very easy effortless style underpinned by a wealth of experience, insight and coaching skill.”
“Ellen is a very warm, well-prepared facilitator, who really listened to us. We were a group of dreamers …who now have the tools to make those dreams come true.”
“Ellen used her deep domain knowledge to develop excellent content that covered critical areas such as defining a value proposition and understanding the business model for commercial success. She combined her experience and expertise with her organisational and communications skills to meet the needs of Innovate UK - leading to real commercial impact for the businesses that we support.”
“Ellen is genuinely interested in the values and the vision which make you uniquely you, and sets about tracing the particular path which will help you make the most of who you are and what you do.”
“Every single contact with Ellen results in tangible, direct actions — practical things that you’ll feel comfortable and capable of doing which will take you progressively nearer to the place you want to be. “
Specialist areas include business model and new venture design, access to finance, emergent strategy, coaching and facilitation.
I’m thrilled to have joined the People Make It work family and am really looking forward to continued learning with the team and client base.
Amy Dalton-Hardy
Consultant
Amy Dalton-Hardy
Consultant
Amy Dalton-Hardy is a Midlands-based cultural strategist, consultant and producer working at the intersection of place, access, leadership and systems change. She supports artists, organisations and cross-sector partnerships to design projects, unlock funding and navigate shifting conditions in the cultural sector.
Amy’s practice spans strategic advisory, organisational development, fundraising and facilitation - often working inside large, multi-stakeholder collaborations, from local authorities and universities to community-led collectives and national portfolios.
She co-directs Propel Dance CIC (the UK’s only professional wheelchair dance company) and brings lived insight into inclusive leadership, freelancer pathways, distributed governance and equitable access to opportunity. Alongside consultancy, Amy mentors independent practitioners, supports emerging leaders, freelance artists and creative entrepreneurs. Driven by a belief that everyone should be able to thrive in the arts - regardless of postcode, background or pathway - Amy is passionate about building capacity, confidence and infrastructure across the ecosystem so that talent and community imagination can flourish.
Dr Eve Poole
Coach and Consultant.
Dr Eve Poole
Coach and Consultant.
Hi there, I’m Eve.
I love leaders. I love figuring out how to help them become leadersmiths, and I love helping them figure out how to take their organisations forward. I love helping them in transition, and I love helping them help those around them to be great too. I’m lucky enough to have worked with leaders at all levels, across the sectors, with a particular focus on top leaders, talent and succession.
Some of the organisations I’ve worked with include: FCO, MOD, ODPM/DCLG, IDeA, Clore Cultural and Social Leadership Programmes, BBC, Channel Five, Tesco, EY, Atos KPMG, Time Warner, Thomson, RWE, Orange, Rexam, Varta, Ecolab, IHG, WHSmith News, Astra, Roche, Lufthansa, Network Rail, Body Shop, RHM, RBS, St Paul Travelers, Ace, M&G, Barclays, BNP Paribas Fortis, GE, Royal Shakespeare Company, the Natural History Museum, ACEVO, NSPCC, Traidcraft, Church of England.
I would love to do more work introducing people to the idea of leadersmithing.
Some nice things that clients have said about me:
“As a lecturer and coach, Eve is an outstanding professional, with a wonderful ability to make complex theories come alive for for mixed ability groups. She is highly engaging and energising. Eve ensures that each individual is inspired to achieve their learning objectives in a memorable and thought-provoking way.”
“Eve has a brain the size of a planet. In it she holds, I believe, just about all the secrets a leader needs to be successful at a high level in fast-paced, complex organisations. She is an engaging speaker, challenging coach and a completely, utterly reliable deliverer of results.”
My specialist areas include senior leaders and leaders in transition, coaching and action learning, learning and development, and organisational ethics.
Vanessa Swann
Consultant.
Vanessa Swann
Consultant.
Hi there, I’m Vanessa.
The type of work I love doing is helping individuals and teams to develop strategies for long term success and financial sustainability. I find strategy making can be an enjoyable creative process when people tap into a common purpose and bring their own expertise to bear on an approach that is structured yet open to the seemingly impossible.
