Culture Central x people make it work x Collective is a leadership programme for those traditionally excluded from senior roles in the cultural sector.
Collective is a three-year programme, run in partnership with people make it work, that builds on our approach and ambitions for culture in the West Midlands. Find out more about what Collective is and how the programme works here.
In the first year we recruited 20 people, in the second year we recruited 12 people, and in the third year we recruited another 12 people to learn alongside and explore how we can make change for ourselves, our peers, the sector and the people and places of the West Midlands. Meet the three Collective cohorts below.
Cohort 1
Alice Tomlinson, Public Programmes Developer, The Royal Shakespeare Company
I'm a creative, people-led Producer, currently working as Public Programmes Developer for The Royal Shakespeare Company. With experience across live music, comedy, theatre, spoken word, talks and podcast production, I am particularly interested in placemaking, co-creation and socially engaged practices. I am passionate about arts venues as civic spaces and access to culture for all.
Charlene Carter-James, Partnerships and Development Manager, Culture Central (she/her)
Currently Partnerships and Development Manager at Culture Central with over 15+ years of Project management and community engagement. My experience in stakeholder management is leveraged to facilitate community mobilization, focusing on intersectionality and the specific needs of marginalized groups. I am dedicated to connecting communities to arts and culture and hope to bring that passion to influence policy and bridge the gap between culture creatives and government decision-makers.
Corinne, Artist/ Curator/ Workshop Leader (they/them)
Corinne is a disabled self-portrait artist creating work from the same 2 by 1.5 metre space; their bed. This year marks their sixth year of spending almost every day confined there. Their self-portraits are a form of therapy to ease their ongoing struggles with severe mental illness. Their work often focuses on Daisyland a queer utopia, Corinne and their only childhood and imaginary friend named Daisy created.
Danielle Marshall (Dani), Producer (she/they)
Danielle is a creative producer passionate about social change through the arts, access and wellbeing. She has extensive experience in participation, engagement, and public realm activity and has most recently been in post as Producer for Selina Thompson Ltd., Co-Creative Producer of Balsall Heath's Living Room, an National Lottery Heritage funded third space pilot at Moseley Road Bath's, and Producer of Creative Participation for Birmingham 2022 Festival.
Dee Manning, Consultant, Dee.M Creatives (she/her)
Dee comes from a background in teaching, youth, community, and the arts, and has expertise in project management, production, community development, and mentoring across the arts, education, and the third sector showcasing a diverse skill set. She specialises in community and strategic development, creative production, and the implementation of arts and culture in local communities, fostering cultural engagement and growth at a grassroots level.
Gemma Wright, Head of Creative Learning, Warwick Arts Centre (University of Warwick)
Gemma Wright is Head of Creative Learning at Warwick Art Centre. After studying BA (Hons) Fine Art and an MA Printmaking she worked at Spike Island in Bristol, Leicester Print Workshop and was Head of Learning at Camden Art Centre until 2021. As part of her role at Warwick Arts Centre she develops strategies that increase opportunities for communities, families, schools and young people to engage in creativity.
Jen Burrows, Head of Organisational Strategy, Birmingham Hippodrome (she/her)
Jen Burrows is an arts administrator, currently working as Head of Organisational Strategy at Birmingham Hippodrome. With a varied background in TV drama, publishing and local government, Jen is interested in arts policy and inclusion, and hopes to help shape a world where everyone has the chance to share their stories through culture.
Jo-Ann Curtis, Curatorial Team Leader, Birmingham Museums Trust (she/her)
Jo-Ann Curtis is a social history curator and interim manager of curatorial team at Birmingham Museums Trust. She has 25 years’ experience working in both Regional and National Museums.
Lateesha Johnson, Talent Development Producer/ Producer, BFI/ freelance (she/her)
Lateesha is a talent development producer working to dismantle oppressive structures and help build a more inclusive sector so everyone can thrive. As a freelance creative producer she works with organisations and artists in Birmingham to deliver events that bring people together and promote art and creativity as a healing tool.
Louise Stokes, Co-Director, LouDeemY Productions (she/her)
Changing careers from senior psychiatric nurse specialist ward manager in 2000, I trained as an actor. I co- run theatre company, LouDeemY Productions of which I am Co-Director, as well as professional actor, writer, director, singer songwriter, and workshop facilitator, delivering all our projects and programmes. LouDeemY creates and produces mainstream theatre alongside delivering projects for marginalised groups of all ages. I also continue to work as a counsellor.
