Team

Alice is joining the LIFT team from Barcelona, where she recently moved to pursue a different lifestyle and learn Spanish.

A born-and-bred Londoner, Alice is passionate about improving access to arts and culture and about the power of the arts to spark positive change. This stems from the five years she spent working at award winning not-for-profit members’ club The House of St Barnabas, where arts and culture were incredibly important to the success of their mission to break the cycle of homelessness. There she produced and supported festivals created in partnership with Bestival, Eat Your Own Ears and Worldwide, as well as the charity’s flagship festival Art Social, and numerous other events and marketing campaigns.

As the events and programme manager for Rawthmells, the RSA’s social change focused coffeehouse, Alice curated and produced exhibitions and events to facilitate collaborative, diverse and productive conversations around the most pressing challenges facing society.

Alice is also a board member of PADA, an artist-led, non-profit arts organisation based in Barreiro in Lisbon’s South Bay.

Amaya Jeyarajah Dent is an experienced creative producer with a specialism in producing work for public space and the outdoors. Recently Amaya has been the UK producer for The Walk, a large-scale international project built around ‘Little Amal’ , a 3.5 metre giant puppet built by the Handspring Puppet Company in South Africa. Amal walked from Syria to the UK as events of welcome unfolded around her and Amaya oversaw the cultural programme here in the UK, leading co-productions across 10 cities nationally. Previously Amaya has worked as the in-house Creative Producer at Emergency Exit Arts, one of the UK’s oldest and leading outdoor community arts organisations. She has also worked extensively with Female led collective Anagram who use cutting edge technologies to create thought-provoking interactive storytelling experiences. Previously Amaya has also worked as a costume stylist and studio manager for bespoke costumier Prangsta. Amaya is a trustee for Outdoor Arts UK , and for Migrateful who run cookery classes led by migrant chefs struggling with integration in the UK,  in order to support their journeys to employment and independence.

Claire is joining LIFT after graduating from an MA in Performance Making at Goldsmiths University of London. She is passionate about the revolutionary power of the arts and its ability to shift perspectives and build community. Claire founded The Student Lock Festival which gives a platform for the next generation of leading artists, bridging the gap between the educational and professional spheres. She has previously worked as the marketing manager for Cleave Festival, which showcases emerging artists work across a range of performance disciplines. Claire is also a performance maker working across live art, dance and post-dramatic theatre. She creates striking audience experiences marrying interests in ecology, feminism, and finding ways the world can party. Her work has been performed at Camden People’s Theatre, The Boilerhouse Theatre, and The George Wood Theatre.

Genevieve is a musician, facilitator and community organiser. Her debut album was a favourite of Radio 6 Music and Jazz FM, and she has performed internationally. She is the co-founder of Hertha Records, a women/non-binary collective of artists releasing original and independent music, and which also produces Shut Up and Play festival. She uses music as a tool for self expression, building community and liberation and has worked across London with hundreds of people of all ages and backgrounds through workshops, choirs, 1-1 mentoring and in performance settings. Alongside this work she is involved in the climate justice movement as an organiser and facilitator, most recently in building the movement for a Green New Deal and ending fossil fuel sponsorship of cultural institutions. She also really really loves pasta.

Isabelle is an experienced fundraiser across multiple art forms. She has been an arts fundraiser for the last 6 years, and has previously worked at the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre, British Museum and 14-18 NOW, a major cultural programme marking the centenary of the First World War. Isabelle is also a Trustee of Apples & Snakes, England’s leading spoken word poetry organisation that exists to support poets at all stages of their careers. Isabelle has a BA in French and History from Warwick University, and an MA in World History and Cultures from King’s College London. Originally from rural South Wales, she has been living in West London for the last 6 years.

He was Festival Director of Dublin Fringe Festival, Ireland’s largest multi-disciplinary arts festival, from 2013-2017, guiding hundreds of artists towards world premieres. He founded the Canadian performing arts touring agency, Antonym. From 2008-2013, Antonym secured tours and co-productions in over 45 cities on 4 continents for artists such as Theatre Replacement, Public Recordings and 2boys.tv. Kris initiated innovative curatorial platforms like PushOFF (Vancouver) and Spark (Montreal) connecting artists to international touring opportunities. Kris was Encounters Curator for Magnetic North Festival and has been a dramaturg for theatres across Canada.

