Board of Directors and Trustees

Dalwardin served for over 30 years in the Metropolitan Police and is the former borough commander of Harrow. Dal has extensive board-level experience in policing, community safety, child and adult safeguarding, and also particular interest and expertise in equality and diversity and mental health law. In 2010 he was awarded an OBE for services to the police and communities. Dal has performed a combination of Operational, Community, Public Order and Partnership roles. In Camden, he carried out ground-breaking work in reducing youth disorder around Kings Cross and Euston. His keen interest in promoting social justice has led him to play a prominent role in the Black Police Association and the National Association of Muslim Police. His commitment to equality led him to be the founder and first Chair of the National Association of Muslim Police as well as holding prominent roles in the Black Police Association. It is a testament to Dal Babu’s strength of character, his sense of community and honesty that he has gained the trust and respect of Prime Ministers, Home Secretaries, Ministers, Minority and Majority communities, Colleagues in the Police Force, other Security Organisations as well as Government Departments.

Jan is a Solicitor. She was previously General Counsel for the Olympic Park Legacy Company and the London legacy Development Corporation.

Shirley Rodrigues was London Deputy Mayor for Environment and Energy from 2016-2024. She has devised and delivered environmental policies and programmes in London, nationally and internationally for government and philanthropy including most recently overseeing a global cities and climate change grants portfolio at the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF). She is now working to deliver the Mayor of London’s vision to make the city a fairer, greener, healthier and more sustainable one. This includes ambitious programmes to reduce air pollution across London including the expansion of the world’s first Ultra Low Emission Zone, making London carbon neutral by 2030 and spearheading London’s economic and social recovery from the impacts of Covid-19 through a Green New Deal.

Laia Gasch is Director of the World Cities Culture Forum, a leadership network of forty global cities spanning six continents. She leads the vision and strategy for the Forum with the goal to build a world where culture is at the heart of thriving cities.  She previously worked as Senior Advisor for Culture and the Creative Industries for London’s Deputy Mayor where she was instrumental to positioning culture as a key driver for good growth. She led the most pro-culture planning legislation ever, protecting creative workspace and grassroots venues. She devised new initiatives including the world’s first Creative Enterprise Zones, the UK’s first Night Czar and the London Borough of Culture and created the first Culture Infrastructure Plan and Culture at Risk office. Previously, Laia was Creative Producer for the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad, led an award-winning BBC programme on TV, radio, online and events across the UK and worked for Tate Modern and the London International Festival of Theatre. Laia is originally from Barcelona and has made London her home for the last 30 years.

Since October 2017, Stephanie Flanders has held the position as the Senior Executive Editor and Head of Economics for the financial, software, data, and media company, Bloomberg. Prior to this, Stephanie was the Chief Market Strategist for the UK and Europe for J.P. Morgan Asset Management where she delivered insight into the economy and financial markets to thousands of professional investors across the UK, Europe and globally.

Richard Kitson mentors and coaches Senior Executives. He works with a variety of clients advising them on their business strategies and other matters. Having worked to Chief Executive Level for the Aster Group and Director level for both Councils and Housing associations he brings a wealth of experience to our team, specifically his strategic insight.

Originally from New Zealand, as Managing Director and Head of Brand and Marketing for Europe and Asia Pacific, Desirée manages RBC Capital Market’s brand, promotion and sponsorship partnerships, as well as the company’s corporate social responsibility activities. On top of this role, Desirée is a member of RBC’s UK Diversity Leadership Council, the Capital Markets European Mentoring Programme Committee, is a new appointed Executive Sponsor of RBC’s Multicultural Employee Alliance (MEA) UK and, until recently, was Co-Chair of RBC’s gender diversity network, RWomen UK. She is a Freeman of the City of London, Liveryman of The Worshipful Company of Marketors and a Trustee of the Marketor’s Charity, as well as an Advisory Committee Member for The Barbican.

Helen Marriage has spent a lifetime in the arts. Previously the Director of the Salisbury Festival, she created the first Arts & Events programme for Olympia & York, the developers of Canary Wharf in London, and was an Associate Director of the London International Festival of Theatre (LIFT). In 2006, she set up Artichoke with Nicky Webb to produce The Sultan’s Elephant, a spectacular largescale work by Royale de Luxe that drew an audience of over a million over four days in London that permanently re-shaped the world of outdoor arts in the UK. Since then, she has continued to drive through Artichoke’s mission to invade and transform the public realm with work that stays in the collective memory for ever.

Since 2022, Helen has been a collaborator on the multidisciplinary team supporting DAVID RUBIN Land Collective (Land Collective) whose successful proposal to redesign Pennsylvania Avenue, will address redesign of the corridor, parks and plazas of this US national landmark in collaboration with HR&A Advisors (HR&A).

Helen is also on the Board of York Central, consulting on the cultural infrastructure for this £2 billion redevelopment project, by McLaren Regeneration and Arlington Real Estate, who together will deliver 2,500 homes and on million square feet of offices and retail. Work is due to start on a new public realm area, Museum Square, in the first quarter of 2025, and a Lido-style open air public swimming pool is also under consideration as part of the project.

She received a Loeb Fellowship from Harvard Graduate School of Design n 2012, and was awarded an MBE for services to the arts in the New Year’s Honours list in 2016. She is an Honorary Fellow of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.

Nephertiti was born in West Africa and raised in East London. She has worked in the charity sector for 20 years and is currently Artistic Director of the social arts charity Peckham Platform. Since 2013, she has worked on high-profile public realm projects with organisations including Art on the Underground, City of London and Contemporary Art Society, Manchester and Whitworth Galleries, Somerset House, and the Singapore Biennale. Her practice focuses on performance, audio and moving image in non- gallery contexts, producing discursive works, collaborations and research projects. She has a BA in photography from the Manchester School of Art and an MA in Curating Contemporary Art from the Royal College of Art.

Anthony James Heaton OBE is a British sculptor, disability rights activist and arts administrator, who was appointed an OBE in 2013 for services to the arts and the disability arts movement. He has exhibited nationally and internationally and major commissions include Gold Lamé winning the commission to be the first sculpture sited on the Liverpool Plinth in 2018 and Monument to the Unintended Performer, installed on the Big 4 outside Channel 4 TV in celebration of the 2012 London Paralympics. Tony brings a wealth of experience and 20 years of leadership in the arts, and is currently Chief Executive of Shape Arts in London.