This is the pool of consultants available through the AIM Higher programme. AIM will match you to the consultant who is best placed to help with your question.
Isilda Almeida is an Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Consultant and a PhD Heritage Science student at the University of Brighton. Isilda is experienced in audience engagement, strategic planning, project management and is very passionate about supporting museums to make their service more inclusive and relevant to communities, particularly underserved audiences. Isilda designs and delivers Equity programmes and consultancy, for cultural and sector support organisations such as Sussex Dance Network; Artswork; Museum Development Programmes across the UK, and others. She is also an AIM New Stories New Audiences mentor.
Rob Avann is a values-led charity consultant and interim CEO with over 8 years’ experience as a charity chief executive and more than 16 years as a trustee across a range of sectors. He supports charities and not-for-profits with leadership, governance, mentoring, and strategy, drawing on a deep commitment to integrity, compassion, inclusion, collaboration, and flexibility.
Rob works with organisations as an Interim CEO, leadership mentor, and strategic advisor. His services include governance reviews, strategy development, board facilitation and recruitment, training, incorporation and legal structure changes, and funding readiness support. He also mentors first-time and underrepresented CEOs, bringing both lived experience and insight from his time as a local authority commissioner.
A Strategic Applicant Consultant for The Fore and an associate member of Consultants for Good and Interims for Impact, Rob is also a dedicated volunteer—serving as a pro bono mentor and advisor for ACEVO, the Cranfield Trust, and the Greater London Authority’s Equitable Volunteering Forum. He was a trustee of the Collections Trust (2017–2024) and remains deeply passionate about history and heritage.
Click here to visit the Orchard Park Consulting website or click here for Rob’s LinkedIn profile.
Hilary Barnard is a highly experienced organisational and business planning consultant. He is the co-author of Successful Museum Governance (AIM 2020) – with Ruth Lesirge.
Hilary’s work has included support to pursue new business models, advance partnership working, consider merger, and align Board, staff and volunteer practice with the changing conditions. He has conducted over 60 governance reviews, including 16 within the museum and heritage sector. He is an experienced Chair of Trustees, and a former Senior Visiting Fellow at Cass (now Bayes) Business School. Together with Ruth Lesirge (as HBRL Consulting), he designed and delivered the Spark! programme (2021-23), the Induction programme for new museum Trustees (2021-23) and the Museum Leaders and Museum Enablers residential development programmes (2016-18) – for the Association of Independent Museums. He is a member of The Experience Network and a former charity Chief Executive. Click here for Hilary Barnard’s website.
Alisa Bellingham has worked in the museum sector since 1996, firstly specialising in museum education before becoming manager of the Museum of Cannock Chase in 2005. She is an assessor for the Sandford Award for Heritage Education, and a Board member of the Museum Development Midlands Oversight Board.
Having spent 29 years working in a small museum, firstly as part of the local authority and then as part of a charitable trust since 2012, Alisa has plenty of knowledge and hands-on experience of the particular challenges and opportunities experienced by small museums. She developed the museum into an award-winning community venue, which won several Visit England Accolades, the Sandford Award for Heritage Education six times, and was successful in obtaining large grant awards from Arts Council England, AIM and NLHF.
Alisa is ideally placed to support and mentor small museums through her own extensive experience in the field. She can support with working towards financial sustainability in small museums, museum education and engagement, customer service, maximising resources and providing high quality experiences. Making a little go a long way and maximising resource is her specialism, and she is also down to earth and friendly, so works well with volunteer-led museums and those without a lot of prior museum experience.
Catherine Brys is an experienced consultant known for bringing a rich mix of perspectives and skills to her work with organisations of all sizes. Her expertise spans conflict resolution, strategy development, stakeholder engagement, and visitor experience.
A twice-accredited conflict resolution professional, Catherine holds a Postgraduate Certificate in Mediation & Conflict Resolution (University of Strathclyde) and is a certified Good Relations Practitioner. She has extensive experience in formal mediation, coaching individuals through difficult conversations, and facilitating resolution between parties in complex situations.
Catherine also specialises in strategy and vision development. With an MBA (Strategy specialism) from the University of Strathclyde, she approaches strategic planning as a co-design process, ensuring board and staff ownership throughout.
In stakeholder engagement, Catherine uses a range of tools—from surveys and deep-dive interviews to co-creation sessions—to surface meaningful insights and create inclusive, open dialogue.