Madeleine Kludje, Associate Director, The Birmingham Repertory Theatre
Martin Gooding, Creative Producer - Youth Engagement Lead, B Arts (he/him)
Immersive theatre maker, creative producer and professional scally. Specialising in making art and theatre with underserved communities in Stoke on Trent and internationally. A scholar of British folk tradition and working class history with a masterplan to bring back Mumming, return Pace Egging to it's former glory and bring theatre back to the estates.
Murad Khan, CEO & Artistic Director, Purbanat Community Interest Company
I would like to be a change-maker to make a bigger impact in the ecology of the arts field in Birmingham and beyond.
Being a creative director of Purbanat, a platform for creative practitioners, I started to accept the challenge of offering quality art experiences to the targeted audience in the West Midlands area and beyond.
Natalie Armitage, Learning and Participation Manager, British Ceramics Biennial (she/her)
Natalie’s background is in art history, film, and material culture, gaining her PhD in English and American Studies (University of Manchester) in 2016. She joined British Ceramics Biennial in 2017 as Learning and Participation Manager. As Chair of Stoke Cultural Education Partnership she oversaw their merger with Partners in Creative Learning to transition to Arts Council NPO in 2023 and is a board member of the Cultural Compact, Stoke Creates.
Neslihan Ozar Ozfaris, Founder, British Turkish Cultural Association (she/her)
I promote positive social change through arts and cultural exchange.
I act, write, sing, facilitate and organise events.
I try to include social responsibility into everything :)
Nigel Bailey, Well-Being Practitioner
I am a practicing counsellor and also a well-being practitioner for theatre. I work with individuals, couples, groups and businesses across London and Birmingham mainly, however I do travel to other areas of the country if need be. I utilise an integrative methodology which amalgamates psychodynamic, person centred and cognitive behavioural therapies, which makes my style very effective and bespoke.
Nor Aziz, Founder & Director, Champion Inclusivity
Nor is a changemaker, championing the ‘unheard voices’ through participatory arts. Her artform centers around creating inclusivity through enhanced sense of belonging and the feeling that ‘I was involved and proud to be part of it’. She is passionate about recognising and inspiring the leader in others at an individual level to generate collective move, and for them to feel empowered to realise their potential.
Phoebe Rose Gilmore, Public Programme Development Manager, Moseley Road Baths (they/them)
Phoebe is interested specifically in creativity that centre relational practices. Born and bred in Birmingham, they have a love for cities and their people wishing to enable stronger systems for connections and solidarity within them.
Currently at Moseley Road Baths as the Public Programme Development Manager planning and delivering a programme of creative pilots funded by NLHF alongside the £32m capital repairs work.
Phoebe previously spearheaded the £2 million community arts commissioning grant programme, which saw over 100 different projects come to life as part of the Birmingham 2022 Festival.
Willy Amott, Project Manager and Producer (they/them, he/him)
They are a project manager and producer for arts/cultural events and organisations; their work spans DIY drag cabaret, national artist development schemes, worldwide funding experiments, immersive experiential events, festival sets, LGBTQ+ parties and community arts activities. Their practice centres care, wellbeing and accessibility through responsive and sustainable modes. They find it tricky talking in the third person.
Sara Hadi, Creative Director, Mimar Collective CIC
Cohort 2
Ayesha Hussain, Collections Access Officer (Information), Birmingham Museums Trust
Day to day Ayesha deals mostly with data. As well as helping staff with their data needs, Ayesha works on the Dynamic Collections project, inviting community groups to get hands on with the collection and the database. This is also done online, with a crowd-sourcing transcription project called Documentation Detectives. Ayesha is also project managing a cataloguing and digitization project, having previously completed the cataloguing and digitization of BMT’s 26000 works on paper.
Clare Mitchell, Place Arts and Economy - Project Officer, Warwick District Council
Clare is an arts and culture professional with over 20 yars of socially engaged creative development practice at a local, national, and international level.
Faith Whenham, Senior Producer, Birmingham Repertory Theatre
Faith recently joined Birmingham Rep as Senior Producer. For over a decade, she was Deputy Stage Manager on UK and internationally touring musical theatre productions. She then joined Birmingham Hippodrome as Festival Producer, presenting Birmingham’s largest arts festivals for several years. More recently, she was Senior Producer for Unboxed, on See Monster, a commission which transformed a 450-tonne oil rig into an art installation in Weston-super-Mare.