I am an experienced former CEO of a major arts and social enterprise charity, Cockpit Arts, the award- winning business incubator for craftspeople. I have a proven track record at Executive Director level of successfully starting up, growing and expanding Arts and Social Enterprise organisations, including turnaround, investment and enterprise development. I have been consulting for several years in-house and independently, specialising in Organisational Development, Capacity Building and Change Management for a wide range of Arts and Social Enterprises, Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and local authorities.
My work involves designing and conducting processes for building agreement about what steps are needed for a change process and establishing the momentum to see these steps through. This often necessitates working with the whole client system, looking at the organisation in the round.
I am comfortable providing leadership during times of change and am able to work well at Board level and with whole staff teams. I am to bring energy to situations and works alongside individuals and teams to help them work through challenges dynamically and systematically.
I’d love to do more work with organisations over a period of time, offering action-orientated coaching to help develop a series of steps that can be implemented relatively quickly to crystallise new ways of working by teams. I provide expert mentoring, coaching and facilitation with some hands-on support to guide and steer change processes.
Clients have commented on my practical and holistic approach. As one client has said: “Vanessa was able to bring to the table real and useful experience. She was always able to see the bigger picture and think creatively out of the box, especially when it came to understanding the complex relationship between building a sustainable business and providing public benefit.”
– Tim Sandys-Renton, Director, Unity Arts Trust.
Annette Corbett
Coach and consultant
Annette Corbett
Coach and consultant
Hi there, I am Annette Corbett. I enjoy supporting individuals, groups, and organisations with defining their vision and telling their story. This used to take the form of producing and fundraising, but latterly has manifested itself through facilitation, team awaydays, and supporting strategic and organisational development. I love to watch connections being formed - there’s something so exciting about seeing an idea take shape. I get very enthused by other peoples’ ideas and helping them figure out how to make those ideas a reality.
I value working with people who are open, collaborative, curious, and enthusiastic – who are ready to make changes to their ways of thinking or working. It’s rewarding to be able to help an individual or organisation through a place where they might feel stuck; providing them with the clarity to take their next steps, and perhaps giving them a little nudge along the way!
I’ve worked across a number of roles and organisations over the years, including Arts Council England, Goldsmiths College, Teatro Vivo, Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music & Dance, Artistic Directors of the Future, and Brixton House.
Wellbeing is a passion for me, especially where it relates to leadership. I believe we need to shift away from the age-old adage that ‘the show must go on’ and towards models of leadership rooted in equity, humanity and compassion. I value being able to bring my own personality to my practice, and seek out opportunities to bring a sense of playfulness and joy to my practice that supports people in feeling comfortable to explore sometimes complex and challenging ideas.
Some nice things clients have said about me include;
“She has an incredible perceptive ability to create and enhance strategic problem-solving solutions reaching the desired objective.”– Nike Jonah, Director, PACE; Board, European Cultural Foundation and Bush Theatre
“The quality of [her] work was further informed by a real in depth understanding of the sector.” – Gerald Lidstone
“It was a joy to work with her and I look forward to doing so again in the future.” – Sophie Austin, former Artistic Director, Teatro Vivo
“F**king hell Annette, you were amazing” – David Micklem, Culture Reset
I suppose my specialist areas include group and one-to-one coaching around wellbeing and resilience; Goal-setting and accountability; Interrogating and developing new ideas; Clarifying vision, mission and values
Caroline Marcus
Consultant.
Caroline Marcus
Consultant.
Hi there, I’m Caroline
I love working in museum and gallery learning to engage and encourage visitors of all ages that museums and galleries are magical and eye opening places. I manage projects, teach, lecture and train and develop content for learning resources.
I love working with clients that delegate responsibility; empower colleagues; are curious, passionate and committed; believe that museums are for exploring, welcoming and involving children, families and young people.
Some of the organisations I’ve worked with include: The British Library, The British Museum, The Heritage Education Trust, The Imperial War Museum, The Institute of Education, University of London, The Jewish Museum, Kids in Museums, The National Gallery and The National Motor Museum, Beaulieu.
In the future, I would love to do more project management; curating children’s exhibitions; teaching, lecturing and training as well as developing creative learning resources to engage museum and gallery visitors.
