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.

Prior to taking up her role at CCE in 2023, Andrea has worked on a diverse array of multidimensional, dynamic and impactful projects and programmes. Her extensive experience encompasses working at the intersections of various disciplines and across a broad spectrum of fields including art, design, manufacturing, the built environment, architecture, education, creative community engagement, creative learning, industry, museums, and cultural heritage.

Andrea has played a pivotal role in the significant co-production and innovative transformation of the Museum of Making in Derby. Her crucial work in the extensive redevelopment has left a lasting impact, resonating with visitors and the community alike and shaping the museum’s identity and purpose. Additionally, Andrea has spearheaded the retrofitting and programming of ‘The Makory,’ an ex mobile library, into a mobile museum of making, further expanding the reach and influence of these activities. Notably, Andrea has been instrumental in leading, co-designing, and implementing the ‘Institute of STEAM’ (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Maths) creative learning and engagement programme at Derby Museums, encompassing formal and informal initiatives, projects, and events. This programme, supported by Rolls-Royce, is rooted in the rich heritage of Enlightenment thinking, making and innovation.

Andrea is a keen advocate for co-production and an interdisciplinary, and human-centred, approach to learning. She is passionate about developing people’s skills and capacities, enabling a realisation of peoples’ fullest potential, and holds specific interests in design thinking, STEAM, and maker education. Andrea’s passion for these areas reflect a broader dedication to pushing conventional boundaries, promoting creativity and critical thinking and learning through making.

Lamis joined CCE in 2023 as an Associate Director.

Lamis has served as a Strategic Creative Learning Manager at FORM, a non-profit cultural organisation based in Perth, Australia. Before joining FORM, Lamis worked in co-designing programmes for children and youth in disadvantaged, displaced and migrant communities. She has field experience in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lebanon, Nepal, Pakistan and Yemen.

Her work also includes co-designing and implementing creative learning programmes across Asia, Australia and the Middle East.

Lamis has a Master of Arts in Social Entrepreneurship from the University of London and a diploma in Art Therapy from Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona.

She believes that people learn best when they make discoveries; connect to the world in deep and profound ways; participate in the making of their own learning and understand why they are learning. She is passionate about reflective practice, meaningful collaborations, cultivating curiosity, and exploring gentle and generative ways of living and working.

Dee works as Project Lead for CCE for various international programmes and is an experienced trainer in CCE methodology. Dee plays an important role in 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.

Dee is also the initial point of contact for many international enquiries and responsible for scheduling and logistics of the Director.

Prior to working at CCE, Dee had a varied career, which 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.

After her degree in Biological Sciences and then a Master of Science Degree in Environmental and Ecological Sciences, Claire worked for over 25 years as a teacher, demonstrator & lecturer at both universities (HE) and Further Education (FE) Colleges in the Midlands and North East of England.

She has taught mostly students over 18 years of age preparing them for health & science-based degrees. Many now work in the NHS as nurses, midwives, mental health nurses, doctors and dentists. She also taught GCSEs and A levels to younger students in subjects as diverse as human biology, physics and health promotion.

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

As the former Director, Di provided overall strategic direction and leadership for CCE and its international creatlve learning programmes.  Having worked at CCE since 2009 Di was initially Director of Development and then took on the additional role of Director of Schools for Creative Partnerships which operated in England for over a decade with an annual budget of £50 million.  She is a specialist in programme design, professional learning for teachers, leaders, artists and creative professionals, implementation and quality assurance and has extensive international experience.  Di has lead and supported the design and delivery of creative learning programmes across a wide range of countries including Chile, Czech Republic, Denmark, England, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Lithuania, Norway, Pakistan, Thailand and Wales.  Di has also supported an international creative learning network which included partners across four continents and continues to this day.

Di dropped out of school early but returned to formal education completing a DMS and MBA at the University of Northumbria at Newcastle.  She is passionate about bringing high quality creative learning experiences to children from disadvantaged communities.  She has almost 30 years experience in the arts and creativity. Before working for CCE Di was the National Director of Grants for the Arts at Arts Council England.

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 English 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.

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.

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.

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.

Jess is an Audio Factual Producer – currently making podcasts and radio features for the BBC and beyond. She specialises in telling difficult stories with empathy and amplifying voices less heard.

Jess’ creative career journey started in kids TV and weaved its way through live studio work, animation production and broadcast management before switching from production to project work for Creative Skillset and then Arts Council of Wales. At ACW she helped coordinate the Lead Creative School’s programme across the nation.

Jess brings these project management skills, and creative industry know how to CCE on a freelance basis assisting with media curation and project wrangling.

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 and a lead inspector for Ofsted with a particular interest in SEND. 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 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.