Nia joined CCE in 2021, leading our work with the North East Creativity Collaborative and becoming a pivotal part of the team in developing our publication, ‘Creative Thinking in Schools: A Leadership Playbook.’ She has collaborated with many of our international partners, including Thailand, Norway, Hungary, Australia, Pakistan, and Ireland.

With 13 years’ experience working in secondary schools and further education, as a department and subject lead, she reformed courses to enhance learner engagement and outcomes.

In 2015, Nia became the Regional Lead for a Welsh Government and Arts Council of Wales national creative learning programme. She supported over 150 primary, secondary, and special schools, along with their teachers, in exploring creative teaching and learning approaches to transform their practice.

In 2020, she founded a social enterprise called Tybed, aimed at supporting schools to innovate and develop partnerships with their communities. This initiative coincided with her contribution to UNESCO’s Futures of Education report and the launch of an education practitioner network with Dr Penny Hay from Bath Spa University.

Nia holds an M.A in Practitioner Research. Her research on dialogic feedback ignited her passion for democratic education and action research, and she is dedicated to helping teachers bridge the gap between theory and practice. She is a member of the International Professional Development Association and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

Dee works as Project Lead for CCE for various international programmes and is an experienced trainer in CCE methodology, developing content for training and professional development programmes for teachers, quality assurance of creative learning programmes, mentoring of programme managers and staff in a range of international contexts as well as being  the initial point of contact for many international enquiries and responsible for scheduling and logistics of the Director.

Prior to working at CCE Dee has had a varied career which has included working for the private, public and third sectors and has previously lived and worked in Hong Kong, Germany and Canada as well as the UK.

Katy has extensive experience of building and maintaining strategic partnerships and developing creative programmes that enable arts, culture and educational development regionally, nationally and internationally.  She has cultivated educational practice through an enquiry based approach to creative learning and professional development. This work has had a positive impact on teaching and learning outcomes across a wide range of schools and networks.

Katy was approached directly by TED prize winner Professor Sugata Mitra to create and develop one of the original seven “School in the Cloud” labs where she worked directly with over 14,000 educators internationally. This enabled Katy to form working relationships and links in India, the Netherlands, Australia, New Zealand and produced an 18 month secondment as Creative Consultant Director for OneSchool based in Leamington Spa working across educational settings globally to develop creative learning.

In her most recent role Katy has worked across South Tyneside where she developed a new Cultural Strategy and established a strategic Cultural Partnership. Katy was previously Director of Arts and Creativity at Greenfield Arts for 16 years where she led an arts organisation and arts centre facility and co created creative opportunities across educational and wider community settings across the North East England. Katy facilitated opportunities for creative learning in her role as senior leader at Greenfield Community College which included developing and embedding the work of Creative Partnerships across the school and school networks. Katy’s work provides the conditions for people to think differently, explore ideas creatively and be inspired.

Sophie started her career as a primary and middle school teacher in London having gained her PGCE at the Institute of Education following a degree in the arts. She taught in London and West Wales before joining the education advisory team. Here her roles included Art and Design advisor and co-delivery of county wide developments such as the Assessment for Learning programme, the ACTS metacognition initiative and system leadership in curriculum development and innovation.

In 2012 Sophie became an external mentor on the Masters in Educational Practice in Wales, a Welsh Government funded Masters programme for early career teachers across Wales.

In 2015 Sophie became a Regional Lead, then in 2020 a Project Lead, for the Creative Learning programme at the Arts Council of Wales – a nationwide programme co-funded by the Welsh Government seeking to encourage teachers to explore creative approaches to teaching and learning, increase pupil engagement and deliver national education priorities. The scheme provides ongoing professional development in situ enabling schools to embrace whole school change. Her specialisms within the programme included developing leadership practice, co-designing an Early Years creative learning initiative and developing a programme for secondary teachers to collaboratively engage with their own professional practice.

Her areas of interest include professional development through reflective practice and honest dialogue, creative bravery, and the importance of talk to develop an environment for learning. Sophie is in the final stages of studying for an MPhil – her research is focused on creative practitioner dialogue and exploratory ways of learning.

After her degree in Biological Sciences and Master Degree in Environmental and Ecological Sciences, Claire worked for over 25 years as a teacher and lecturer at both universities and FE Colleges in the Midlands and North East of England. She taught mostly students over 18 years of age preparing the students for in health & science based degrees. She also taught GCSE and A level in subjects as diverse as human biology, physics and health promotion.