Mekel Edwards joined LIFT as a full time Production Manager in January 2018. Mekel joins us from his previous appointment as Technical Manager at Bernie Grant Arts Centre and as an independent Production Manager for various events, theatre and festival productions. Mekel has successfully delivered a wide range of productions for large-scale theatre, site specific performances, concerts and outdoor festivals and has vast experience working with professional, student and community groups through the industry. Mekel’s responsibility is to deliver all production elements for LIFT festivals and new commissions in and around the festivals.

Noa Bladon is a qualified chartered accountant (ACA) with over 20 years experience working across a variety of industries. After qualifying from KPMG, Noa worked at EMI Music for 8 years, in a variety of finance roles based both in London and Los Angeles. A desire to use her skills and help others at the same time, resulted in a move to Amnesty international.   Since becoming a Mum, Noa has worked as a freelance finance manager, helping charities, arts organisations and small businesses with all their finance needs.   In her spare time, she is a school Governor, loves to ride her Peloton bike and is a scrapbooking and music lover.

Patricia has a BA in Drama, Applied Theatre and Performance, and firmly believes in the sharing of experience through the arts, and the richness of intergenerational and community focused work. Since 2015 she has been working closely with our Tottenham UpLIFTers project. Working on the Artists Hangout (2015), Nightwalks with Teenagers (2018) and Balthazar’s Treasure: The Cacao Quest (2019). Collaborating with Tottenham schools, local and international artists and other arts organisations to help widen the young people’s experiences and enrich their opportunities within the arts sector.

Se Carr is one of the freelance Youth Mentors working with the group of young people currently participating in LIFT’s Young Producers Programme.

With over 25 years’ experience of producing theatre, festivals and activities, Stella has worked for organisations in the UK and beyond including Ovalhouse, where as Executive Producer, she oversaw the organisational and community-led transition as Ovalhouse constructs London’s newest purpose built £15m theatre in Brixton, Soundwave Cumbria where she was CEO, Cardboard Citizens, Harlem Stage, Bernie Grant Arts Centre, Clean Break Theatre, Department of Public Health as well as arts, culture and community directorates at numerous local councils in London and across the UK. Stella has led a number of government-backed cultural investment initiatives including the Aylesbury Estate New Deal for Communities; the creation of a new cultural centre and a £1m programme of arts and training for the 10,000 residents. As a creative writer and performer, Stella created Africa Centre’s first Children’s Literature Festival; A List Performing Arts Festival and Southampton Live Street Arts Festival. Awarded the Cultural Leadership Powerbrokers (CLP) International Leadership Fellowship in 2008, Stella is a leadership mentor on Engage’s Extend Leadership programme and now mentors and coaches emerging, mid-career and established leaders. She has spoken at numerous conferences and symposiums, having most recently featured as part of Shakespeare’s Globe’s Women & Power festival (May 2019).

Gabi Spiro is a freelance producer, interested in social engaged work, international work and artist development. As the Associate Producer for Barrel Organ’s LIVE, Gabi leads an artist development programme which supports underrepresented artists to create a new piece of work. She also co-founded and produced 2 years of an interdisciplinary arts festival at Tobacco Factory Theatres in Bristol, and has worked with Selladoor Worldwide, Camden People’s Theatre, Palomar Theatre, History Riot & more.

Gabi is currently studying at the Royal Central School of Speech & Drama for an MA in Creative Producing, after finishing the University of Bristol with a first class degree in English Literature. She’s new(ish) to London and as a second gen immigrant, is thrilled to be working with international work at LIFT.

Twitter: @gabi_spiro

Tom is a theatre nut and admin enthusiast. He founded comedy/theatre mini-festival Attic Arts Club in Crystal Palace, is a company director at production company, Disentangle Projects and has worked in production and admin roles in many places including BAC, Assembly Festivals, WildWorks, imPOSSIBLE Producing and the Norfolk and Norwich Festival.

