Meg Molloy is the founder of Working Arts Club, a network dedicated to supporting arts professionals in the UK from working-class backgrounds. She is also a freelance Cultural Strategy and Communications Consultant with over a decade of experience of leading communications, artist and museum liaison in galleries and cultural destinations. She has worked on numerous landmark building projects and high-profile launches including those at Stephen Friedman Gallery, Dreamland Margate, Dulwich Picture Gallery and Studio Voltaire. Originally from Margate in Kent, she is now based in South East London.

Kai's book Neuro-Futurism and Re-Imagine Leadership introduces a neuroqueer, decolonial framework, and is widely accessed/taught (Translibrary Helsinki; MSc Affective Disorder KCL; BA Art History Nanyang Technological University).  Curatorial efforts include a Black History Month celebration that reached 18.2 million people, and the opening/closing ceremonies of Asia’s Paralympics praised as ‘game-changing’. Karama: Expressions of Resistance from Gaza (2025) was applauded as “really pushing boundaries big institutions are too timid too touch!” 

Debika Ray is a journalist and editor specialising in the arts, with a focus on the Global South, diasporic communities, cities and material culture. She has written for the Financial Times, Al Jazeera, the Guardian, Apollo, Wallpaper, Icon, Disegno and many others. Formerly editor of Crafts, head of editorial at the Crafts Council and programme director of the Global Design Forum, she founded the creative consultancy Clove Press and co-founded We Are Here, a collective exploring culture from migrant and diasporic perspectives.

Julie is the CEO for a-n, and drives the organisation’s vision. With more than 20 years’ director-level experience in arts organisations and national funding bodies, she’s a dedicated champion of artists and their role in the world. Julie has previously held positions at Liverpool Biennial, where she was the Director of Development, Arts Council England where she was the Director of Visual Arts and was also the Director of Visual Arts at Creative Australia. She regularly lectures at universities across the UK.

Photo: Joel Chester Fildes; Courtesy a-n The Artists Information Company

Chloe Stevenson graduated from Teesside University in 2026 and works within the Teesside region. Her work subverts our idea of value. By taking small, commonly discarded items from low-income areas and transforming them into human sized sculptures, or by painting intricate urban landscapes directly onto them, she imposes a value and gives these invisible objects a sense of power and influence. Her work has been shown in C.H.A.V (2026), a solo show at The Zoo Middlesbrough CIC- an organisation where she is also the Co-Director and Founder. She has featured in group shows, the most notable include MIMA’s ‘Art + Social’ (2025), HolyArt Galleries ‘Future Stars’ (2025) and Glasgow Gallery of Photography’s ‘Diptych/ Triptych’ (2026). She has been a recipient of the Marston Scholarship from 2023-2026. 

Photo: Niamh Stevenson

Becky Nunes is a lens‑based artist, researcher, and educator working within a post‑documentary framework to re‑centre marginalised voices and challenge extractivist narratives. Her work appears in national and international collections. As a current post‑doctoral candidate, Nunes researches planetary relations through post‑human feminism. Nunes is Associate Professor of Lens‑Based Studies at the University of Staffordshire, co‑leading the C3 Research Centre. She chairs the Association of Photographers in Education, is a founding member of Tangent Photography Collective, an artist member of PLACE Collective and leads the Critical Ecologies research hub.

Aishah Adris is an artist exploring the complex theory of identity within a post-colonial nation. She has participated in collective exhibitions, including MIMA Art and Social, and focuses on the notion of identity in Britain through interviews with migrants and British Pakistanis. Her work unravels layered narratives of belonging, migration, and cultural intersection. Aishah continues to deepen her exploration, creating dialogue around identity, migration, and social justice through contemporary art. 

A stop-motion animation student who specialises in puppet-making. Some of Emily's favourite styles to work with are marionettes and armature puppets, her love for handmade creations shows through every puppet and animation she makes. Primarily, Emily works with armatures, ranging from ball and socket to wood and wire. Exploring a range of different styles from humans to animals, all puppets are uniquely made with no two being the same. Her journey through stop motion hopes to inspire others to enjoy the creative process and all its challenges.

Michael Marsden is currently the Executive Dean of Nottingham School of Art & Design at Nottingham Trent University, a role that provides strategic leadership in teaching, research and practice in art and design in a school with 6,000 students at further education, undergraduate, postgraduate and research level across sites in both Nottingham and London. Prior to this appointment he was Acting Pro Vice Chancellor and Dean of Art, Design and Humanities at De Montfort University, Leicester.