Nice things clients have said about me include:
“Caroline brings enormous energy and passion to everything that she does. When Caroline is involved, you can be certain that the future of museum education is in safe hands.” (James Mayhew well-known English illustrator and author of children’s books)
My specialist areas include curating The National Gallery’s Take One Picture display, directing Kids in Museums Takeover Day, developing, leading and lecturing on the Institute of Education’s Virtual and Material Cultures Module, training Initial Teacher Education students and evaluating learning programmes at heritage sites.
Gregory Nash
Consultant.
Gregory Nash
Consultant.
Hi there, I’m Gregory Nash. The kind of work I love doing is collaborating with creative people and organisations on forward-thinking, programme development and making partnerships.
I love it when clients have the following qualities - inquisitiveness, openness, willingness to roll sleeves up and get going. Some of the organisations I’ve worked with include; British Council, Dance Umbrella, The Point Eastleigh, University of Western Sydney, Rose Bruford College, ArtsAdmin, Bristol City Council.
In terms of what I’d like to do more of in the future, I guess it’s about facilitating workshops and team away-days, supporting the development of creative organisations, individual coaching and mentoring. Some of the nice things clients have said about me include that I am; ideas-driven, pragmatic, empathetic, well-prepared, well-connected. My specialist areas are theatre, dance, contemporary performance, visual arts.
My 35 years as an artist, turned producer, turned arts executive has given me a broad overview and extensive network which, in this sabbatical year from British Council, I am keen to share, so I’m excited to be working with people make it work to get connected with some great organisations and leaders.
Lynne O’Neil
Coach and Consultant.
Lynne O’Neil
Coach and Consultant.
Hi there, I’m Lynne.
I love taking clients outside themselves to explore the magic within, unlocking their potential and witnessing them own their talents and gifts.
I love working with clients who have honesty, vulnerability, ambition, the courage and curiosity to grow.
Some of the organisations I have worked with include: NHS, Glasgow City Council, Cultural Enterprise Office, Scottish Opera, Scottish Dance Theatre, National Theatre of Scotland, The Skinny Publishing, NVA Public Arts, WASPS Artists’ Studios, Loretto Housing Association, Scottish Institute for Enterprise, Skillset Scotland, Ogilvy Group, Edinburgh Book Trust, Ethnic Minority Enterprise Company, Aberdeen International Youth Festival, Traverse Theatre, Federation of Scottish Theatre, Money, Models, Mission.
In the future, I’d love to do more international work with entrepreneurs, bringing mindfulness into coaching practice, walking and talking coaching and creating change programmes in off site spaces.
Some nice things clients have said about me:
“Lynne had helped me strike at the essence of what I really wanted, re-establishing myself as a creative artist, backed by her positive support as well as practical tools to keep me on track was totally unanticipated, and brilliant!”
“Lynne’s coaching had such a profound impact for me, that I’ve been inspired to become a coach and train to be a professional dream-unlocker myself.”
My specialist areas include leadership, business and personal coaching, group facilitation/action learning, business skills for creative entrepreneurs and visioning.
Lily Einhorn
Consultant
Lily Einhorn
Consultant
Hello, I'm Lily. I am a creative and cultural producer, consultant, coach, and writer with a specialism in community and socially engaged arts. I believe that care is an aesthetic and creative practice and that the highest quality, most innovative work, which uplifts and inspires, creates joy and wonder, which takes risks, can only be made in a process which centres ethics and care. I love working with clients and companies whose work is rooted in socially engaged practices, in a sense of joy, in gentle disruption, in the belief that the work, the sector, the world, can be better. I love people who are willing to take risks, and I love to help them take them safely. I can help you to understand and articulate your mission and vision; develop your strategy; place participatory processes at the heart of your organisation; create collaboration between staff, artists, stakeholders, audiences and communities; mentor and coach your staff and teams, and help you design community and young people's programmes, shows and events. Organisations I have worked with include National Theatre, Complicité, Crafts Council, London Theatre Consortium, Theatre Royal Stratford East, English National Opera, Company of Others, Camden People's Theatre, 60 Miles, Young Vic, Down to Earth CPP, Krishna Istha. I’d love to talk to you.
Becca Pelly-Fry
Consultant.
Becca Pelly-Fry
Consultant.
