Gavin Stride Chair, Creative Lives Expand Gavin Stride has been Chair of Creative Lives since November 2024 Gavin has over 30 years’ experience leading creative organisations. He has a proven track record in making and producing new theatre, building partnerships, influencing policy, raising new cultural investment and is committed to extending the range of people involved in creative activity. From 2003-2022, Gavin was Chief Executive of Farnham Maltings in Surrey, repositioning it as a creative organisation that supports performing arts and crafts across South East England. He is currently establishing Creative Island as the cultural development agency for the Isle of Wight, and as a new Arts Council England NPO. Gavin has been Chair of Wildworks in Cornwall, Crying Out Loud, and the Independent Theatre Council as well as a board member for the south east regional council of Arts Council England and East Midlands Arts board. For more information about Gavin’s work, please visit his website at www.gavinstride.co.uk
Bobsie Robinson Vice Chair, Creative Lives Expand Bobsie Robinson is currently employed by Bradford Council as the Cultural Policy and Strategy Manager. She has a long and varied history of working with ethnically diverse communities on various regeneration initiatives. She has established new groups and organisations, particularly in the African and Caribbean communities in areas such as education, health, young and older people. On a regional and national level, Bobsie has been involved with various Arts Council England steering groups to engage and develop Black British and British Asian artists and organisations. Bobsie is currently leading on a joint DCLG and Arts Council England Arts in Communities programme where she is developing a number of community arts networks across various localities and interests groups to enable grassroots communities to participate and engage in the arts.
Ofure Obomighie Treasurer, Creative Lives Expand Ofure joined the Creative Lives Board in September 2024 Ofure holds a Bachelor's degree in Economics and is an Associate Member of both the Accounting Technicians and the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants. She has served as a finance executive in prominent firms across the globe and currently serves as the Financial Controller at Siemens Energy. As the founder of Hilary Sean Services, an accounting firm dedicated to providing accounting and tax solutions to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the UK, Ofure brings over 22 years of expertise in financial management. She has a solid foundation in budgeting, financial planning, and analysis, and has successfully overseen complex financial portfolios, ensuring optimal resource allocation and maximizing investment returns. Throughout her career, she has also implemented robust financial controls and reporting systems to promote transparency and accountability.
Francesca Aita Expand Francesca Aita is Head of Marketing at Together TV. An experienced marketer within the media industry and charity sector, throughout her international career she has led award-winning campaigns engaging millions of people globally. At Together TV, she leads the marketing, branding and engagement team specialising on creating positive social impact. Every month, Francesca sits down with leaders in the media industry to ‘spill the T’ about their work.
Professor Geoffrey Crossick MBE Expand Geoffrey Crossick MBE is a historian and now holds the honorary position of Distinguished Professor of Humanities in the School of Advanced Study at the University of London. He was previously Vice-Chancellor of the University of London, Warden of Goldsmiths, and Chief Executive of the UK’s Arts & Humanities Research Board and it is in these roles that he became increasingly involved with research and education for the arts and cultural sector. He was Director of the AHRC’s Cultural Value Project whose report, Understanding the value of arts and culture, was published in 2016. Geoff was Chair of the Crafts Council between 2013 and 2021 where he helped its increasing engagement with participatory craft practice. He is currently a member of the Boards of the Guildhall School of Music & Drama and the National Film & Television School, as well as Creative Lives. He is a member of the DCMS Science Advisory Council and the DCMS Culture & Heritage Capital Project’s Advisory Board. Geoff speaks in the UK and internationally on higher education and research strategy, the importance of the arts and humanities, and the creative and cultural sectors. In 2022, he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by Manchester Metropolitan University, and has been appointed an Honorary Fellow of Emmanuel College, Cambridge; Goldsmiths, University of London; and the Courtauld Institute. Geoff was awarded an MBE in the New Year Honours List 2025.
Tom Doyle Expand Tom Doyle joined the Creative Lives board in November 2020. Tom is a freelance musical director and lecturer, based in Cork. A graduate of both UCC and MTU Cork School of Music, he is highly sought after as a musical director and pianist in Cork City and its environs. As a choral enthusiast, Tom has had the pleasure of working with the UCC Choral Society, Blackpool Parish Choir, Mayfield Gospel Choir, the Fleischmann Choir, Cork ETB Youth Choir, the workplace choirs at Musgraves and Cork County Council, Munster Rugby Supporters Club Choir, Cantate, the choir at Presentation Secondary School Ballyphehane, the Willcolane Singers, and the Cork Garda Male Voice Choir. An accomplished pianist and répétiteur, Tom has worked with many renowned Irish singers, as well as ensembles such as Irish Youth Opera and Cork Operatic Society. In 2015, Tom was invited as guest conductor for the Cork Concert Orchestra’s Mozart to Morricone concert series; and in early-2022, he was appointed conductor of the University of Limerick Orchestra. Tom lectures in conducting at MTU Cork School of Music where he also directs the musical theatre choir Union.
