Impact and Engagement

Shanaz Gulzar is a British visual artist. She specialises in stage design and digital and installation work and has been a producer at the Manchester International Festival. is a British visual artist. She specialises in stage design and digital and installation work and has been a producer at the Manchester International Festival.

Jerrel Jackson is a neurodiverse entrepreneur from the Midlands. He co-founded Powered by CAN in 2013 at the age of 25, as a development and delivery organisation for children, young people and young adults in the Black Country and Birmingham to accelerate their personal potential.

Jerrel holds a variety of roles on strategic boards and advisory panels across social, cultural and educational organisations and national funding bodies, bringing his experience to diversify leadership representation and encapsulating collective voice to address inequality, injustices and inclusion. He was awarded the Young Educator of the Year and Princess Diana Memorial Award alongside numerous prestigious awards in business and community. In 2016 he was Arts Council England Fellow on the Clore Leadership Programme. His current appointments (2025-26) include: Co-Chair of Sandwell Cultural Education Partnership; Steering Group Member of Arts Council England’s National Place-Based Peer Learning Programme; and Arts Committee Board Member for Sandwell and West Birmingham (NHS Trust) Midlands Metropolitan University Hospital.

“Being part of PCI’s Industry Advisory Group gives me a meaningful opportunity to help shape thinking, build collective awareness, and contribute to the wider cultural and creative industries ecology. It’s a space where insight through lived experience, professional practice and academia /research meet on a level playing field to form and develop opportunities and experiences to strengthen those entering or advancing through the sector.”

Mojisola Kareem is an award-winning director and the founder of Utopia Theatre in Sheffield. A celebrated creative storyteller and theatre-maker, she is known for reimagining classic works through an African lens and championing authentic voices that challenge stereotypes.

She is currently collaborating with Sheffield Theatres on Crown of Blood, a Yorùbá adaptation of Shakespeare’s Macbeth. Her recent directorial work includes Death and the King’s Horseman by Wole Soyinka, Anna Hibiscus’ Song, and All Our Goals, a community-led production.

Under her leadership, Utopia Theatre has grown into a National Portfolio Organisation with Arts Council England, launched a thriving Youth Academy, and opened a Creative Hub dedicated to empowering African communities and emerging artists.

Mojisola has been in residence at Sheffield Theatres since 2016. She has also worked as a Staff Director at the National Theatre, received an Opera Awards Foundation bursary in 2017, and co-founded the Mosaic Opera Collective. She is currently a visiting director at East 15 Acting School and has previously taught at the British American Drama Academy and London South Bank University.

“As a member of the Industry Advisory Group, I value the opportunity to bridge the gap between academic research and real-world creative practice. I hope to contribute insights from my experience in theatre-making and cultural leadership to support students in developing meaningful, socially engaged work. I’m particularly passionate about championing underrepresented voices and ensuring that performance education reflects the diversity, depth, and dynamism of contemporary cultural expression.”

Amy Letman is a Producer, Curator and arts leader based in Leeds, UK. She has a 15-year track record of developing and delivering ambitious multi-disciplinary cultural experiences in the North of England and beyond. Amy is Founder and Creative Director of Transform, which she established in 2015 with the mission to develop a bold, brave, vivid and socially-conscious international performance festival for Leeds.

Ema Boswood is a producer and programmer, having worked in and programmed across Contemporary Performance, Live Art, Dance, Family and Circus, with a focus of supporting LGBTQ+ artists. As Senior Producer for Transform, she is responsible for the delivery of it’s projects and festivals. 

Alan Lyddiard is the Artistic Director of Leeds-based The Performance Ensemble. The company was the UK’s first Arts Council England’s National Portfolio Organisation of a permanent collective of older artists. They create cutting-edge contemporary theatre for audiences of all ages and backgrounds, harnessing the voices, experience and artistic talent of older people and putting them centre stage to turn the narrative of age and ageing on its head.

“As we explore our development of intergenerational work the importance of  building relationships with the University of Leeds becomes important. I have found my involvement in the Industry Advisory Group very stimulating. It has led to working with students on a range of activities from ‘Engaging with a Modern City’ module to organising a year-long internship with a second-year student. We work regularly at stage@leeds occasionally running workshops and sharing our practice with students as part of their course work.”

Claire Noonan is Head of Dance at St John Fisher Harrogate and has been dedicated to dance in education for over twenty years. In addition, Claire is a Specialist Leader in Education (SLE) and has taken on consultancy roles at both primary and secondary level, within a variety of demographics. Claire delivers professional development courses for teachers for Keynote Educational and Rambert. Claire views the Advisory Group as a dynamic and well-balanced collective of industry professionals who collaboratively exchange ideas on how Leeds University can best equip its students for successful creative careers and enhance their employability in today’s evolving landscape.

Mark Robinson runs Thinking Practice, though which he evaluates, researches, coaches, advises, provokes and otherwise makes himself useful to the cultural and community sectors. Since 2010 he has worked with and for 250 plus organisations and individuals, from artists to national strategic bodies. His book Tactics for the Tightrope: Creative Resilience for Creative Communities is published by Future Arts Centres.  

“I see the Industry Advisory Group as a great way of keeping the door open for future waves of creatives to get into the sector, the way many others shared insight, experience and networks with me when I knew no one and was just starting out. It keeps me in contact with fresh thinking and experience too.”

Jack Simpson is an experienced communicator and developer of ideas with a demonstrated history of working in the arts. He is skilled in business development and event planning, working on ideas across culture, co founding pan arts space Hyde Park Book Club, recording studio / club Eiger Studios, listening bar Holding Patterns, literary festival Leeds Lit Fest & zine Vibrations. 

Jack has been on the boards of the Left Bank, International Development Ethics Association and Human Development and Capabilities Association. He holds a PhD in politics and international studies from the University of Leeds, and an MA in PPE from the University of York and has taught in the Schools of Performance and Cultural Industries & Polis at the University of Leeds.

Balbir Singh is the Artistic Director of Balbir Singh Dance Company, an Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisation.

Based at Yorkshire Dance the company has a strong reach across Leeds, nationally and internationally. The work ranges from theatre based to site specific with an innovative health and wellbeing strand. Balbir has engaged for many years with PCI staff, students and presented work.

"The Industry Advisory Group is a great way of supporting emerging talent and also provides opportunities to network, share with peers and most importantly be a bridge for students to engage with the arts sector. PCI has built the Group in a unique manner that is of great benefit to all parties. I look forward to continued engagement on many levels."

Jess Walker is a singer, writer and educator, currently combining writing and performing for stage with her position running Artist Development at the Royal Academy of Music.

“Having undertaken my doctoral study at PCI, which was life-changing, both creatively and professionally, I want to be a part of advising and empowering the next generation of talented arts workers studying at the University of Leeds.”