Himarni Brownsword, Cultural Connector, Pinc College
Himarni is an educator and artist from Stoke-on-Trent who is passionate about increasing accessibility within the arts and cultural sectors. As Cultural Connector at Pinc College, Himarni works to form partnerships with arts, cultural, and educational organisations to help create new opportunities for neurodivergent young people.
Jamie Wright, Freelance Producer/Project Manager
Jamie is a freelance producer and project manager based in Birmingham, working in theatre, festivals and creative digital tech. Recently, Jamie has worked with the RSC, The Space, Birmingham Hippodrome and Coventry City of Culture Trust. He is also a big advocate for freelancers working in Arts and Culture industries, and is interested in finding new opportunities for freelancer network building and collective collaborations.
Jay Rowe, Public Health Research Officer, Birmingham Hippodrome
Jay is a Public Health Research Officer at Birmingham Hippodrome. His work uses primary and secondary research methods to understand the impact of applied theatre programmes on the mental health of young people and adults with complex access needs. Using Birmingham Hippodrome's Creative Partnerships work in schools and local communities, Jay uses paper-based and electronic surveys to capture data about service users. This data is combined with official statistics from ONS, DfE and PHE to create an original, widely applicable evaluation framework for creative health-based partnerships.
Katie Holtom, Freelance Producer
Katie is passionate about creating opportunities for emerging artists and ensuring meaningful access to the arts for children, young people, and communities. Her work spans school and community programmes, outdoor theatre, large-scale festivals and strategic network initiatives, driving forward innovative projects that inspire and empower the next generation. A champion for youth voice, Katie is dedicated to fostering creative engagement and shaping a more inclusive cultural sector.
Kaye Morrissey, Operations Manager & Philanthropy Lead, Stoke Creates
After 16 years in the corporate event sector, Kaye took a 12-month break in 2023 to pursue an MSc in Entrepreneurship at Staffordshire University. This experience led to a part-time role with Stoke Creates, the Cultural Compact for Stoke and North Staffordshire, sparking a new-found passion for the cultural sector and its inner workings. In February 2024, Kaye stepped into the role of Operations Manager as Stoke Creates embarks on its biggest project yet: the Stoke-on-Trent centenary, celebrating 100 years since the city was granted its status.
Dr Lucy Lopez, Curator & Writer; Curator of Radar at Loughborough University (she/her)
Lucy is an interdependent curator, writer and researcher. Currently she is Curator of Radar, a programme of commissions connected to research at Loughborough University. She is also a custodian of Birmingham Resistance Library, and is conducting research to inform a Charter for Equity for the West Midlands Culture Sector, lead by Culture Central. Together with Alba Colomo, she is co-founder of la Sala, a small ecofeminist art organisation. In 2014, she co-founded the London-based art organisation Jupiter Woods. She holds an MFA in Curating from Goldsmiths, University of London, and a PhD from Birmingham School of Art.
Nikki Riggon, Head of Programme, Punch Records
Nikki is a West Midlands-based Creative Producer, UK Music Futures Board member, and Head of Programme at Punch Records, leading live touring and artist development with a strong focus on diversity and inclusion. With 15+ years in music, arts, and entertainment, she has spearheaded programmes like Gallery37, Write the Future (META), and LEGACY - Birmingham’s first large-scale Grime & Orchestra collaboration with CBSO & Punch Records.
Tina Hofman, Co-founder & Co-director of Notnow Collective; Independent Artist, Researcher, Producer
Tina is a theatremaker, creative producer/collaborator and an academic. In Tina’s words: “I was born in a country that ceased to exist, came to UK, and has spent 25 years being ‘in-between’: living, working, relating to different geographical and made-up spaces. In my work I create and support experiences and conversation across genres and practices.” Tina is creative co-director of Notnow Collective, Origins artist at Birmingham Hippodrome, Resident Creative at Curve Theatre and Live & Local, and a co-founder of Migrants in Theatre. Funded by AHRC at University of Birmingham, Tina is researching the representation of artists from Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe in England.
Tom Jones, Director, No 11 Arts; Artscoop Central
Formerly a university tutor in Art & Design, Tom is 82 and still making ‘good trouble’. He enables Birmingham citizens to create in ways that make sense to who, where and how they are. Dedicated to ‘arts with social purpose’, he believes that we are all creative : it’s just a matter of finding out how. Tom draws people and things around him in order to understand more about them and himself.
