Our Board of Directors brings together high-level experience and expertise from the finance, business and cultural sectors.
You can find out more about us by clicking on our photos below.
Mary-Alice Stack
Chief Executive Officer
Mary-Alice Stack
Chief Executive Officer
As Chief Executive, I'm responsible for the strategic leadership and management of the organisation. This involves a wide range of duties including the exploration of new business opportunities, ensuring our social objectives remain central to the design and delivery of all our programmes and services.
Having studied at Falmouth School of Art and at Courtauld Institute, my background and professional expertise is firmly rooted in the visual arts. However, I'm also passionate about theatre and poetry having spent many years working with small theatre companies, both as an actor and director.
In addition to my work at Creative United, I am involved in a voluntary capacity on the Board of a number of other arts organisations including Poet in the City, New Contemporaries and the Oppenheim-John Downes Memorial Trust.
David Gilbert
Chair
David Gilbert
Chair
David has enjoyed a highly successful career in retail during which he worked as MD of Currys and Waterstones. Currently, David is pursuing a plural career in the Arts and Creative industries in both commercial and not for profit organisations. His particular areas of focus in the cultural sector are contemporary visual arts, literature and archaeology. He is Chair of the Association of Illustrators and DigVentures Archaeology, he is also Board Advisor to Tatty Devine. and a Director of the Whitechapel Gallery Ventures Board.
David brings together his skills in both arts and business for his role of Chair of Creative United. In particular, his experience of investing in and chairing start-up and early-stage creative businesses is of considerable value to Creative United's Business Support
programme. His experience in retail is of great value to Take it away and Own Art.
David is greatly enjoying helping Creative United reach its full potential in terms of social benefit and economic growth, and leading a truly dynamic Board of Directors.
Professor Nick Henry
Professor Nick Henry
Professor Nick Henry is Co-Director at the Centre for Business in Society, Coventry University. Previously he was Consulting Director, Economic Development and Economic Policy at ICF GHK Consulting. He sits on Coventry University’s City of Culture 2021 Steering Group and is a member of Big Society Capital’s Community Investment Steering Group.
Nick has long run, substantial and wide-ranging experience of directing and managing research and consultancy projects on economic and social development at European, national, regional and local levels for Directorate Generals, numerous Government departments and quangos, national foundations, charities and trade associations, regional and local economic development partnerships, Local Authorities and voluntary and community sector organisations. Nick is a Visiting Fellow at Cranfield School of Management and Centre for Urban and Regional Development Studies at the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
Rikesh Shah
Rikesh Shah
Rikesh Shah qualified as a Chartered Accountant with Deloitte in London in the audit and advisory practice, working mostly with small and medium sized businesses, and holds an MBA from London Business School.
He was the Finance & Resources Director of the London Symphony Orchestra from 2009 to 2016, having previously held similar roles at Somerset House and The Royal Ballet School, and is now the LSO's Company Secretary and lead representative on the Centre for Music project.
Rikesh has also been involved with a number of other arts organisations in a variety of roles.
Suzanne Bull MBE
Suzanne Bull MBE
Suzanne joined the Board of Creative United in January 2019 & is excited about supporting Creative United to realise its ambitions.
Prior to this, she has worked in a variety of roles in the disability, arts, housing and events sectors. She has a background in pr, marketing, access consultancy and training, and fundraising. She has both a professional and personal interest in making culture inclusive to disabled people, with a focus on live music. Her work has lead to the following recognition:
- June 2013 - Honoured with an MBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours’ List for services to music, arts & disabled people.
- 2015 - Awarded Access All Areas Editor’s Award.
- 2015 - 2017 - Listed in Power 100, Britain’s most influential disabled people, supported by the Shaw Trust.
- 2017 - Recognised in ‘She Said So’s Alternative Power 100 List’, recognising unheard voices in the music industry. In the same year, she was enrolled into Music Week’s ‘Women in Music’s Roll of Honour.’
- 2018 - Awarded Music Week’s ‘Women in Music’s Campaigner of the Year Award.’
Rosie Wolfenden MBE
Rosie Wolfenden MBE
Rosie is the Managing Director of Tatty Devine. The cult jewellery label was founded in 1999 in East London by Rosie and Harriet Vine MBE, having just graduated from art school. Rosie drives the business operations and manages the brand, leading a team of thirty staff, across three locations; building and retaining their jewellery production in Britain whilst representing British design on an international level. Rosie strives to promote creativity and equality and received an MBE in 2013 for services to the Fashion Industry. Rosie is also a Trustee of the Rio Cinema, on the advisory board for the East End Trades Guild and a Brother of the Art Workers Guild.
Katherine Hall
Katherine Hall
Katherine Hall is an experienced Digital Transformation Leader, Project Manager and Company Director with over 20 years’ experience in leading and managing complex and technically challenging digital projects within the not-for-profit, museum and gallery sector.
Katherine set up and run her own digital marketing and design agency, Red Leader in 1999 before the company was acquired by Cog Design in 2014, managing the development of over 100 websites and product builds. From 2015 to 2017, Katherine was Head of Digital at DACS, during this time she was responsible for writing their digital strategy and the overall digital transformation, leading on Blockchain and distributed ledger projects; and overseeing large-scale data transformation project.
In her spare time, Katherine is an artist, exhibiting at National Portrait Gallery (February 2018) and most recently at Open Eye Gallery (August 2019).
Anu Giri
Anu Giri
Anu is currently Head of Business & Operations at BFI London Film Festival. Prior to this she was Executive Director at Dance Umbrella festival and responsible for business development, finance and fund-raising. Before this she was Co-Director of English National Ballet School where she developed the ‘My First’ series of children’s ballets in partnership with English National Ballet and set up ENBS Juniors – high quality children’s ballet classes across 3 London boroughs.
Anu spent 10 years at Arts Council England and was Head of Dance from 2003 – 2010; and was also General Manager at Shobana Jeyasingh Dance Company; Education Administrator at Birmingham Royal Ballet and managed several small-scale dance companies.
She co-presented Network East for BBC2, trained in Indian Classical Dance and has a BA in Drama and a Diploma in Management. Anu currently teaches on the Clore Leadership Programme short course; is Chair of Aakash Odedra Company, and is on the board of Creative United, Tara Arts and on the finance committee of Battersea Arts Centre