A former artistic director of Adelaide Festival, Holland Festival in Amsterdam and General Director of Manchester International Festival, Mackenzie was in charge of the official cultural programme for the 2012 London Olympics. She also worked as Dramaturg for the Vienna Festival and was Director of Scottish Opera, major theatres in Nottingham and Chichester and the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris. She was Special Advisor on Culture and Creative Industries for the UK Governments of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown and is an Associate of the World Cultural Cities Forum. Ruth has also been consultant artistic director for the Mayor of London working on a large scale cultural program, Let’s Do London, and for Comme des Garçons in Paris to open a new arts centre aimed at audiences under 30 years old. She advised on the curation of a cultural program for the Louvre Abu Dhabi, for the C40 Conference of World Mayors in Paris and Amsterdam, for the University of Arts London’s new AKO Storytelling Institute and was lead Creative for the Art Fund’s The Wild Escape with the BBC, WWF and RSPB. She was Chair of the London Arts Council, sat on the National Arts Council of England, served as a Board Member of Musée D’Orsay, Paris, the Serpentine Gallery, London and UNESCO City of Music Adelaide She was also a judge in 2021 of the World Cultural Cities Leadership Prize, of the Pina Bausch Foundation Fellowship Prize and the Paris Urban Film Festival. She has been a Visiting Professor at Yale School of Architecture, a Guest Lecturer at Sciences Po, Paris, and a Lunch Director for UAL’s Storytelling Institute. 

Professor Susan Orr is an Emeritus Professor at De Montfort University. Prior to this appointment she was the Deputy Vice-Chancellor Education and Equalities. Susan has also held leadership roles at York St John University, Sheffield Hallam University and University of the Arts London. At DMU, Susan led Learning for Life pillar of the university’s Empowering University Strategy. She led the cross-university change programme which is delivering a distinctive block education system to DMU students. She was the DMU executive lead for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, as well as Arts, Design, and Humanities (ADH). 

Susan was a panel member in the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) 2 Panel and chaired the Arts Subject Review TEF Pilot Panel. She was also on the recent TEF panel in 2023.  Read more.

Anne Boddington is Professor Emerita of Design Innovation with extensive leadership experience in Higher Education, having served as Dean of Arts & Humanities (Brighton), Pro Vice Chancellor for Research, Business & Innovation (Kingston), and Pro Vice Chancellor for Research and Knowledge Exchange (Middlesex). She is Chair of the UK Research Excellence Framework 2029 Panel for Art & Design: History, Practice & Theory, a former Deputy Chair and Trustee of the UK Design Council, and a member of the Design Museum’s Research & Learning Committee. In Hong Kong, she serves on the InnoHK Scientific Committee and the Council for Accreditation of Academic and Vocational Qualifications. As an independent consultant, she advises on governance, organisational design, and research strategy, and is committed to promoting equity, diversity, inclusion, career development, and integrity while reducing unnecessary bureaucracy and strengthening workplace culture.