Hi there, I'm Becca.
I love working with talented, dynamic people to form a community of creative thinkers and doers. From community comes confidence, from confidence comes creativity, from creativity comes meaning… and that’s how we can change the world for the better.
Some of the organisations I have worked with include, The Biscuit Factory, Durham City Arts, Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea, Camden Council, Affordable Art Fair, Colart International (Griffin Gallery, Winsor & Newton, Liquitex), Elephant West, King & McGaw
I’m interested in developing leadership for the 21st century; in thinking through strategies for arts & culture to survive and thrive into the future; in bringing creativity into everyday decision-making, and using everyday decision-making to support creativity. I would love to work on projects that change the way we think about each other and about this beautiful planet we inhabit. I would like the work I do to encourage kindness, compassion and interconnectedness.
Nice things clients have said about me include, Artists often say I am the only curator they ever want to work with, which is the best thing a curator can hear. I have been told that I am an inspirational leader, with the ability to think strategically as well as getting my hands dirty, and living by the values I ask of my team.
Some of my specialist areas include; Strategic thinking; cultural leadership; curating; writing; exhibition making; working with emerging artists; community building; establishing and growing connections, partnerships and relationships.
I also wanted to say that I’m a natural extrovert, my star sign is Cancer, I am a Reiki practitioner (qualified to Level 2) and I aim to bring the five Reiki principles into everything I do. They are: Do not be angry, Do not worry Be grateful, Work with diligence, Be kind to yourself and others...
Sophina Jagot
Project Enabler
Sophina Jagot
Project Enabler
Hi there, I’m Sophina, I’m a programme enabler, facilitator and creative practitioner. I deeply believe in compassionate leadership and creating spaces and organisations that cultivate operating from a place of trust, openness, active listening and generosity - work focused on driving change and making space for people to be their authentic selves.
I've worked across the private, public and third sector, with the majority of my work in museums, arts and culture. My work has ranged from project direction and management, workshop facilitation and event management, driving audience-centric change, implementing new websites and digital marketing, to marketing management, strategic planning and PR.
I’m part of the More than a Moment team driving radical change in the arts sector (West Midlands) with and for Black creatives. I was previously Projects Director at Culture Central and led Transforming Narratives, a four year programme connecting artists and organisations between Birmingham, Pakistan and Bangladesh, and Convene Challenge Connect – an accessible sector development programme delivered for Birmingham 2022 Festival.
Organisations I’ve worked with include Culture Central, Creative Black Country, We The Curious, Arnolfini Contemporary Arts Gallery, Good Energy, the ss Great Britain Trust, the Association of Science & Discovery Centres and the Festival of Nature..
I’m formerly board member for the Crown Prosecution Service scrutiny panel (East Midlands) for hate crime and violence against women and girls and have acted as a trustee and volunteered with a variety of organisations including the Association of Science and Discovery Centres, Circomedia, Babbasa Youth Empowerment CIC, Arnos Vale Cemetery Trust, Young Bristol and the Bath Soup Company.
Values / qualities I love in organisations that I work include curiosity and play, having a growth mindset, being kind and generous with each other, recognising that although sometimes we will be uncomfortable or get things wrong and we continue to find ways to move forward with intentionality
As a creative practitioner (artist name Brwn Girl in the Ring), I’m storyteller and facilitator through poetry, spoken word, fiction writing and theatre. I’m also an alumni of Dr Rosales Meza’s Decolonial healing collective and graduate of the Village Auntie’s Foundational Womanhood rites of passage programme and bring this learning and experience to how I show up.
I have a background in martial arts and in my spare time, I love exploring nature, travel, getting lost in music, sketching and painting. And I look forward to connecting with you!
“If you look up the words Integrity, Authenticity and Care in the dictionary, you should see a picture of Sophina, as it is with these qualities that she approaches everything she does. I have had the immense privilege to work with Sophina for a number of years, and am constantly impressed and inspired by the deep care, creativity and generosity of spirit that she brings to everything she does, and everyone she works with. Sophina is truly a remarkable person, and any team/organisation/project would be enriched by having her on board.
