Steve provides strategic and research leadership for the Centre, develops our profile and builds partnerships with the academic and cultural sectors.

Steve is an Associate Professor of Creativity and Enterprise at the University of Leeds. His research explores cultural planning and tourism, entrepreneurial identity and creative enterprise, the creative workplace and leadership for fostering innovation and creativity. He routinely works with global partners, advising on leadership in the arts and cultural industries and creative enterprise ecosystems.

Ben provides strategic leadership for the Centre in areas of policy influence and engagement, supporting the Director and the Policy Officer to develop strong relationships with local, regional, national and international policymakers.

Ben served as Director of the Centre from 2019 until 2024. He is the Dean of Cultural Engagement at the University of Leeds, where his research encompasses arts management, arts marketing, audience studies and cultural policy, with a focus on audience engagement and enrichment; change management in the arts; and cultural value and leadership.

Prior to his academic career, Ben had 10 years’ experience in arts management, most recently as Producer at the National Theatre of Scotland.

Liz is a key member of the Centre’s leadership team, driving business development and leading delivery of major projects including the Culture in Crisis project and our Collaborate funding programme. She oversees the Centre’s staff management, monitoring and evaluation processes and manages relationships with funders and cultural sector partners.

With over 10 years of experience at the University of Leeds, Liz has delivered complex multi-partner projects and has extensive expertise in partnership and project management across the arts, education, government, and social care sectors. Prior to joining the University, she worked in the civil service, implementing a national sector skills strategy, and managed arts and community development projects for local authorities and national charities.

As the founding Chair of the Leeds Cultural Education Partnership, Liz’s commitment to improving access to high-quality arts and cultural opportunities continues to shape her work with the Centre.

Anna builds relationships with external partners and policymakers on behalf of the Centre. Working with our research and communications teams, she engages stakeholders, academics and practitioners in our work, articulating its impact to a wide range of audiences.

Anna has been a long-time champion of applied research and development. She has worked in senior Lottery funding positions, leading strategies for film culture in Greater London and the North of England. Her work includes growing new audiences for cinema through Film Hub North, co-founding industry conference This Way Up and co-designing Beyond the Multiplex, a research project exploring the formation of screen audiences. She continues to be interested in improving the outlook for freelancers within the wider cultural ecology.

Anna is based in Sheffield where she maintains her artistic practice and freelance audience-facing work. She is a Trustee for RivelinCo in Hillsborough.

Photo: Emma Ledwith

Emma synthesises and summarises relevant research for the Centre, and helps to make it as accessible as possible to the cultural sector. Their current work includes a review of the lifelong value of cultural engagement and the development of a digital evaluation resource platform funded by the Esmée Fairbairn.

In 2022, Emma completed their PhD ‘From transaction to enaction: reframing theatre marketing’ exploring the processes of participatory sense-making in marketing and theatre-making. They are a LAHRI Fellow, have expertise in research design, qualitative and participatory co-research and their recently published ‘Mixing Methods in Audience Research Practice’ was shortlisted for TaPRA’s 2023 ECR Prize. Emma is also social media editor for policy journal Cultural Trends, and Co-Chair of Leeds-based theatre company Red Ladder.

Rob synthesises and summarises relevant research from the Centre and helps make it as accessible as possible to cultural practitioners and policymakers. Rob’s recent research has focused on evaluating the role of arts and culture in the daily lives of young people.

Rob has lectured in the cultural and creative industries and in virtual and extended realities. Previously, they were a Research Fellow with the British Film Institute and XR Stories on emerging media formats and a researcher with UAL’s AKO Storytelling Institute on the use of arts and culture in campaigns and advocacy practices in ‘storytelling for social good’.

Rob completed their PhD in 2022 on the use of immersive media for interactive documentary storytelling. Outside of the Centre, they are a film-maker and digital artist and a director of the Bradford Digital Arts Lab for emerging digital artists in Bradford.

John synthesises and summarises relevant research and helps make it as accessible as possible to the cultural sector. His current focus is an extensive review of research and practice relating everyday creativity and participation.

John completed his PhD in 2020 which examined artist-led collectives through the lens of friendship to better understand the values art and locality.

John is co-founder of artist-led collective The Retro Bar at the End of the Universe and has a curatorial background in both museums, galleries and in artist-led activity. His research interests include collectivism in art, the role of place in shaping artist-led activity and the intersections between cultural policy and visual arts ecologies.

Maria supports the team in the planning, co-ordination and day-to-day delivery of the Centre’s projects, ensuring they run efficiently and meet our objectives. Maria works closely with the Centre Manager, Project Co-ordinator, external partners and across the University departments to ensure operational planning is in place and effective.

Maria completed her MA European Studies and Psychology degree in 2021 at the University of Dundee. For over two years, Maria worked as a PR Assistant for the Dundee University Students’ Association, where she supported the organisation and execution of social events and campaigns. She is passionate about writing and her articles, short stories and poems have been published in The Magdalen (student-led), Psych-Talk (led by the British Psychology Society), Marketing Gazette and the Student Publication Association national magazine.

Amy helps us to communicate our work and reach new audiences. This includes promoting our research digests and events, creating and scheduling engaging content for our social channels and ensuring our resources and platforms can be accessed by as many people as possible.

Amy has over 15 years’ experience working in communication roles in the arts, culture and non-profit sectors. She worked as part of the marketing team at the Royal Shakespeare Company before starting a freelance career in 2017. As a freelancer she has worked with a range of clients to deliver marketing campaigns, digital marketing consultancy, digital advertising, social media management, training and mentoring.