Meet the second Collective cohort
Culture Central x people make it work x Collective is a leadership programme for those traditionally excluded from senior roles in the cultural sector.
Here at Culture Central, we want to see change within the cultural sector and recognise this happens through a plurality of experiences and a climate of inclusivity, which leads to wider dynamism and relevance of culture. Collective is a three-year project, run in partnership with people make it work, which builds on our approach and ambitions for the sector in the West Midlands.
In 2025, we have recruited 12 more people to learn alongside and to help shape this second year of the programme, exploring how we make change for ourselves, our peers, the cultural sector and the people and places of the region. Read the profiles below to learn more about the second cohort:
Ayesha Hussain
Collections Access Officer (Information), Birmingham Museums Trust
Day to day Ayesha deals mostly with data. As well as helping staff with their data needs, Ayesha works on the Dynamic Collections project, inviting community groups to get hands on with the collection and the database. This is also done online, with a crowd-sourcing transcription project called Documentation Detectives. Ayesha is also project managing a cataloguing and digitization project, having previously completed the cataloguing and digitization of BMT’s 26000 works on paper.
Clare Mitchell
Place Arts and Economy - Project Officer, Warwick District Council
Clare is an arts and culture professional with over 20 years of socially engaged creative development practice at a local, national, and international level.
Faith Whenham
Senior Producer, Birmingham Repertory Theatre
Faith recently joined Birmingham Rep as Senior Producer. For over a decade, she was Deputy Stage Manager on UK and internationally touring musical theatre productions. She then joined Birmingham Hippodrome as Festival Producer, presenting Birmingham’s largest arts festivals for several years. More recently, she was Senior Producer for Unboxed, on See Monster, a commission which transformed a 450-tonne oil rig into an art installation in Weston-super-Mare.
Himarni Brownsword
Cultural Connector, Pinc College
Himarni is an educator and artist from Stoke-on-Trent who is passionate about increasing accessibility within the arts and cultural sectors. As Cultural Connector at Pinc College, Himarni works to form partnerships with arts, cultural, and educational organisations to help create new opportunities for neurodivergent young people.
Jamie Wright
Freelance Producer/Project Manager
Jamie is a freelance producer and project manager based in Birmingham, working in theatre, festivals and creative digital tech. Recently, Jamie has worked with the RSC, The Space, Birmingham Hippodrome and Coventry City of Culture Trust. He is also a big advocate for freelancers working in Arts and Culture industries, and is interested in finding new opportunities for freelancer network building and collective collaborations.
Jay Rowe
Public Health Research Officer, Birmingham Hippodrome
Jay is a Public Health Research Officer at Birmingham Hippodrome. His work uses primary and secondary research methods to understand the impact of applied theatre programmes on the mental health of young people and adults with complex access needs. Using Birmingham Hippodrome's Creative Partnerships work in schools and local communities, Jay uses paper-based and electronic surveys to capture data about service users. This data is combined with official statistics from ONS, DfE and PHE to create an original, widely applicable evaluation framework for creative health-based partnerships.
Katie Holtom
Freelance Producer
Katie is passionate about creating opportunities for emerging artists and ensuring meaningful access to the arts for children, young people, and communities. Her work spans school and community programmes, outdoor theatre, large-scale festivals and strategic network initiatives, driving forward innovative projects that inspire and empower the next generation. A champion for youth voice, Katie is dedicated to fostering creative engagement and shaping a more inclusive cultural sector.
Kaye Morrissey
Operations Manager & Philanthropy Lead, Stoke Creates
After 16 years in the corporate event sector, Kaye took a 12-month break in 2023 to pursue an MSc in Entrepreneurship at Staffordshire University. This experience led to a part-time role with Stoke Creates, the Cultural Compact for Stoke and North Staffordshire, sparking a new-found passion for the cultural sector and its inner workings. In February 2024, Kaye stepped into the role of Operations Manager as Stoke Creates embarks on its biggest project yet: the Stoke-on-Trent centenary, celebrating 100 years since the city was granted its status.
Dr Lucy Lopez
Curator & Writer; Cuator of Radar at Loughborough University (she/her)
Lucy is an interdependent curator, writer and researcher. Currently she is Curator of Radar, a programme of commissions connected to research at Loughborough University. She is also a custodian of Birmingham Resistance Library, and is conducting research to inform a Charter for Equity for the West Midlands Culture Sector, lead by Culture Central. Together with Alba Colomo, she is co-founder of la Sala, a small ecofeminist art organisation. In 2014, she co-founded the London-based art organisation Jupiter Woods. She holds an MFA in Curating from Goldsmiths, University of London, and a PhD from Birmingham School of Art.
Nikki Riggon
Head of Programme, Punch Records
Nikki is a West Midlands-based Creative Producer, UK Music Futures Board member, and Head of Programme at Punch Records, leading live touring and artist development with a strong focus on diversity and inclusion. With 15+ years in music, arts, and entertainment, she has spearheaded programmes like Gallery37, Write the Future (META), and LEGACY - Birmingham’s first large-scale Grime & Orchestra collaboration with CBSO & Punch Records.
Tina Hofman
Co-founder & Co-director of Notnow Collective; Independent Artist, Researcher, Producer
Tina is a theatremaker, creative producer/collaborator and an academic. In Tina’s words: “I was born in a country that ceased to exist, came to UK, and has spent 25 years being ‘in-between’: living, working, relating to different geographical and made-up spaces. In my work I create and support experiences and conversation across genres and practices.” Tina is creative co-director of Notnow Collective, Origins artist at Birmingham Hippodrome, Resident Creative at Curve Theatre and Live & Local, and a co-founder of Migrants in Theatre. Funded by AHRC at University of Birmingham, Tina is researching the representation of artists from Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe in England.
Tom Jones
Director, No 11 Arts; Artscoop Central
Formerly a university tutor in Art & Design, Tom is 82 and still making ‘good trouble’. He enables Birmingham citizens to create in ways that make sense to who, where and how they are. Dedicated to ‘arts with social purpose’, he believes that we are all creative : it’s just a matter of finding out how. Tom draws people and things around him in order to understand more about them and himself.