My role was to contribute to the strategic development and management of the British Council sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) "Art Connects Us" programme, a three-year, £3.6 million-pound project. Working in collaboration with partners & colleagues in Literature, Performance, Music, Film, Architecture, Design and Fashion across the Council's 19 offices in SSA. I designed programmes which increased the knowledge, networks and opportunities for contemporary African arts professionals and their peers in the UK.

As Head of Partnerships and Programmes, I identified partners to create projects which responded appropriately to local opportunity and context. I also provided the connection to our international partners and the UK creative sectors and used my wide-ranging knowledge of contemporary arts practices and networks to provide specialist advice, participating directly to project design, implementation, management and evaluation.

Key achievements:

• Drafted rigorous Theories of Changes for the British Council’s Overseas Development Aid funded projects initiated from within the region with a strong programme managed from the UK which supported new partnerships and opportunities. I led the process, pulling in expertise and insight from UK and the SSA region and then delivered a programme that brought new opportunities for UK and SSA arts organisation with a yearly £130,000 budget that I had sole accountability for.

• Initiated a partnership with the Mayor of London and joined the Africa in London - Steering Group supporting a London wide yearly programme showcasing African culture in London.

• Initiated a partnership with the Prince Claus Fund to support the mobility of SSA creatives across the Global South.

• Led the partnership with the Royal African Society which aimed to increase UK audiences accessing contemporary African art. Projects include the publication of the report “Contemporary Africa Arts - mapping perceptions, insights and UK-Africa collaborations” and the Film Africa grant scheme.

• Collaborated with the founding editor, Nana Ocran of Peoples Stories , a project which aims to spotlight new and evolving trends in contemporary arts across Africa. A core element of the project is to commission young writers from the continent to talk about their cultural scenes. Tapping into the ‘real’ conversations that artists are using to shape their work, and the peer-to peer online influencers who are driving the creative ecosystem across the continent.

• Worked with Monitoring & Evaluation consultants Tom Fleming consultancy to draft an evaluation framework for Art Connects Us with a set of clear outcomes which reflect the SSA Art Connects Us aims. Additionally, providing recommendations for measuring the sustainability and longer-term impact of this programme, using the evaluation framework developed through this project.

• Equality, Diversity and Inclusion committee member.

My role as Programme Manager was to develop culturally sensitive performing art activities in the regions I had responsibility for (Latin America, SSA & EU Europe - a total of 59 countries) by liaising with a network of innovative British & international arts practitioners. I also advised cultural organisations, both in the independent sector and Government, on strategies for international development as well as providing mentorship to arts professionals and organisations. It was my responsibility following consultation with the local art sector to draft the performing arts strategies in countries which the Council operates.

Key achievements:

• Drafted and supported the implementation of the Council Nigeria's performance arts programme, which has included four editions of the Lagos Theatre Festival (LTF). LTF has become the biggest performing arts festival in West Africa, employing 613 people with a reach of 26 million through print, radio and television. In 2018, it was voted by AMEX as one of the top 10 Festivals in the world. In recognition of the impact LTF has had, a MOU has been signed with the Federal Government of Nigeria to co-fund a Festival Management training programme which is open to participants across West Africa. Additionally, the Lagos State Government in recognition of the Festivals impact on the local creative economy has committed to building 6 new theatres.

• Initiated the department’s Black, Asian and Ethnically diverse programme and forged strategic partnerships with Arts Council England (initially with Nike Jonah and then with Abid Hussain), IETM (International network for contemporary performing arts) and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, with whom a range of bursaries, networking & professional development programmes were launched such as

• The Edinburgh Fringe Emerging Producers programme. A development programme for emerging producers in partnership with the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

• International network bursaries to support practitioners to attend major international performing arts and networking events

• Edinburgh Artist Development programme. Introducing early career artists to the Fringe and to international programmers during the Edinburgh Showcase. Read article in Disability Arts International and Blog

• Co-curated four editions of the Edinburgh Showcase which comprises of approx. 30 performing arts companies and attracts on average 250 international delegates.

• Examples of Festivals with whom I have worked with include Théâtre de la Ville (France), Panorama Festival (Brazil), Nooderzon Performing Arts Festival (Holland), Le Festival d'Avignon (France), Tempo Festival (Brazil), National Arts Festival (South Africa), Berliner Festpiele (Germany) and Festival de Otoño (Spain).

• Working with the the French organisation ONDA on their 2012 Salon D'Artistes which featured Andy Fields, Quarantine, Hetain Patel, Claire Cunningham and Lundahl & Sietl.

• Worked on Acting Together a capacity building workshop for community development in conflict areas

As Projects Manager for Sadler’s Wells I worked on the theatre’s in-house productions & international tours. I was responsible for the overall financial and managerial functions of the productions as well as contract negotiations. As well as working on productions in the Theatre’s main house, I provided production support to the artistic programme in the Lilian Baylis Studio, off-site projects (such as Latitude Festival, Tate Modern and South London Gallery), the Jerwood Trust artist development programme and other bespoke Sadler’s Wells presentations.

Key achievements include:

• Project managed the first international tour of Sutra by Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui & Antony Gormley a co-production with Festival de Barcelona, Grec, Athens Festival, Grand Théâtre de Luxembourg, La Monnaie Brussels, Festival D’Avignon, Fondazione Musica per Roma and Shaolin Cultural Communications Company.

• Produced Jêrome Bel’s retrospective, as well actively helped to bring the Paris Opera Ballet to London for the first time in 20 years.

• Programmed a monthly Danceclub event, which allowed audiences to learn different styles of dance in a club environment. This format proved so popular it was taken to Glastonbury Festival and filmed by the BBC.

• Companies worked with include the Forsythe Company, Alvin Ailey, Mark Morris Dance Group, Jonathan Burrows and Matteo Fargion, Ballet Preljocaj, Carlos Acosta, Russell Maliphant, Northern Ballet, Ballet Boyz, Hofesh Shechter, Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker and Akram Khan.