Oh and she’s also super good fun, creative, playful, adventurous and will (when appropriate) be delighted to put together a banging office playlist at a moment’s notice. She’s basically completely ace, and you should definitely work with her!” Stephanie Brown, Marketing Consultant & More than a Moment team member
“Sophina has worked as Director of Programmes at Culture Central and has led international and regional programmes of activity. She has worked to support artists, creatives and the sector thoughtfully and fearlessly to create positive change.
Sophina has been thoughtful and creative in all of her work and has worked in depth to challenge the inequalities that exist in the cultural sector and has been key in programmes such as More Than a Moment, Transforming Narratives and the Birmingham 2022 Festival sector development programme.” Dr Anthony Ruck, Deputy CEO – Strategy & Policy, Culture Central
Kim Gowland
Coach. Consultant.
Kim Gowland
Coach. Consultant.
Hello, I’m Kim. I work with cultural leaders and managers to help them to help them bring about positive transformation in their careers and wider lives. Typically, the kind of issues we work on include strategic decision making, identifying and focusing on priorities, improving professional relationships, dealing with overwhelm and building confidence, influence and authority, team development and leadership skills, work-life balance and navigating career/role transition. I believe passionately in helping leaders and managers to be authentic, to fulfil their leadership potential, and to look after their own and others’ wellbeing. I love to work with clients who are thoughtful, creative, open-minded and have strong values.
During a 25 year career in the cultural sector, I held senior roles at Manchester Art Gallery, the Museum of Science and Industry and mima (Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art). As an ILM7 qualified Executive and Leadership Coach, clients have included the Science Museum Group, Manchester Art Gallery, Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester Craft and Design Centre, Stoller Hall, Chester Zoo and English Heritage.
Nice things people have said about me and my work include: "My coaching sessions with Kim have changed how I lead my team and how I manage my workload. Kim is a staggering good listener. She can distil the key issues from a range of ideas, asks brilliant and insightful questions, which really get to the heart of the issue and make you think about something in a new way. Working with Kim has not only improved my work life, but also my home life and the balance between the two". "Working with Kim quite literally changed my life. When we met, I was exhausted and feeling completely out of control of my work / life balance. From the very first session it felt as though a fog was lifting and for the first time in years I could see more clearly and make better decisions". "Kim is supportive, warm and engaging and immediately puts you at ease".
My specialist areas include cultural leadership coaching and supporting clients to navigate periods of transition.
Dr Dawn Langley
Coach and Consultant.
Dr Dawn Langley
Coach and Consultant.
Hi there, I’m Dawn.
I love working with individuals to help them clarify and achieve specific goals. I love working with people who are keen to experiment and test out ideas, who are curious about their own development and open to learning.
Over the years I ‘ve worked with a range of organisations including: Arts Council England, English Heritage, The Crafts Council, Mercury Theatre, Royal Central School for Speech and Drama, Emergency Exit Arts, North Bristol NHS Trust, Carillion, Oxfam, The WI, University of Durham, Cultural Co-operation and Hampshire County Council.
In the future, I would love to do more work with individuals looking to set up new businesses, change career path or change the way they work within an organisation.
Clients have been very kind in recognising the experience and wealth of resources I can offer:
“I am grateful for your considered, structured, – and warm – approach. “
“I am feeling very buoyed up by the process – I’m starting to see what I can do, and what might be possible.”
My specialist areas include working with individuals on identifying personal strengths and goal setting.
I can offer wide-ranging approaches to suit the specific needs of individual clients -drawn from my practice, my academic research and my own experience. I often bring together perspectives and resources from very different sectors to help clients consider alternatives they might not otherwise have thought of.
Shine Duggal
Consultant and facilitator
Shine Duggal
Consultant and facilitator
Hi there, my name is Shine. I’m all about supporting organisations and individuals to realise their creative ambitions by helping them reposition themselves when responding to change by revisiting and reshaping what they do.
I admire organisations who are willing and open to push boundaries and take risks, especially those who understand the value of equality and diversity and actively reinforce their efforts to remove obstacles that prevent this from happening. I love to work with people who are committed both professionally and personally to transformational change, trailblazers and innovators, leaders not followers, people who value the importance of change and who are ready to embrace it. This can only enhance the cultural offer, making it relevant to more and different people.