Lewis Hou Expand Lewis Hou is founder and director of Science Ceilidh, an intermediary social enterprise supporting a creative, curious and well Scotland. He hosts the Culture & Wellbeing Community Network Scotland conversations on social inequalities as part of a long-term action research programme on cultural democracy. He also coordinates The Ideas Fund and Highlands & Islands Climate Change Community Network funding over 35 grassroots communities directly to lead participatory research on mental wellbeing, culture and climate change. Lewis is a Fellow of the Young Academy of Scotland as well as one of the UK Creative Community Fellows and was recently awarded the Beetlestone Award for leadership and legacy in the science engagement field.
Jill Miller OBE Expand Jill has extensive public and voluntary sector experience with specific interest in creativity, inclusion, engagement and wellbeing, focussing on how we make and share individual and community stories. After graduating from the Scottish College of Textiles she worked as a freelance Community Artist, Facilitator and Trainer before joining Fife Council, initially as an Arts and Disability Officer in 1990 and then moving to work in Glasgow in1999. Jill retired in July 2021 from her role as Director of Cultural Services at Glasgow Life, where she was responsible for strategic leadership and management of Art and Music, Museums and Collections, Libraries, Learning and Community Development. She is currently the Chair of the Donald Dewar Arts Awards, Chair of Fife Coastal and Countryside Trust and a trustee at the National Trust for Scotland.
Sunita Pandya Expand Having read History at the University of Bristol, Sunita set up her own production company that produced work with Bristol Old Vic and other places across the UK for six years. She worked at the Orange Tree Theatre before attending Drama School London to study Theatre and TV Directing. After graduating, Sunita worked on major projects with the National Theatre such as the development and first presentation of War Horse, before becoming a producer at Battersea Arts Centre where she programmed and delivered festivals. Sunita then moved to Sadler’s Wells as Project Manager whilst also managing the incubator programme for new choreographers in partnership with the Jerwood Foundation. Sunita then became the Executive Director of WildWorks (a Cornish landscape and participatory-focused theatre company) leading the company for two years, before joining Southbank Centre. Initially working as a Producer at Southbank Centre, Sunita moved into the Executive role of Director of Artistic Planning, Partnerships and Administration, totalling 7.5 years at Southbank Centre. Sunita now balances her time between being COO for the National Academy for Social Prescribing and offering executive consultancy around Arts and Culture for clients such as the National Theatre, Museum of Home, Unboxed 2022 and the Unicorn Theatre. Sunita leads Equality, Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging workshops and strategy work, as well as being the current Chair of Tara Theatre Ltd and has been giving lectures on Creative Producing (and Business Management) at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama for the past decade. Previously Sunita was Deputy Chair at Battersea Arts Centre as well as Trustee at Shoreditch Town Hall and the Orange Tree Theatre.
Mark Rhys Jones Expand Mark is a solicitor in private practice specialising in resolving disputes, helping clients to manage projects to a successful conclusion and devising strategies to avoid disputes arising. He also sits as a part time judge in South Wales. Mark has previously sat on (and chaired) the Board of a children and young person’s theatre company in Wales.
Adriana Marques Expand Adriana is an expert in culture-led regeneration and cultural placemaking. She is leading the cultural strategy in Thamesmead for Peabody, and putting local residents at the heart of shaping the town’s future. The strategy has delivered affordable artist studios in an iconic brutalist building with Bow Arts, set up a local arts organisation TACO! and locally-run radio station RTM.FM, established the award-winning Thamesmead Festival led by local residents, and commissioned international art projects that have put Thamesmead on the map. Adriana is now looking at community governance and how we can embed long term cultural programmes in collaboration with local people. She is also known for delivering the public art programme on the Olympic Park as it was built, and leading the London Legacy Development Corporation’s Cultural Strategy which has led to the creation of East Bank, and the protection of artist studios in Hackney Wick. She has written "Open Space", an advocacy publication for Arts Council England on best practice public art in London; ran the contemporary art programme at the Austrian Cultural Forum for seven years; and created Lido Love, a night-time festival at London Fields Lido in Hackney which ran for three years. Adriana is a member of the NLA’s Culture Expert Panel, the GLA’s Advisory Board for the Thames Estuary Production Corridor, co-chair of Three Rivers, Bexley’s Creative People and Places programme, an RSA fellow, and a mentor for University of the Arts undergraduate programme.