Sian is currently Director of Research for Art, Architecture and Design (UoA32) and Associate Professor in Research Practice at Birmingham City University (BCU). Originally an art historian, during a higher education career spanning more than two decades, Sian has worked in a variety of roles: research assistant, undergraduate teaching, Keeper of an Art and Design Archives, course leader for an MA in Contemporary Curatorial Practice, an Art and Design PhD and an accredited doctoral supervisor development programme, as well as Site Director for an Arts and Humanities Research Council funded doctoral training partnership. 

Dr Jacqueline Butler is a Scottish artist and educator, Dean and Head of the School of Arts and a member of the College of Arts, Technology and Environment Executive team. As a manager, researcher, and teacher she strives to enhance the student experience and improve graduate outcomes, through expanding regional, national and international partnerships in the creative and cultural sector. Jacqueline has been a member of internationally recognised research and Higher Education networks, and has experience as a trustee on executive, advisory and gallery boards. 

Abid Qayum is Head of Technical Services at the University of East London, leading technical teams across the Schools of Arts and Creative Industries and Architecture, Computing and Engineering. He also works as an advisor and consultant, supporting universities on technical strategy, operating models, and workforce development. Abid coordinates the CHEAD Technical Alliance and has experience across several UK higher education institutions. He is a co-opted trustee of CHEAD and a Board of Representatives member at ELIA, contributing to sector leadership and the development of technical practice in higher education.

Jade Foster is a British curator and business consultant of Afro-Caribbean heritage. Their practice focuses on commissioning, strategy and artist development. They are Curator at Primary and were previously at DASH, working across disability justice. Foster has collaborated with major UK institutions and artists, and their writing appears in Art Monthly, ArtReview, LUX, Camera Austria International, and Corridor8.

Georgia Holman is a Glasgow-based artist, access support worker, and creative producer. Drawing on queer theory, disability justice and interdependency, her work questions how we can build compassionate structures of existence that foreground desire and strive towards loving futures. She works with organisations including DCA, LUX Scotland, Collective, Engage, Birds of Paradise and Creative Scotland on a freelance basis, alongside supporting independent disabled artists. She is a previous co-director of EMBASSY Gallery and the current Operations Manager of Rosie’s Disobedient Press.

kruse is an autistic, queer artist and writer. They make work about the solitaries, the hermits and wanderers and those who experience life in the margins.

They have a BA in Fine Art and completed an Mlitt in Creative Writing at Glasgow University in 2023 and are currently working on their first novel. They offer mentoring and Access Support to other neurodivergent artists applying for Arts Council England DYCP and Project Grant funding.

Dawn Summers is a current student at Teesside university and an emerging artist whose work reflects the surroundings she encounters through her part time jobs in sectors such as hospitality and care. Her work aims to shine a spotlight on the often-overlooked members of society, making them the focal points of her paintings whilst exploring the social connotations that come along with these topics. Her work has been shown at collective exhibitions such as the Mima Art and Social which allowed her subjects to gain a wider audience which she aims to continue doing through her work.

Dean of Culture & Creativity at Teesside University and Director of MIMA, Dr Laura Sillars leads the University’s cultural strategy, driving civic ambition, creative innovation and regional growth. She has worked internationally and across the UK at the intersection of the arts and higher education.
Laura will open the panel by exploring how the sector is changing and what this means for creative leadership within and beyond the academy.

Simon McKeown is an artist and Professor of Art whose work explores disability, technology and visual culture. He leads the AHRC-funded Würtz Images of Disability project, bringing historic collections into dialogue with contemporary practice through exhibitions, research and collaboration with disabled artists and partners across the UK and internationally.
His contribution explores how historic collections can speak meaningfully to contemporary audiences, reactivating the Würtz Collection through collaboration, creativity and new voices.

Elinor Morgan is a curator and writer, and Associate Curator: Research & Strategic Partnerships at MIMA. She has helped shape MIMA as an institution rooted in its context and publics, and is co-editor of The Constituent Museum(Valiz, 2018).
Elinor will discuss her work with the DASH Future Curators programme, supporting the development of disabled curators and exploring more inclusive curatorial practices and institutional change.

Charlotte Nicol is Associate Dean for Enterprise and Knowledge Exchange, a Clore Fellow and Fellow of the RSA. She sits on the REF subpanel for Unit of Assessment 32: Art and Design, and has led major collaborative bids with industry, including a £5 million partnership with DCMS.
Her contribution focuses on her role as academic lead across the University for the Tees Valley Creative Digital Innovation Zone, a £160 million, 10-year programme driving research, innovation and regional growth.

Rachel is a presenter for BBC Radio Tees, an actress, voiceover artist and a producer for Creative Lives. Rachel works with colleagues at Teesside University on a number of research projects as a facilitator, producer and researcher.