Board of Trustees

Tim is a former Senior Partner of Slaughter and May. He is Chair of WaterAid and the Economist Trust.  Tim is a Senior Adviser at G3, Hudson and Sandler, Chatham House and CER and a member of the Advisory Board of Uria Menendez. He is also a member of the Development Committee of the National Gallery. He was formerly a member of the Board of Big Yellow Group and the National Theatre and of the Audit Committee of Wellcome Trust.

Leah Schmidt is a founding Partner of The Agency (London) Ltd, an agency for writers and directors at the forefront of the theatre, television and film industry in the UK. Prior to founding The Agency, Leah was a Director at Curtis Brown Ltd for ten years. Leah began her career in the film industry in Los Angeles working at Lucasfilm Ltd. before moving into agenting in New York, at Rosenstone/Wender.

Jane is Deputy Head of Schools Engagement at the National Theatre, where she specialises in designing projects and resources that bridge the gap between professional theatre practice and the curriculum. She has a particular interest in writing and literacy projects and managed New Views, the NT’s nationwide playwriting programme for schools for 8 years. Before working at the NT, Jane worked for the Ambassador Theatre Group and Central School of Ballet. 

Greg is the co-founder of leading UK drama production company, Drama Republic Ltd, with over 30 years experience in the TV and Film Industry. He works with the UK’s leading screenwriters and nurtures new talent, producing shows for all the major broadcasters and platforms.

He is an investor and advisory board member at start-up Butter and Crust (https://butterandcrust.com/) and he also mentors an ex-prisoner who has just graduated from the 2 year screenwriting course at the National Film and TV School. 

Caroline is a theatre professional with over 15 years’ experience in a range of companies, encompassing venue-based and touring work, small to large scale theatre, and work across the UK.  At the Donmar Warehouse she produced Blindness, the first piece of theatre to play to audiences post-lockdown in August 2020, and the Olivier-award winning Constellations in the West End in 2021. Most recently she was Business Development Manager at ATG, the world’s largest theatre company, focussing on strategic growth projects.  She holds an Executive MBA from the Said Business School at Oxford University.

Liz is COO at the National Theatre, primarily responsible for the leadership and management of the theatre’s finances to deliver financial sustainability. This includes helping to shape and drive forward income generation, compliance, operational effectiveness and good business practice. Liz also has responsibility for Health and Safety, Security, HR and Commercial Trading. Prior to the NT Liz held similar roles at Shakespeare’s Globe and the Royal Albert Hall, before which she worked in the commercial West End theatre sector.

Based in Suffolk, Elma Glasgow is a national award-winning inclusive engagement, storyteller and communications expert. On a mission to influence positive change, she works with project teams and organisations to discover and share diverse opinions and stories that are authentic, and to deliver content which is anti-racist, unbiased and representative of society. The catalyst for her work was involvement in the acclaimed and award-winning Power of Stories exhibition, and her related Aspire Black Suffolk community engagement initiative, which became a CiC, between 2020 and 2023.

Juliet Gilkes Romero is an award-winning writer for stage and screen. She is the recipient of the 2020 Alfred Fagon Award for Best New Play with The Whip and the Roland Rees Bursary 2019, (named in honour of the co-founder of the Alfred Fagon Award).

Juliet was Writer in Residence at the National Theatre attached to the New Work Department for 2022/2023.

Her plays include – The Gift a retelling of Medea filmed for Jermyn Street Theatre’s 15 Heroines of Greek Tragedy season 2020, The Whip at the RSC’s Swan Theatre 2020, Day of The Living as part of RSC’s Mischief Festival 2018, Upper Cut at the Southwark Playhouse 2015, At The Gates of Gaza, Birmingham Repertory Theatre & tour, winner of the Writer’s Guild of Great Britain Best Play Award 2009.

Screen and audio includes – Soon Gone; A Windrush Chronicle for BBC co-produced by Sir Lenny Henry’s production company Douglas Road and the Young Vic Theatre, and One Hot Summer broadcast on BBC Radio 4.

Juliet’s earlier work as a BBC foreign affairs reporter and producer for BBC World Service Radio and BBC World TV saw her reporting from countries including Ethiopia, Cuba, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic.

Represented by

https://www.lisarichardscreatives.co.uk/

https://www.julietgilkesromero.co.uk/

Kate is Senior Producer at Artichoke producing large scale works in the public realm including the Lumiere Festivals and the iconic London 1666 commemoration on the River Thames.  Her producing work for other companies includes Robert Wilson’s Walking for NNF as part of the Olympic Cultural Festival and artists including performance artist Mem Morrison and poet and broadcaster Luke Wright.  Kate also works as a consultant with Bonnar Keenlyside.

Lucy is a former teacher and SENCO working with both primary and secondary children. She started and ran a nursery school in London. She left full time teaching to pursue a career as an independent consultant and teacher specialising in working with children with specific learning difficulties.

Lucy is formerly a trustee of The Alistair Roberts Fund, East Feast and Chair of Wonderful Beast; all three charities have connections to young people, education and the community.

She is a governor at Framlingham College and on both education and welfare sub-committees.  She goes on an annual pilgrimage to Lourdes and is married with three children and nine grandchildren.

Colin has extensive experience in the charity and not-for-profit world, including business and finance leadership roles at Comic Relief, The Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund and the National Theatre. He has been a trustee of many varied organisations and is currently a Trustee of The Talent Fund, a charity supporting the grant making of new philanthropists.

Matthew is a career management consulting, digital & governance professional, based in Cambridge, and Executive Director & Trustee for the Cambridge Film Trust which delivers the film festival & year-round events. Over the past two decades Matthew has helped transform more than 30 leading organisations through projects and programmes spanning culture, sports, healthcare, government & public sector, education & publishing, financial services, energy, media & telecommunications.