With grounding in strategic development, my mission is to empower organisations to diversify cultural product, people and spaces. I am particularly interested in those with a genuine desire to better understand, reflect and respond to changing cultural landscapes and appetite. Together we will create more representative organisations that reflect the communities we serve.
My expertise includes working with organisations and individuals to solve problems, create value and improve resilience. I do this through consultancy; development and production of initiatives and creative content; 1:1 support and, by being a critical friend supporting them to confidently reshape narratives. By sharing best practice, I will make continued efforts to influence change in attitudes and behaviours with the aim of inspiring and motivating others to do the same.
My experience includes working regionally, nationally and internationally with public, private and voluntary sector organisations. Some of the organisations I have worked and collaborated with include - Arts Council England, BBC English Regions, Channel 4, City of Culture, Creative People & Places, Times Music India, Trinity Mirror Group, Sony Music, EMI Arabia, British Council and The Children’s Trust. National Portfolio Organisations I have worked with include - Birmingham Royal Ballet, Welsh National Opera, Disability Arts Forum, Royal Shakespeare Company and Black Country Touring.
I am described as being ‘tenacious in pursuit of change, calm and diplomatic without compromising my professionalism. Known for [my] integrity and sense of fairness. An excellent communicator, with a sophisticated understanding of the social and political underpinnings to diversity and the strategic overview that goes with it. Shine has a proven ability to collaborate with key organisations to ensure a best value rich and diverse cultural offer is available to all stakeholders’
Kamaljit Poonia
Consultant.
Kamaljit Poonia
Consultant.
Hi There I’m Kamaljit. I love working with individuals and teams to create meaningful and inspired change, in equality, diversity and inclusion. Working alongside
organisations, I like to facilitate deeper thinking and understanding, connecting ideas and actions to personal and organizational values and culture change. I take a wholistic
approach, drawing on my extensive experience as well as my personal values and
humanitarian beliefs. As a trained and practicing coach I like to bring a developmental approach to conversations and facilitate on going learning.
I like working with clients who are brave, open to learning and sharing, and want to ask and address challenging questions.
I have worked in and with a wide range of organizations including Arts Council Wales and all its portfolio organizations, Music Theatre Wales, Jerwood Foundation, Sound and Music, Bristol City Council, Department for International Development, Cabinet Office,
University of Southampton and Camden Council; as well as having experience in diverse community settings.
I want to support and work with more organisations and individuals in the arts sector, to create meaningful change. The arts sector has an incredible contribution to make to equality, diversity and inclusion but could do a lot more to engage proactively with this agenda.
Clients I have worked with have said I made sessions ‘highly stimulating, informative and inspiring and that I bought in-depth knowledge of the subject matter and a clear,
intelligent and measured approach’ and that I ‘exude integrity and makes you want to listen to everything she has to say’ Also that I am able to challenge and ask probing, insightful questions whilst also being warm, empathetic and supportive.
My specialist areas are Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, Coaching and Facilitation
Andrew Marcus
Consultant
Andrew Marcus
Consultant
The ethos of all my work is about connecting people and ideas. The work I love is strategic whether that’s supporting an individual, team or organisation. My favourite projects are the ones with the opportunity to set aside an existing way of working that might not be delivering results any longer and find a new way to achieve results for the future. I love taking inspiration from different sectors. Where possible I use a coaching and facilitation approach incorporating design thinking and other innovation techniques.
My specialist areas are
communications, brand, marketing, strategy, change, coaching, facilitation.
I love clients with an openness to ideas, change and innovation.
Some of the organisations I've worked with include
Museum of London, Culture Mile, the London Interdisciplinary School, GlobeScan, the Design Museum, Shubbak, A New Direction, Theatre Centre, Science Museum and Habitat.
In the future, I'd love to continue blending my professional specialisms of comms, brand, marketing and strategy with coaching and facilitation.
Rob Macpherson
Consultant.
Rob Macpherson
Consultant.
