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 have worked in over twenty countries from Russia to the UAE, Italy to Canada.
I was Head of the British Council’s Developing Inclusive & Creative Economies (DICE), a £9m global pilot (2018-2021) focused on rising unemployment and underemployment in six nations - with a focus on collaborating with women, young people, and those with disabilities. The program 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 those structurally excluded from mainstream opportunities – including because of race, religion, age, disability 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.” The work of DICE will be on view in the Bernstein Gallery at Princeton University's School of Public and International Affairs (SPIA) from late January 2025.
I have provided strategic counsel and program design expertise to over 65 governments, businesses, artists and flagship cultural institutions. 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.
Today I am Trustee of Crossing Borders Education, an intercultural dialogue specialist and Arts & Homelessness International, a pioneering social enterprise focused on advocacy, knowledge sharing and policy change in the global homelessness sector. I am as well a Partner for Giving Connect strengthening the investment strategies of private philanthropists and the case for support for charities and social enterprises in Australia, Africa and Southeast Asia; and I'm a mentor of NewInc, the nation's first museum-incubator for creativity, arts and technology.
I established the University of Cambridge Judge Business School MBA in Cultural/Arts Management (2007-2016), teaching and coaching over 150 MBA students from over 30 countries during my tenure. I co-conceived and chaired the UK-wide Relaxed Performance Project (2010-2014) – ensuring that theatres across the country were as welcoming as can be for people with severe autism and their families - forging partnerships with landmark institutions including the National Theatre, the West End and the Royal Shakespeare Company. Today Relaxed Performances are an international success story, with a global network of theatres collaborating to share best practice and open their doors to their otherwise often isolated communities.
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.