Aileen is a consultant on public engagement and parliamentary strengthening, working with parliaments around the world. She was formerly Director of Public Engagement at the UK Parliament, where she was responsible for Parliament’s Education Service, Outreach Service, Visitor Services, and an innovative Public Engagement and Learning team. Aileen oversaw a significant increase in ambition in the way Parliament connects with the public, including the delivery of a dedicated Education Centre at Parliament, and the introduction of new engagement initiatives such as Parliament Week and TEDxHousesofParliament. She has been a school governor for many years, and is interested in the potential of technology to enhance learning and engagement. A Scottish immigrant to London, she loves the city for its rich culture and diversity, and also for its wealth of theatre music, and arts experiences. Aileen received an OBE in the New Year 2017 Honours List for services to improving public engagement with Parliament and voluntary service to the community in London.

Alan is a technology entrepreneur working in the communications and media sector. After qualifying as a Chartered Accountant, working in Deloitte’s music and entertainments group, he co-founded a technology consulting company which he then ran for nearly 15 years. The company won a Queen’s Award for Enterprise for the innovative work it did with telecommunications businesses in the UK and Europe. Now working freelance, he continues to provide strategic advice to help technology businesses achieve their goals, and occasionally writes iPad apps in his spare time. Alan loves technology, science and maths, and sees no contradiction with loving theatre and music too.

Anne has been Partner at Stephenson Harwood since 2008 where she is a specialist and recognised leader in her field of employment and partnership law. Before joining Stephenson Harwood, Anne worked at law firms Fox Williams and RPC.

Craig Hassall is the CEO of the Royal Albert Hall in London, the first Australian to undertake this role. His job oversees the management, programming and other aspects of this iconic performance venue, which celebrates its 150th birthday in 2021. Craig has worked in the arts in both Australia and the United Kingdom in a variety of disciplines. His previous role was CEO of Opera Australia, Australia’s largest performing arts organisation, with over 600 opera performances a year, including two mainstage opera seasons in Sydney and Melbourne, Opera on Sydney Harbour, musical theatre, concerts and national touring. Prior to this, Craig worked in London for almost nine years, firstly as CEO of English National Ballet, the national touring ballet company of the UK, with a permanent ensemble of dancers and musicians and an active national touring schedule. Following this, Craig was Chief Operating Officer of Raymond Gubbay Ltd, responsible for new business and collaborative ventures in the commercial field of classical music, opera and ballet. Craig also consulted to the London 2012 Olympic Games cultural program, providing advice on staging and presentation, particularly of the free tactical entertainment for Olympic Park. Before leaving Australia, Craig was Deputy General Manager of Sydney Theatre Company, responsible for marketing, individual and corporate fundraising and box office for NSW’s state theatre company. Prior to this, Craig ran a consultancy producing and managing concerts and large scale productions. Between 1997 and 2000, Craig worked with the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games as General Manager of Image, Special Events and Olympic Arts Festivals – a role that involved the development and delivery of a comprehensive, substantial and successful four-year cultural program, the graphic applications for all areas of the Games and management of special events. This role saw the delivery of the largest festival ever mounted in Australia, the 2000 Olympic Arts Festival, as well as the ground breaking Festival of the Dreaming in 1997. Prior to the Games, Craig worked for Opera Australia as Marketing Manager and Bell Shakespeare Company as General Manager. Craig is currently on the board of LIFT, the London International Festival of Theatre and C4RD – Centre for Recent Drawing, London. He has also served on the boards of English National Ballet School, Company B Belvoir, and Object – Australian Centre for Craft and Design. Craig was awarded an AM (Australia Medal) in 2016 for his services to the performing arts in both Australia and the UK.

Enni-Kukka is a London-based, Finland-born Empathy Artist and Designer. By creating for empathy as the end goal and not only with empathy as a part of the process of creation, Enni-Kukka has launched the Akin Kollektiv, a series of installations, experiences, games and tools to increase connection and collaboration beyond borders, between people of different cultures, backgrounds, generations, races and values. Her work breaks taboos and challenges social, cultural and behavioural norms in order to transform empathy from an individual feeling to a collective power.

Enni-Kukka has a joint M.A. and M.Sc. in “Global Innovation Design” from the Royal College of Art and Imperial College London. A former Classical Archaeologist from Oxford University, she has previously worked as a Cannes Lion- and IPA Effectiveness Award-winning Brand Strategist in advertising for Saatchi & Saatchi and adam&eveDDB in London.

