Left to right: Miles Harrison (Chair); Jai Hutchison (Vice-Chair); Wezi Mhura (Treasurer)
Left to right: Amy Conachan; Jack Hunter; Dr Andrew Henry
Left to right: Janet Tam; Sarah Marie Mooney; Nic Reid
Miles Harrison bio
Miles works in leadership and organisation/governance development and is an independent meeting facilitator. He has particular expertise and experience in the not-for-profit and public sectors. Since 1990 he has designed and delivered bespoke governance and leadership development programmes for a range of not-for-profit and public sector organisations in the UK and abroad.
He previously worked for the leadership development organisation Common Purpose as Programme Director and for the Scottish Arts Council as Senior Development Officer (National Lottery), later running the Advancement Programme – a scheme to help organisations achieve lasting positive change. He is an accredited Action Learning Set facilitator and has run training programmes in coaching and mentoring.
Jai Hutchison bio
Jai is a community dance artist and choreographer who has recently relocated back to Scotland after working across Hertfordshire and London predominantly within inclusive dance. Jai has a vast amount of experience working with young people both in schools and in other community settings delivery dance workshops often as part of the school curriculum, and also as an Arts Award adviser incorporating different art forms.
Now based in Edinburgh Jai is a student at Queen Margaret University where she is studying MA Arts, Festival and Cultural Management. She is an advocate for the arts for mental health, which was the focus of her first MA in 2012, and is currently an intern at Art in Healthcare, who are based in Edinburgh.
For 5 years as a producer and artistic director Jai ran her own organisation ‘Insights Platforms’, which supported a variety of performing artists by creating opportunities for them to deliver workshops and teach within their practice, and also to present their works at performing arts festivals and independent Insights Platforms across the U.K. including the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the Camden Fringe, Dance Live in Aberdeen, RADA, Northern School of Contemporay Dance and The Holy Biscuit art gallery in Newcastle upon Tyne. Jai is passionate about creating opportunities for performing artists in order not to disengage from their practice, and is currently working on the Insights Platforms relaunch for 2019.
Wezi Mhura bio
Wezi Mhura is a freelance creative producer, who has initiated and developed projects with widely diverse groups of artists, organisations and artforms including dance, theatre, circus, visual art, digital and music performances.
She is the founder of AfriFest, Scotland’s first festival commemoration of Pan-African Arts and Culture, and a celebratory showcase of visual and performing arts of the Scottish Pan-African diaspora community. Wezi has a passion for cross-artform, multi disciplinary collaborations and experimenting with new forms, she often works within unconventional, outdoor and site specific spaces.
Highlighted achievements include a London 2012 Cultural Olympiad Commission, two critically acclaimed events in the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games Culture programme and the 2020 Scotland wide BLM Mural Trail
In 2020 Wezi became a creative associate with the National Theatre of Scotland.
Insta : www.instagram.com/blmmuraltrail/
Twitter : https://twitter.com/BLMMuralTrail
Amy Conachan bio
Amy is a stage and television actress. Since graduating with a BA in Acting from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in 2015, she has worked with various companies such as Graeae and Play, a Pie and a Pint. From 2014-16 she played Laura in Birds of Paradise Theatre Company’s hit comedy ‘Wendy Hoose’ by Johnny McKnight. She then joined the cast of Channel 4 soap ‘Hollyoaks’; playing science teacher, Courtney Campbell.
Jack Hunter bio
Jack graduated from the BA (Hons) Drama and Performance at Queen Margaret University in 2017.
TV credits include: Annika (Black Camel Pictures).
Theatre credits include: Swimming For Beginners (Graeae Theatre Company/ British Council/ Owlspot Theatre (Tokyo, Japan); Cost of Living (Hampstead Theatre); All You Need is LSD (Told By An Idiot/ Birmingham Rep) and Let Me Play the Lion Too (Told By An Idiot/ Barbican Centre).
Radio work includes Bartholomew Abominations (Naked Productions/ Graeae Theatre/ BBC Radio 4).
