The World Reimagined

Asher is a community developer, artist and yoga teacher living in Leeds. He uses the arts to bring people together and challenge the norms of modern culture. His freelance work engages with marginalised communities in novel ways which demands a constant acquisition of new skills. He has a MA in Peace and Development from Leeds Beckett, is a qualified yoga teacher, and has a diverse portfolio of skills and professional experiences.

A native Californian with Bajan and Yoruba roots, Ashley is known for promoting the representation of those not in the room and creating conversations that generate action towards equity. She is the Global Head of Research at Adjaye Associates, an award-winning international architectural firm committed to community engagement through civic projects. She holds a BA in Philosophy and Visual Art from Stanford University, an MBA from INSEAD, and a MSc from the Gender Institute at London School of Economics. Currently, Ashley sits on the Africa Futures Institute Board of Trustees, The Prince’s Trust International Africa Advisory Board, and the Institute of Imagination Board of Trustees. She lives between Accra, London and New York City with her family.

Community Administrator

With a passion for creative learning and development, Carolyn has worked with businesses, charities, communities and educators to design and deliver behaviour intervention and empower positive change. Since founding Amulinde Consulting, she has worked with leading change makers such as Diversity & Ability, Diversity Resources International, BeetFreaks and Always Possible, to design and deliver engaging learning environments for diverse communities, from executive education to youth development. Carolyn brings a multi-dimensional expertise – including research, facilitation, design, strategy and operations –enabling her to lead projects from conception to delivery.

Chantel is an educator, art writer and consultant based in Accra, Ghana. She is the founder of DēpART consultancy which supports early-career artists in Ghana. Alongside this she runs Beyond the Black Canvas, an online platform exclusively dedicated to the stories and work of artists of African and Caribbean descent. She has an MA in Comparative Education and taught at primary schools in London and The Seychelles, where she used her love of the arts to create impactful and memorable learning experiences for children, seamlessly weaving her knowledge and passion for the African continent. She mentored teachers in the UK, Vanuatu, Ghana and Uganda sharing best practice for unlocking the potential of children identified with SEND and SEMH. She was part of the development team for Meadowsong, an RSPB and WWF sponsored initiative created by composer Kate Stilitz.

Of African-Jamaican and Scottish roots, Cleo is a community engagement professional, researcher, has been involved within the arts and culture sector for over two decades and is the former Lord Mayor of Bristol (2018-2019). During her term as a Green Party Councillor, she was instrumental in getting a Reparations and Atonement motion passed at Bristol City Council for Bristol’s role in the Transatlantic Traffic in Enslaved Africans. Cleo is driven by the idea of utilising creativity, dance and expanded performance to aid civic engagement and to reframe storytelling as a resilience tool to embed cultural knowledge, empathy, understanding and cohesion.

Corazon is a digital journalist, artist and creative facilitator, born in Uganda and raised in East London. Corazon’s professional career has consisted of live events, operations and logistics management, where she enjoyed success working with major brands and implementing improvements that transformed the quality of services and work environments. The pandemic inspired meaningful redirection away from the corporate, toward social enterprise and community-related projects. The much needed career change aligned with her personal evolution and a renewed desire to have a positive impact. As an artist and creative she channels a strong spirit of activism. Whether through content creation, music production or the curation of art. Her artistry promotes radical self reflection and self love – emotionally, politically or otherwise.

Inspired by his family’s activism as part of the Anti-Apartheid Movement, Dennis co-founded the social impact agency Ubuntu London, working with leading politicians, global NGOs, and high profile activists, including honouring Nelson Mandela’s co-accused Denis Goldberg, Ahmed Kathrada and Andrew Mlangeni. He was previously the Executive Director of Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights UK, an educational charity that works to inspire people to make human rights a reality in their everyday lives. Dennis also managed Patricia Scotland QC’s successful 2015 bid to become the first female Secretary-General of the Commonwealth. He is a member of the Strategic Council of the Patchwork Foundation and the Committee for the Cherry Groce Memorial.

Derya is a freelance digital designer and engagement coordinator. She trained as a designer before moving to London to pursue her MA in RCA’s History of Design course, which is jointly run with the Victoria and Albert Museum. After her studies, she worked in various art and design installation projects’ curatorial teams, which helped her develop production and management skills alongside her creative background. She’s been working in freelance creative roles for the last five years and she enjoys working with arts organisations and using her skills to support their outreach programmes. Previously, she worked for Wandsworth Council’s arts team, the British Library, and It’s Nice That overseeing their various digital projects.

With a background in gallery education, Ella graduated with a Masters in Fine Art from Wimbledon College in 2015. Creating video installations, text and site responsive interventions, she has deeply explored how design affects our behaviours in both physical and digital spaces. She has exhibited artworks internationally and been part of projects at The National Theatre, Victoria & Albert Museum and Napoli Film Festival. While nurturing her art practice and freelance curatorial projects, Ella has also honed her talents in project management and education having worked in a range of art organisations in the public and private sector.

Esther is an arts and heritage professional with a keen interest in projects which intersect with communities, culture and stories. She has worked with organisations including Manchester International Festival, The Pankhurst Centre, British Film Institute and The Drum. She is a committee member of the Portico Library in Manchester and co-chairs a heritage managers network, ensuring that Equity and Representation are ever present in cultural practice in her region. She is an active member of Museum Detox North West and co-hosted the Well Spoken Tokens podcast to elevate marginalised voices in the galleries, libraries, archives and museum sector.