Dan Vo is a media producer and museum professional specialising in inclusive museum practice. He is a Course Leader at Sotheby’s Institute of Art and previously was a Course Leader at the V&A Academy. He is also Project Manager of the Queer Heritage and Collections Network, a partnership formed of the English Heritage, Historic England, Historic Royal Palaces, National Trust and the Research Centre for Museums and Galleries, supported by the National Heritage Lottery Fund and Art Fund. He has developed volunteer-led LGBTQ+ tours and programming for several museums in the UK, most notably the V&A Museum, Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge and Amgueddfa Genedlaethol Caerdydd National Museum Cardiff. Other clients have included Imperial War Museum, National Archives and Tate Britain. Dan is a patron of LGBT+ History Month, trustee of Culture 24 and sits on steering committees for Historic England, Imperial War Museum, Pitt Rivers Museum and Queer Britain. He was co-presenter of BBC Arts programmes Museum From Home and Museum Passion.

Eritrean born Hannah Azieb Pool is currently the Artistic Director of Bernie Grant Arts Centre, a multi-arts centre in Tottenham. The Centre hosts a busy calendar of theatre, dance, live music, comedy, cinema, and exhibitions in collaboration with local artists, as well as some of London’s biggest names. Before joining Bernie Grant, Hannah was the Senior Programmer of Contemporary Culture at the Southbank Centre, the lead programmer for the Africa Utopia festival and one of the curators of the Women of the World (WOW) festival. Also a journalist, author and broadcaster, Hannah writes regularly in the national and international media. Hannah’s second book, Fashion Cities Africa, (Intellect Books 2016) celebrates the fashion landscapes of four key cities – Lagos, Johannesburg, Nairobi and Casablanca and is inspired by the exhibition of the same name, which she co-curated at the Brighton Museum. A Guardian journalist for over 14 years, Hannah was Guardian Weekend Magazine’s first Beauty Editor, and wrote the New Black – the first beauty column for women of colour in a national newspaper. Former Associate Editor of Arise magazine, and former Chair of UKFeminista, Hannah’s work also appears in The Times, Vogue, Grazia and many others. A regular contributor to BBC Radio, Africa Writes and Africa Gathering, Hannah’s first book, My Fathers’ Daughter (Penguin 2006) was described by the Washington Post as “a significant and moving book.”

Helen Shute is currently Chief Executive at Rambert, the contemporary dance company who commission and tour across the UK and beyond.  Most recently she has worked in the commercial sector as Chief Operating Officer of the newly formed House Productions, working with Tessa Ross CBE and Juliette Howell to establish the company as a new home for world-class talent across television and film. Helen started her career in festivals at Fronteras Latin American Festival and Woking Dance Festival.  She subsequently joined The Place as Programming Associate where she worked with many emerging choreographers, including Hofesh Shechter, producing his early works Uprising (2006) and In your rooms (2007). Together with Shechter, Helen founded Hofesh Shechter Company in 2008, and under her leadership as the Executive Producer the Company grew to become a major national and international presence establishing significant partnerships with high profile venues in the UK and in major world cities. Helen’s experience in fundraising has seen her raising funds through a huge range of sources, her particular expertise lie in the cultivation of individuals who support a vision and the establishment of international co-production relationships for large-scale work. Helen had the pleasure of working with the Executive Team of LIFT in early 2016 and now serves on the board.  She also currently sits on the boards of New Movement Collective and Aerowaves European Dance Network.

Malakaï is a writer and theatre-maker from pre-gentrified Hackney, London. They like to create work that disrupts the performer/spectator relationship around subjects like Queer intimacy, anti-trauma narratives, gentrification and social cleansing, Black British culture and being sad.   Both as an artist and cultural producer, Malakaï has created/presented work with the likes of Soho Theatre, SOAS, Serpentine Galleries, the Royal Exchange and the Royal Court. Malakaï is an alumnus of the Barbican Young Poets, and has since independently produced and directed work by other Black writers hoping to push the boundaries of form and storytelling in live performance.   In 2014 Malakaï co-founded participatory theatre company The S+K Project, where they were Artistic Director until 2019. Malakaï is currently Associate Director at Theatre Peckham and is Co-director of Afro-diasporic literary movement BORN::FREE. Malakaï serves as a Trustee for Hackney Showroom and LIFT.