Jack is currently enrolled on the Birds of Paradise and Playwright Studio Mentorship Award.
Jack has also performed his own comedic and poetical works at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and on the BBC Social.
Dr Andrew Henry bio
Dr Andy Henry is a Lecturer in the Performing Arts and Co-Programme Leader of the MA Applied Arts and Social Practice degree at Queen Margaret University.
Originally from Hamilton in the west of Scotland, Andy cultivated an early interest in performance by studying for a BA (hons) degree in Drama & Theatre Arts with a specialist focus on contemporary performance practice at Queen Margaret University. After graduating, he furthered his academic studies at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth where he attained an MA in Practising Theatre and Performance with distinction. Andy won an Arts and Humanities Research Council scholarship in 2012 and furthered his academic development at the University of Glasgow where he graduated with a PhD in Theatre Studies in 2018.
In recent years, Andy has established himself as a researcher whose work investigates performance archives, archival practices, and the challenges of documenting live theatrical events. His work in this field mostly focuses on documentary strategies that explore the possibilities of animating archives through performance practice. He also has specialist interests in applied theatre practice and site-specific performance. His most recent research project explores place-based narratives through creative community research in Glasgow Green.
Aside from his main career as an academic, Andy has also worked as a freelance writer, director, actor, and dramaturg. He founded and ran the Edinburgh based Cathartic Connections Ensemble and mounted sell-out Fringe shows alongside a number of smaller collaborations.
Janet Tam bio
Born and raised in Hong Kong, Janet has worked in the creative industry as an administrator and maintained her own theatre practice (scripted and Playback Theatre) for over 20 years before she relocated to the UK in 2021 and joined Something To Aim For as their Executive Director.
Previously the Executive Director of the Arts with the Disabled Association Hong Kong (2007-2015 and 2020-2021), Janet had the opportunity to be a part of the work that gave rise to its growth and the creation of pioneering programmes, catalysing changes and even paradigm shifts in society. Janet has also worked with disability / community arts organisations from different countries such as the VSA network, Arts & Disability Ireland, Centre for Playback Theatre, etc. She particularly enjoys building platforms and infrastructures to facilitate more diversity in the arts. She holds an MA in Buddhist Studies, MA in Cultural Management, Postgraduate Diploma in Theatre Studies and is a graduate of the Centre or Playback Theatre.
Sarah Marie Mooney bio
Sarah began her career working in communications agencies where she managed campaigns across a range of sectors. Clients included the Scottish Government, Arts & Business Scotland, The Edinburgh Dungeon, and Transplant Sport. She later moved to being a freelance PR consultant focused on charity and culture sectors, and her campaign work was recognised at industry awards including the Chartered Institute of Public Relations PRide Awards. In 2019, she moved into the arts, taking up the post of Media Officer at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society and later joined Stellar Quines Theatre Company where she became Head of Audiences and Communications. She is currently Communications Manager at Disability Arts Online.
Sarah is also a freelance director and dramaturg. In 2019 she began a masters in Playwriting and Dramaturgy, graduating with distinction. Recognising a lack of inclusivity in theatre making, her dissertation research explored creative access practices and opportunities for their use in the wider Scottish theatre sector. Since graduating, she has worked with organisations including Pitlochry Festival Theatre, Playwrights’ Studio Scotland and Framework Theatre. In 2022 she set up Play Full Theatre with a collective of theatre makers to offer opportunities for emerging artists in Scotland to connect and create work collaboratively.
Nic Reid bio
Nic joined the board in 2023 as one of our few non-thespian members. With a background in campaigning for equality in all forms, Nic previously spent her time doing access audits of public buildings and businesses across the central belt of Scotland. She has had disability access training from RNIB and SDEF, and was the first full-time chair person of Renfrewshire Access Panel. She also works with Independent Living Fund Scotland and believes passionately in the power of education through theatre to assist in creating a more equal and empowering society for people of all abilities.
