I sit on the DanceXchange Senior Management Team, working on the strategic development and management of the organisation.

Starting out in the visual arts, I completed a Foundation Course in Art and Design at the Blackpool & The Fylde College, a BA(Hons) in Fine Art at Coventry University, and an MA in Art Theory at the University of Warwick, achieving a Distinction.

Following university, I worked in administration, finance and business development for a number of years, including three years in the International Publications commercial team at Guardian Newspapers, based in London. Aiming to use this experience to benefit the arts, in 2002 I combined work with an Arts Management course at Birkbeck College, and subsequently moved to Birmingham in 2003 to take up a position at DanceXchange.

It has been hugely rewarding to be part of DanceXchange’s growth and development over so many years, and to take on the many new and interesting challenges this has offered me – not least in getting Birmingham International Dance Festival off the ground back in 2008, and more recently establishing our schools’ programme which is now going from strength to strength. I’m immensely proud of the work we do to support artists, nurture talented young people, and bring the joys and benefits of dance to thousands of people across the region and beyond.