Following early retirement she began at CCE, a chance to work in another aspect of wider education and participation with a great group of people!

Other positions: Advisor to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the Lego Foundation on creativity.

As former Chief Executive of CCE, Paul Collard was responsible for the organisation, its policy and long-term strategic direction. Paul undertook work internationally,
developing and supporting educational programmes in many countries, advising governments, regional authorities and cities on their work with children and young people and is much in demand as a speaker and consultant.

Paul has over 30 years’ experience of working in the arts and is an expert in delivering programmes that use creativity and culture as drivers of social and economic change. He joined the UK Government’s flagship creative learning programme, Creative Partnerships in January 2005 and played a crucial role in clarifying its purpose and streamlining the delivery of the programme in schools. In 2008, he led a relaunch of the Creative Partnerships schools programme while also assuming responsibility for Find Your Talent, the Government’s pilot cultural offer for all children and young people. To manage these programmes, he created CCE, which delivered more than £50 million of Government cultural education programmes each year.

Paul has overseen the development of CCE from an organisation that delivered the Creative Partnerships programme in England to its emergence as an international consultancy that designs and delivers bespoke creative learning programmes in countries across the globe.

Paul has a particular interest in the role of arts and culture in urban regeneration. He wrote a report on the subject for the UK Government, which argued in favour of many of the strategies that are now commonplace in culturally-led urban regeneration projects. He implemented many of his ideas between 1993-97 in the North East of England where he developed programmes which led to the creation of the Angel of the North and Baltic. He was also successful in implementing this approach in New Haven Connecticut through the creation of a major international arts festival in partnership with Yale University and the City of New Haven.

Other positions held previously include General Manager at the Institute of Contemporary Art and Deputy Controller of the British Film Institute complex on the South Bank in London.

David offers input on research and evaluation as a CCE Associate helping to generate key learning from projects and programmes.

Previously, David was Director of Research at Creative and Cultural Skills, the sector skills council for the creative and cultural industries.

Prior to this David was Director of Research for CCE, managing a portfolio of studies which articulated the overall impact of the early stages of the Creative Partnerships Programme.

He has worked for a range of cultural bodies, including the British Film Institute where he worked as Head of Research and at Arts Council England helping to shape the monitoring and evaluation during the early stages of Creative Partnerships.

He began work in the cultural sector as a Research Fellow at Kings College London, based in the School of Education where he undertook a series of studies focusing on the uses of animation in primary teaching.

He completed his PHD in Film and Literature in 1998 and since then has published several papers and contributed to various books, including Creative Partnerships in Practice (2013).  He has undertaken evaluations for a number of arts and cultural programmes both in the UK and abroad, including Lambeth Education Action Zone and the Media Education workshop in Jyvaskyla, Finland.

Marie completed her Bachelor degree in Drama and Theatre in 2010 from Oslo University College, and she is also trained as a teacher.  She is currently working as a freelance Actor and Director, Creative Agent and Educator.  As an actress she has been engaged in among others Claire de Wangen’s performance ‘Messels Memorandum’, Vegard Vinge and Ida Muller’s ‘The Wild Duck’ and the NIE performance ‘Museum of Memories’ and she is a permanent member of the arts collective ‘The Great Pretenders’.

She is currently working as a Creative Agent for both the Cultural Rucksack (DKS) in Oppland and Trondheim, she is a Director for the Youth Theatre TGP ungdom’s current production ‘Hamlet’ as well as being at home with her baby girl Anna.

Paul has worked in cultural and creative education for over 15 years.  After completing a BA Hons in Community Arts in 2001 he has fulfilled a variety of roles including Theatre Maker, Project Director, Creative Adventurer (made up term), Lecturer and Agent of Danger.

Paul proudly calls Glasgow his home.  A city once defined by industry and violence is now, thanks to its social and cultural regeneration, thriving with creativity and possibility.  it is this connection to his city that has provided an implicit understanding of the role and purpose of the arts and artists within wider socio-political contexts.

Paul established the company ‘Hidden Giants’ in 2014 to carry out experiments in learning contexts: from nurseries to universities.  He lives with his partner, step son and daughter.

Steven is an artist and a lecturer in fine art at City of Glasgow College. He studied Sculpture and Environmental Art at The Glasgow School of Art, graduating in 2012.

He makes sculpture and image-based works exploring the imaginative potential of a range of materials including steel, plaster, canvas, photocopies and polyurethane foam. He has exhibited his work in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Berlin, Sydney and London.

