A longer biography
I am a collaborative leader and University of Cambridge MBA with almost 25 years of international experience leading and motivating teams and entrepreneurs at the intersection of social impact and business, the arts, higher education, humanitarian assistance, foreign policy, and the climate emergency.
I was Head of the British Council’s Developing Inclusive & Creative Economies (DICE), a £9m global pilot (2018-2021) that imagined and activated new forms of capacity building and collaboration for a new network of 22,000 creative social entrepreneurs, artists, researchers, intermediaries, young journalists, and policy-makers in Brazil, Egypt, Indonesia, Pakistan, South Africa and the UK. With a particular focus on SDGs 1, 5, 8, 10 and 17, we provided enterprise training, story-telling, policy-development, and communities of practice for young people, those with disabilities, women, and those otherwise identified by their communities as structurally excluded from mainstream opportunities – including because of race, religion and/or gender. Co-designed and delivered by my team of 25 across seven time zones, DICE was cited as a 'bold innovation in international development' by. Prof. JP Singh at George Mason University and ‘a model for 21st century leadership, encouraging new thinking and horizontal collaborations across disciplines, countries and continents”’ by British Council Advisory Board Member Gerri Moriarty. The external evaluation (ITAD) concluded that “DICE provided a roadmap for integrating economic, social and cultural impacts in a newly holistic way.”
I have provided strategic counsel and programme design expertise to over 65 governments, businesses and cultural institutions in over twenty countries. Through this experience I have deepened my expertise in intercultural fluency, relationship building, and co-design. I am increasingly convinced these are critical ingredients for systems-change and powerful tools to develop with and for the next generation; they are embedded in my current portfolio as a university facilitator, NED, Strategic Advisor and Program Developer for a range of pioneering socio-economic initiatives.
I am currently leading partnerships and facilitating dialogues for Crossing Borders Education, an intercultural dialogue specialist; serving as a Trustee of Arts & Homelessness International, a pioneering social enterprise focused on advocacy, knowledge sharing and policy change in the global homelessness sector; and advising Nesta, UK’s innovation agency, on the new wave of impact investment for creative social enterprise.
I established the University of Cambridge Judge Business School MBA in Cultural/Arts Management (2007-2016) and the UK-wide Relaxed Performance Project (2010-2014) – focusing on inclusive theatres access for audiences with severe disabilities. I am a former Leadership Newark (NJ) Fellow (2002-2004) and began my career aboard Artrain USA, traveling aboard the train to 25 communities across the USA with a collection of art owned by NASA.
I am a proud graduate of University of Michigan, where I received my BA (Hons) in Arts & Ideas in 1999; and the University of Cambridge Judge Business School, receiving my MBA in 2005.