Who is delivering the day

Mark Wright

Mark is Director of his own creative learning company, People Create Limited, and was previously responsible for Leadership Development and Inclusion at the professional services firm, Ernst & Young. He works with other corporates such as UBS, CPP, Reckitt Benckiser and Marks & Spencer on issues of performance, leadership, creativity and teaming. To balance this he is also working as a consultant to the Academy for Community Leadership, Business2Arts (Ireland) and the Crafts Council. Previously he was Head of Creative Development for Arts & Business Yorkshire providing learning, facilitation and consultancy services in leadership, sponsorship, Board development and creativity both in the UK and overseas.

Originally trained as a sculptor, he has also run a number of arts venues in the South of England.

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Robert Gibson

Robert is a professional consultant specialising in organisational effectiveness and personal development. Clients range across industry (Aviva, BAA, BBC, GlaxoSmithKline, Nokia); the public sector (Health Protection Agency, Higher Education, Nottinghamshire Police, Prime Minister’s Delivery Unit,) and the professions (legal, engineering). Previously he held senior positions in ICI plc and in the Co-operative Movement.

He is currently Chair of Jazz Yorkshire and sits on the Board of Audiences Yorkshire.

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Stephen Okunowo

Stephen is a management consultant with many years of experience in coaching, facilitation and strategy development.

Originally he served eight years as a commissioned officer in the Royal Air Force before becoming a consultant with KPMG and latterly with The Oxford Group. He has also worked with National Police Training, specialising in Change and Top Team Development. He has developed an enviable reputation in the retail, banking and construction sectors with clients including Barclays, Lafarge, Norwich Union, C&A, and Disney.

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Surya Turner

Surya’s academic background encompasses law, social policy and creative training. She works at the interface between arts, personal/ professional development and enables collective transformation through creative learning. She has worked for a number of leading arts organisations including the National Portrait Gallery, South Bank Centre (Hayward Gallery) and the National Trust. The use of story is a compelling focus in all her work. She draws on her work as a professional storyteller in her role as a training consultant highlighting the importance of narrative in leadership and organisational development.

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Beverley Ejimofo

Beverley Ejimofo has had a wide and multifaceted career in Local Government, community, the NHS and charity work. Allied with her qualifications as a health professional and educationalist she has a unique perspective on leadership and learning in both large and small organisations. Her interests include creative arts development in the voluntary and community sector.

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Gill Thewlis

Gill is Director of Aperté Ltd; a Yorkshire based consultancy delivering;

• Professional coaching for senior managers and directors of companies in the technology, financial services, consumer products and professional services sectors.
• Business advice to creative entrepreneurs and high growth start up companies in the creative industries, predominantly in areas of business growth, business planning, branding and marketing strategy, business development and communication planning.
• Mentoring for creative entrepreneurs and senior managers in the arts, focusing on strategic thinking, motivation, personal development, impact, and influence, formal and informal communication.
• Organisational development and facilitation in strategic visioning and board development for arts organisations in Yorkshire and the North West.

She has a 20 year background in financial services with Lloyds Bank, The London Stock Exchange and held senior positions at Halifax plc. She has trained as a fashion designer and holds a masters degree in business. She has 13 years experience of working within the arts on a voluntary and consultancy basis and has worked with in excess of 75 organisations across the creative and cultural sector.

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Liz Margree

Liz is a theatre maker and performer who specialises in designing and facilitating experiential learning programmes for organisations in the public and private sector. Using cutting edge devised theatre techniques and actor training models, these challenging programmes focus on personal impact, leadership and innovation and offer fresh solutions to old issues. She is co-author of the Learning and Skills Council’s “Innovation Framework”, designed to help organisations embed innovation into their cultures for sustainable business benefit. She is a founding member of award-winning Unlimited Theatre and she has a first class degree in Psychology.

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Steph Vidal-Hall

Steph Vidal-Hall has been working at the interface of arts, business and learning for the past 8 years. Previously a theatre lecturer, she has delivered arts-based training solutions on a variety of issues (leadership, innovation skills for entrepreneurs, communication, customer services) for clients including BP, Boots, RAC, Scottish Courage, Halifax, Ernst & Young, DWP, DfES, Unilever, Jaguar and Land Rover.

As a Birmingham-based freelancer and Creative Development Manager at Arts & Business (2001-05), she has supported artists in their career development both through 1 to 1 support and in Train the Trainer interventions. She was responsible for the accreditation of the first nationally recognised arts-based training qualification (OCN Train the Artist-Facilitator).

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