Garry was born and raised a stone’s throw from Birmingham city centre, surrounded by its rich industrial heritage. As a citizen, historian and community activist, he represents the voice of the people in a story that connects us all on a local, national and global level.

James is an artist, curator, and heritage consultant specialising in bringing twenty first -century context to culturally sensitive historic collections. He has staged hundreds of events and exhibitions with communities, artists, and researchers, often focused on opening up organisations to previously excluded perspectives. Alongside curating the exhibitions programme and helping drive strategic development at Manchester’s Portico Library, he has contributed to events with the BBC, ARTE TV, Bluedot Festival, Home, and the Cité de la Mode et du Design. He has completed mentorships and training with the British Museum, Wellcome Collection, Manchester Art Gallery, and Common Cause Foundation. His projects have been cited as examples of inclusive and collaborative practice by the Crafts Council and the Journal of Museum Ethnography among others.

Janiece is an artist with a background in music and dance, as well as visual and performing arts. She has many years of experience working in the youth and community sector; engaging people through arts workshops with positive social messages such as anti-violence, diversity, equality and inclusion, and personal development.

John-Paul began his career as a theatre director and has staged plays with professional and student actors across the UK and abroad. He has adapted and directed several productions of Horrible Histories which have been performed all over the UK and as far away as the Sydney Opera House in Australia. He spent ten years as a lecturer and led performing arts departments at several UK colleges and drama schools. He has spent the past eight years working in communications for a variety of campaigns, politicians and public figures. He has been humbled by the incredible work across all the different teams of The World Reimagined, and is honoured to have had the opportunity to be part of it during the past year.

Kacherelle is an event creative, manager and producer who has delivered over 500 pioneering projects in the UK and internationally, including multidisciplinary festivals, conferences, exhibitions, high profile events, theatre shows and plays. She has worked on Africa Utopia, Women of the World, Ripples of Hope, We Out Here festival, Family Honour by Spoken Movement, Shameless Festival and with many other activists and changemakers across the globe. Her work centres around her core values of togetherness, creativity and social justice. She believes that the arts are for everyone, are central to breaking down stereotypes, and can promote intercultural dialogue which creates platforms for the most marginalized voices to be heard, seen and celebrated. It is her continuing mission to connect the diaspora through thought provoking events where fun, social justice and change are tangible.

In her home country of Belize, Kiri worked on gender issues, policy analysis, evaluation of social programmes, and human rights education in both governmental and non-governmental organisations. Making an honest and genuine social impact has been and remains her core purpose. She has worked on mapping data systems across Belize’s social protection system and was part of a team at the helm of administering social programmes there, from conceptualisation to technical delivery. In the United Kingdom, she has worked in administrative roles at the University of Oxford and Prospect Magazine. She holds a BSc in Political Science and an MSc in Governance and Public Policy, both from The University of the West Indies, Mona.

Partnerships Consultant

Following the completion of a Journalism degree, Sabrina worked for a range of lifestyle publications, gaining extensive writing experience on several media platforms. Her love of language led her to become an English and Media Studies teacher. Almost a decade of her teaching career was spent as a Year Learning Coordinator in a South London secondary school. In this pastoral role she managed the learning experience of 240 students, led a staff team of 12 tutors and led the 2016 cohort to achieve the best GCSE results in the borough of Lewisham and in the history of the school. Sabrina is also a freelance writer and runs her own motherhood and lifestyle blog.

With a background in public relations, communications and museums, Sahar is currently on a secondment from the International Slavery Museum, Liverpool. Having worked in the museum sector for three years, she is a champion of supporting and highlighting the experiences of working as Global Majority within the Heritage sector. She is passionate about bringing people from seemingly disparate communities and cultures together and empowering herself and others. For two years she was chair of the charity Journey to Justice, and is currently a mentor for Muslim Women Connects. Outside of her day-day work she is an advocate for bringing to light the refugee crisis, volunteering in the Calais camps. She recently completed the CLORE leadership training course.

Senior Producer

Over her extensive career, Tara has straddled the lines between arts and heritage for the benefit and empowerment of Black people. She has worked for a number of minority lead arts organisations in and around Leicester, as a trainee curator role at Leicester Museum Service and has also worked with organisations such as the VIctorian and Albert Museum and The Race Equality Centre. Her exhibition ‘Together we won the War’ was rated seventh nationally among projects supported by the National Heritage Lottery in 2016. Tara founded Opal22 Arts and Edutainment to bridge the gap between mainstream public organisations and the diverse members of her community and to promote Black excellence to the masses.

Theresa is passionate about building and empowering communities, providing opportunities where there are none, and helping charities reach goals within their vision and values. Her experience of regulated and non-regulated environments brings a perspective and skill set that facilitates the best outcomes.

Founding Acquisys and working with industry leading changemakers has enabled her to impart her multi-disciplinary expertise which includes design, strategy and implementation for Not For Profit and the corporate entities. With a strong background in programme management & delivery, she has utilised her knowledge within governance, compliance & operations to engage and further the interests of a number of Not for Profit and corporate entities including, Rekindle School, Northern Soul, Virgin Money Foundation, Koreo, The Roots Programme, RBS and Tandem Bank.