Martin Harrison is the Group Financial Controller of Inmarsat, the global mobile satellite business based in Old Street, London. Martin has worked in finance for over twenty-five years originally training as a Chartered Accountant with PwC. He spent fifteen years with the erstwhile “bellwether” of British Industry ICI in a wide variety of roles based in the UK and Canada including a spell as Finance Director of Dulux. More recently Martin has worked in the telecoms sector and is currently working for Inmarsat who were set up in the 1970’s by the International Maritime Organisation to provide communications to the global maritime community.  They now provide communications over a network of twelve satellites to a wide variety of businesses and organisations including governments who have a need to communicate in remote regions or where there is no reliable terrestrial network.  As well as enjoying the theatre over many years Martin is to be seen most days dressed in lycra trying to prove something – what he ‘s not sure – on his beloved bike.

Richard has been an ad man for over twenty years. Though he shows a rare penchant for monogamy when it comes to employers, he has worked at some of the most famous and iconic ad agencies including Abbott Mead Vickers and the bad boy of British advertising, HHCL. For the past five years Richard has been the Strategy Director of Saatchi & Saatchi working across their client base and helping restore the agency’s creative birthright most particularly with work for T-Mobile (the flash mobs in Liverpool Street Station and Heathrow) and the launch of EE using Kevin six-degrees-of-separation Bacon. Not to mention LIFT. Richard also writes one of the UK’s most influential advertising blogs at www.adliterate.com and is a regular cask strength columnist on brand and advertising matters.

Rosie Millard OBE is Chair of BBC Children in Need, Chair of Firstsite arts centre in Colchester and Deputy Chair of Opera North. She is a journalist and broadcaster and has been reporting on and writing in the national press on the arts, popular culture, lifestyle and politics for over 30 years. Rosie was BBC Arts Correspondent 1995-2004, Arts Editor, New Statesman 2004-2007, and has also been a theatre critic, columnist, feature writer, travel writer and profile writer, writing for most of the national broadsheets. She is a familiar voice on radio and familiar face on TV with regular appearances on Radio 4, Radio 2, Five Live, Newsnight and Sky News. For four years she led Hull 2017 City of Culture as Chair of the Board. This was a £35 million national event which achieved unprecedented acclaim and international repute for the city of Hull, and for which she was appointed OBE. She has written four books, one of which, The Tastemakers: British Art Now, is recommended reading for arts students at London University of the Arts.

After a stint as a Daily Mirror columnist and LIVE TV! Presenter Simon joined BBC Entertainment before moving to So Television in 1998 to work on C4’s So Graham Norton. In 2003 he joined TalkbackTHAMES where he co-developed and produced the comedy game show ‘Distraction’ and oversaw a raft of projects including QI, They Think It’s All Over and Channel 4’s The Morning After Show before returning to the BBC in 2008 and became Creative Head of BBC Comedy in 2011. In Jan 2013 he joined the digital content and tech company Rockabox (now Scoota) as a Freelance Content Producer, working across a range of projects including Whisked Away – an original YouTube programme he created specifically for TUI and the First Choice brand. In 2014 he co-founded and launched KidRated – an online platform for families whilst continuing to freelance in television, producing content for the major networks and online.

Gabi Spiro is a freelance producer, interested in social engaged work, international work and artist development. As the Associate Producer for Barrel Organ’s LIVE, Gabi leads an artist development programme which supports underrepresented artists to create a new piece of work. She also co-founded and produced 2 years of an interdisciplinary arts festival at Tobacco Factory Theatres in Bristol, and has worked with Selladoor Worldwide, Camden People’s Theatre, Palomar Theatre, History Riot & more.

Gabi is currently studying at the Royal Central School of Speech & Drama for an MA in Creative Producing, after finishing the University of Bristol with a first class degree in English Literature. She’s new(ish) to London and as a second gen immigrant, is thrilled to be working with international work at LIFT.

Twitter: @gabi_spiro