Hello, my name’s Rob. I love any communications challenge. The words we use reveal a lot about us and can have lasting impact. The best words stay with us forever, helping us make sense of the world. I love helping clients discover this to earn, raise or save money. And I do this by originating or editing publications, speeches and presentations; crafting copy for advertising and direct mail; commissioning writers, designers and researchers; creating briefs and producing projects, short films, podcasts or websites; crafting business strategies for growth, and reviewing team structures and job descriptions; interpreting and evaluating customer feedback; writing grant applications, investment cases, corporate pitches, annual reports, and brand guidelines.
The best clients have a curious, restless attitude and welcome a degree of creative discomfort, never too pleased with themselves, eager to learn and driven by improvement. And the very best understand how essential a strong brand is to every business’s long-term success, internal communication, and public profile.
I spent 15 years at Birmingham Hippodrome across marketing, sales/revenue, fundraising, PR and brand, working with big box-office musicals and leading West End producers such as Disney and Cameron Mackintosh, or the RSC and the National Theatre; with the top pantomime producers Qdos, and well-known ballet and opera companies (eg. Birmingham Royal Ballet, Welsh National Opera); with Mathew Bourne’s New Adventures and international Dance Consortium tours (Alvin Ailey, Carlos Acosta, NDT etc), plus the Mariinsky and Bolshoi, Cape Town Opera and Slava’s Snowshow. I helped raise £1m to replace the Hippodrome stage, and hundreds of thousands annually for community and engagement projects. With city-wide arts partners I’ve worked on free outdoor festivals with 1418NOW, with corporate sponsors and regional destination marketing agencies. And in the past with arts centres and orchestras.
I want to help charities and cultural organisations make their brands really work for them, deepening engagement with existing audiences and welcoming new ones, focusing a sense of purpose amongst colleagues, and being as widely relevant and remarkable as possible. I believe in doing so they become more resilient, better recognized, rewarded, and risk-ready.
“Rob is great to work with. He gets to the heart of the matter and has a great knack for distilling the complex into the readable and understandable!” - “Huge thanks for a splendid session on Friday, I got great feedback from the Board over the weekend, you pitched it perfectly, I’m very grateful.” – “Thanks for doing the workshop and getting us all to appreciate that fundraising is intrinsically linked to our overall brand identity and that we need to get that right.” – “Rob’s audience knowledge, pricing and communication skills, and the way he projected the Hippodrome brand, ensured strong box office results for us every time.”
Philipa Deller
Coach and Consultant.
Philipa Deller
Coach and Consultant.
Hi there, I’m Philipa
I really enjoy partnering with leaders and managers to ensure they have a pragmatic people strategy to enable them to meet, and ideally exceed, their goals. I relish being given a problem and working with managers to find a solution. My broad generalist experience enables me to support teams through every aspect of the employee journey.
It’s great to work with people who are passionate about their jobs and the teams they work with; they are up for a challenge and to be challenged. They may be stumped by an issue but are keen to work it through with others.
On the flip side, I have plenty of experience of working with people who need to be persuaded about the benefits of organisational change, engaging their teams or addressing difficult people issues. These often become the most successful collaborations.
I have worked in a number of sectors in a permanent and consultancy capacity; these include the Metropolitan Police Service, TUI Travel PLC, Friends Life and Aviva..
I want to continue to work in a variety of organisations and sectors. Working in the cultural sector is of particular interest as it would enable me to combine my professional career with my personal passions. I enjoy adapting my knowledge, skills and experience to new organisations, bringing a fresh approach and outlook. Experience has shown that I do this successfully by really getting under the skin of an organisation and by having a can-do attitude.
A number of senior leaders have given me good feedback. After a recent major restructure, the board-level sponsor said ‘she did a completely brilliant job….partnering us through the change. She truly understood what we were trying to achieve, gave great advice and support. I have huge respect for her’.
Having held HR roles for over 20 years, I have in-depth experience in a number of areas. These include recruiting people at every level, partnering and coaching senior leaders to develop and achieve their people and business goals, providing the expertise and support for change programmes, working with leaders to engage their teams and resolving people issues through mediation or by following a process.