For the past ten years he has worked with artists to plan and develop exhibitions of their work, realise outdoor public artworks and produce museum projects in the UK and internationally at spaces including Kunstmuseum Basel, Rhode Island School of Design and Tate Britain. He has been involved with artist run spaces and is a committee member of Glasgow Project Room; an artist run gallery which encourages experimentation, collaboration and productive failure. Steven was involved in establishing the GPR Summer Graduate Residency in 2021 which supports and mentors recent graduates to establish their creative practice outside of a formal educational setting.

With CCE, Steven worked as an artist on the original Art of Learning pilot delivered in Ayrshire and has contributed to the program by developing and producing content for a version of the project being delivered in Norwegian and Hungarian schools in 2021-23.

Johanne Clifton was the Executive Principal at Billesley Primary School, an outstanding school in Birmingham. She has been a headteacher for over 16 years all in schools in challenging circumstances. Johanne’s love of language and the power of story were what brought her into education and this has remained her central belief throughout her career and informed her practice.

She is now working with leaders to ensure that the curriculum is rooted in local community contexts and driven by a powerful commitment to social justice.

Johanne is an experienced system leader, working as a National Leader of Education in partnership with a number of schools and MATs, a lead inspector for Ofsted with a particular interest in SEND and a school governor in two schools in the West Midlands. She is a passionate advocate of the Arts in education and is a board member for a number of organisations including Stan’s Cafe Theatre.

Laurence Newman spent 20 years at the London office of international accountants and consultants KPMG, where among other leadership roles he was the partner leading KPMG’s work in leisure and tourism.   He was a KPMG partner for 13 years.

Since leaving KPMG Laurence has been appointed to a number of Chair and Non-Executive Director positions.  He was a Board member and then Chairman of Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust between 2009 and 2019.  The Trust is a large (£600 million turnover) acute hospital trust employing more than 6,000 people and running two general hospitals, a children’s hospital and community services.  During his time as Chairman, the Trust achieved a ‘Good’ rating from the Care Quality Commission and was awarded £500 million by the Government to build a brand new state of the art acute hospital facility.

Laurence is currently the Chairman of Grove End Housing Ltd which owns two large mansion flat buildings in St John’s Wood, London, containing more than 400 apartments.

Laurence was a member of the Advisory Board of the Foundation, a consulting firm, for several years and was also a Trustee of Comic Relief, and subsequently a member of their Investment Committee, for 25 years between 1997 and 2022.

Fiona Mactaggart was elected MP for Slough in 1997 and served until the general election in 2017 when she stepped down. During her time as an MP, she served on select committees on Public Administration, Children Schools and Families, Health, Public Accounts and latterly Intelligence and Security. When a member of the children, schools and families select committee she initiated a short enquiry into creativity. She founded the all-Party Parliamentary Group on Prostitution and Global Sexual Exploitation and in 2012 was elected co-Chair of the all-Party Parliamentary Group on Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking, a post she continued to hold until 2017.

Before working in politics, Fiona was a lecturer in primary education at London University Institute of Education, having also worked as a primary teacher for many years in Southwark.

Fiona is Chair of the Omnibus Theatre Clapham, and serves on the board of Commonweal Housing and is trustee of a number of family-charitable trusts

Stéphan Vincent-Lancrin is a deputy head of division and senior analyst at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Stéphan’s work mainly focuses on innovation in education, notably how digitalisation may transformg education, and on education for innovation, including work on arts education, metacognition, and how to improve education by fostering and assessing creativity and critical thinking as part of existing curricula. He works on all levels of education, from schooling to higher education and beyond. Among his recent publications are Fostering Students’ Creativity and Critical Thinking: What it Means in School, Art for Art’s Sake? The Impact of Arts Education and Measuring Innovation in Education 2019: What Has Changed in the Classroom?

Lucy has worked in the creative industries as a designer, creative director and business leader for over 25 years – she founded StudioLR in 2004 and Better Company in 2022.

Driven by a strong social purpose, Lucy’s dedicated to working on projects that make society better for people. She volunteers as a mentor in schools helping improve life chances for young people who’ve experienced adversity. She’s an Associate with The Promise Design School driving positive change for care experienced children and young people in Scotland. Ambassador for Daydream Believers and the new SCQF Creative Thinking Award qualification, and a Fellow with the RSA – the global organisation that unites people and ideas to resolve the challenges of our time.

Lucy lives in Leith, Edinburgh with her husband and two teenage boys.