Cohort 3
Diane Morgan, Strategic Consultant, Birmingham Hippodrome
I move between rehearsal rooms, boardrooms and communities, shaping spaces where change happens. Currently working for Birmingham Hippodrome, Leeds Playhouse and Counterculture Partnership LLP, I develop ideas, relationships and strategic roadmaps, with curiosity, courage and care. I was forever changed by producing the National Theatre’s 'Grenfell: In the Words of Survivors & North Kensington Project', working alongside bereaved, survivors and communities to amplify their stories and invest in their futures.
Fahmida Choudhury, Researcher / Fundraiser, Aston University / Punch Records
Jen Loffman, Community Producer, Severn Arts
I work with rural and other disadvantaged communities across Worcestershire to design and deliver creative projects that align with their interests and ambitions. Co-creation is a massive part of my practice, and as I primarily work with young people, I am driven to produce opportunities that inspire a new generation to join the creative workforce.
Joanne Roughton-Arnold, Opera Singer, CEO/Creative Director, Disability Advocate, formidAbility
Joanne Roughton-Arnold is an opera singer and commissioner of new work. She is equally at home in well-known and new repertoire, on the opera stage and concert platform. Joanne is Co-Founder, CEO & Creative Director of formidAbility, a Birmingham-based female- and disability-led opera company breaking down barriers on- and off-stage and challenging perceptions of disability and inclusion in the arts.
Kamaljit Suman, Director, Art at the Heart CIC
Kirsten Tranter, Freelance Creative Producer
Kirsten is a Creative Producer based in the Midlands with over 20 years of experience in the arts sector. Kirsten creates meaningful connections between artists, communities and audiences. Her journey has been shaped by a deep commitment to dance, movement and community arts practice, whilst embracing diverse cross-disciplinary collaborations. Kirsten believes that creative expression should be accessible to everyone – whether you're taking your first dance step, experiencing art from an audience perspective, or pursuing your professional practice. As a connector and facilitator, Kirsten brings together artists, young people and communities to build platforms where stories can be shared and voices can be heard. As a practicing Health Coach as well as a Creative Producer, Kirsten takes a person-centred approach to her work, nurturing people through care-led, and creative practices.
Mikayla Sinead, Head of People & Culture, Hood Futures Studio
Mikayla joins with a passion for leading with an inclusive intersectional mindset whilst centring joy. An enthusiastic gamer and passionate speaker, Mikayla encourages marginalised communities to carve space in gaming, whether for joy, wellbeing or career. Mikayla is Head of People and Culture at Hood Futures Studio, a community organisation working at the intersection of spatial, climate, cultural and economic justice to address the root causes of 'hood displacement and dispossession.
Nassy Konan, Creative Producer
Nassy Konan is a Birmingham-based independent Creative Producer working across live art, dance, theatre, and outdoor arts. Her work focuses on artist development, international exchange, and mid-scale touring for diverse audiences. She has collaborated with leading UK and international organisations, with past roles including Associate Producer for the University of Oxford Cultural Programme on Leys Festival 2025, Greenwich & Docklands Festivals, Birmingham Festival 2023, and China Plate Theatre. A Jerwood Arts awardee and Stage One bursary recipient, Nassy also leads Producer Gathering and supports a range of independent creative projects.
Sonia Levesque, Artist, Thinker and Realtime Filmmaker (Unreal Engine)
Fuelled by creative rebellion and forever in pursuit of truth, freedom, and play. I strive to create work which inspire others to commit their own mini acts of creative rebellion, to self-express and to use art as a lens to think critically about their world. I currently do this via films, virtual installations, poetry/prose and mini public art interventions. Recent work includes A Walk In The Park and AudioPULP.
Sophie Skellern, Producer, The Rep
Stacey Anne Bagdi, Cultural Development Officer, Sandwell Council
Stacey currently works at Sandwell Council as their Cultural Development Officer. She is Birmingham born and bred but prior to starting in Sandwell, she was working across the Museums Sector as a Curator for 7 years. Her museum career started in Birmingham but has taken her to many different types of museums and heritage buildings since then. When she is not working in museums/heritage/culture, she is either visiting them! Stacey wears another hat as an Archaeologist and Egyptologist as she has been excavating in Egypt for the last 8 years.
Zellah Keay, Freelance Dance Teacher & Project Manager
I’m an all-round artist, but in my day-to-day, I work as a dance teacher, lecturer, choreographer, project manager and professional dance artist, working with young people ages 7 years until adulthood. Born and raised in Birmingham with Caribbean heritage, I specialise in Hip Hop and House Dance. These styles have shaped not only my movement but my outlook on creativity, culture, and connection.
This work is funded as part of our Arts Council England IPSO work.