Sandeep Mahal
Director of Sector Change
Sandeep Mahal
Director of Sector Change
Hello there, I am passionate about equality, inclusion and representation, I love collaborating with people and organisations and helping them to answer profound questions about future vision, values and strategy which is ambitious, inspiring and optimistic, but which looks unflinchingly at the challenges and vulnerabilities in our cultural sector and our society. I’m currently supporting and enabling Boards and Directors with transitions to new leadership and inclusive cultures through my work as a coach, facilitator, mentor and consultant. I am interested in collaborating with people and organisations that are committed to building a better world and creating positive change, who want to become an effectively anti-racist and anti-discriminatory, relevant and inclusive organization and are ready to champion new voices, embrace risk and new ways of working. Some of the organisations I have worked with are Coventry City of Culture, East Street Arts, Museum of London, Nottingham UNESCO City of Literature, Nottingham City Libraries, Royal Shakespeare Company, UNESCO Creative Cities, UNESCO, National Commission for the UK and Women’s Prize Trust. In the future I would love to be an honest and challenging thinking partner and facilitator, working with more leaders from small and large organisations across the UK and internationally, and help them shape future narratives and actions that make the biggest positive impact. "Sandeep is a much-respected and influential leader with a remarkable ability to build successful partnerships in a way that combines grace with acuity.” Ruth Mackenzie CBE
Andrea Nixon
Consultant.
Andrea Nixon
Consultant.
Hello, I’m Andrea. The types of work I love doing involve focusing on audiences, people and place – what partnerships can we create to make something work brilliantly?
In terms of characteristics I love to find in a client, I suppose it’s always great to work with people who have open minds, creative hearts, and who are kind indi-viduals with many connections…
I have worked at Tate (where I was Director at TATE Liverpool) as well as V&A Dundee, The Old Vic Theatre London, Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse theatres, Cultural Destinations Cheshire, The Bluecoat Arts Centre Liverpool, Merseyside Dance Initiative, The Point Theatre, Eastleigh, The Reader, Liverpool City Council, The Royal Albert Dock, Liverpool, Arup and Liverpool Cultural Education Partnership.
In the future, I’d love to do more work across artform and particularly championing the cause of cultural education, as well as that of culture in placemaking.
Some of the nice things clients have said about me include:
Andrea’s work was detailed, thorough and insightful and she brought a degree of thoughtfulness, engagement and challenge that was greatly valued by all parties involved in the consultation process. - Paul Bewick (Chair, Merseyside Dance Initiative)
Andrea is brilliant at strategic development and identifying partners and potential funding streams for mutual benefit…. I wouldn't hesitate to sound out ideas as well as frustrations with Andrea in the knowledge the advice and support offered is in my best interest and that of the business. - Sue Grindrod, CEO Royal Albert Dock
Andrea is an outstanding cultural leader who’s particular skills include strategic vision, partnership working at the highest level, and a clear focus and determina-tion to get things done, as well as a passionate belief in the central importance of the arts, which shines through all her work. - Michael Eakin, CEO Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra
She is politically astute, knowledgeable and well networked….with a considerable reputation as a strategic thinker and honest broker. She is committed to making a positive difference wherever she works…. and is a valued colleague. - Virginia Tandy, Chair, Curious Minds
My specialist areas are major strategic planning, fundraising, PR and relationship management, placemaking across art forms, cultural education, cultural sector including museums, galleries and theatres
Clare Thurman
Director of Learning
Clare Thurman
Director of Learning
Hi there, I’m Clare.
I love working finding connections between people and bringing about collaborations and partnerships. I love helping organisations and individuals find their core purpose and supporting them to reach their goals. I am passionate about communication and empathy to enable effective teamwork and collaboration. I love leading creative practical workshops to help people solve problems, find their vision and work better together.
I love to work with clients who are open minded, honest and up for trying new things. I love seeing clients who put people first in their work and value difference.
Organisations I have worked with include the Royal Opera House, the Royal Ballet School, New Writing South, MB Associates, Transported, Artswork Bridge, Kent County Council, Wandsworth Council, Arts Council England and What Next?
In the future I would love to suppport people at all stages of their career to access excellent leadership development workshops, resources and networks for mentoring and peer learning. I would love to do more work to enable cross sector collaboration and support local authorities and cultural organisations to work together more effectively.
Some clients I have worked with have said that I am passionate, energetic, creative, perceptive and insightful.
My specialist areas include arts and culture, dance, education and creative learning, facilitation, coaching, action learning, strategy and vision planning, evaluation