She also supports organisations in transforming visitor experience. Taking a holistic and practical approach, she helps teams define success and improve every aspect of the customer journey, far beyond traditional customer service. More about Catherine and her work can be found here.
Emma Chaplin is a highly experienced and respected museum professional, having led AIM from 2018-21 and run a successful consultancy business from 2009-18, building on senior management and curatorial roles in independent and local authority museums. Her work is characterised by energy, professionalism and a deep knowledge of the museum and heritage sector and its networks. She takes a pragmatic approach to ensure the best possible outcome whilst building confidence and skills for the future.
Her skills, knowledge and experience, relevant to the AIM Higher Programme, include governance review, business planning, advocacy, collections development, writing funding applications and developing new projects. You can find out more about Emma here.
Dr Cara Courage SFIPM FRSA is a leading specialist in socially engaged practice, progressive museum models and placemaking, with over 25 years’ experience supporting museums, galleries and cultural organisations to embed community voice at their core. She works with boards, leadership teams and practitioners to reimagine governance, co-create inclusive strategies, and build sustainable, values-led futures.
A former senior leader at Tate and current Chair of Phoenix Art Space, Cara has helped shape sector-wide thinking on civic purpose, participation, and place-based working. She is a trusted advisor to organisations navigating change, conflict or growth. Her practice combines strategic rigour with deep community engagement, and she is internationally recognised for pioneering trauma-informed and citizen-led approaches.
Cara is author/editor of several Routledge titles on placemaking and social practice, and brings a unique blend of creative insight, operational expertise and critical thinking to every collaboration.
Finella Devitt is adept at developing business models which achieve a fine balance between ‘culture’ and ‘commerce’ to maximise sustainability. She typically supports clients navigate through often very challenging but essential periods of change. Whilst it can be easy to generate endless income generation ideas, Finella’s analytical approach helps clients identify those which will optimise operating profit AND fit with vision. She places huge importance on the people aspect of business planning (be it volunteers, staff, trustees/directors or external partners/advisors) to ensure organisations have the experience, expertise and enterprising culture needed to deliver growth
Finella is Director of Azure Oxford working across the UK / Ireland. Visit her website to see examples of her projects, clients and their testimonials. Many of the business models she has developed for clients have supported major capital and revenue funding applications.
Her former roles include Chief Executive of the House for an Art Lover where she developed a highly successful commercial revenue model, Chief Executive of Loch Lomond Shores, a £60m National Park-based development, where she created revenue-boosting partnerships, Chair of the trading subsidiary of the Centre for Contemporary Art and Board Observer for Collage Arts in London.
Anna Dinnen: In the course of over 25 years working in the arts and cultural sector across England and Wales with organisations of varying size and focus, Anna has developed particular expertise in strategy development, business planning and business modelling, and organisational development. Her consultancy portfolio also includes programme research and design, evaluation, leadership training, and facilitation for both funders and arts organisations. Anna loves to bring creativity and an analytical brain to working with individuals and teams so that they can take stock, reset and re-energise with a clear sense of direction and ambition. Prior to freelancing, Anna was Senior Programme Manager in the Digital Arts and Media team at Nesta and worked for 12 years in Arts Council England’s Organisational Development team supporting change across the funded portfolio and within ACE.
Jonathan Durnin has over 30 years of experience in economics, heritage, and culture, with a strong track record in evidence-led research, strategic advice, and organisational development for museums. He has supported institutions across the UK with business planning, infrastructure investment, audience development, and advocacy.
His work includes leading research on museum admissions for AIM, ACE, and UK governments, developing the AIM Economic Impact Toolkit, and evaluating major initiatives such as the Museum Development Programme and the redevelopment of Nottingham Castle.
Jonathan is committed to sharing his expertise through mentoring and coaching, drawing on his extensive experience with museums and heritage organisations from Cornwall to the Orkneys. His areas of expertise include organisational sustainability, governance, business modelling, and funding strategy.
He is known for building long-term client relationships—most notably working with Dippy the Dinosaur on tour and in Coventry for over seven years—and for providing dynamic, responsive support to help organisations achieve their goals.
Jonathan is a Fellow of the Regional Studies Association, a member of the Association of Independent Museums and the Museums Association, and an AIM Higher Mentor. He is also a board member for Leicestershire Music Hub and a volunteer with Leicester Wheels for All. Find out more at Jonathan’s website.
Ciara Eastell OBE is a highly experienced consultant, coach, and facilitator working across the cultural, heritage, and creative industries sectors. With a 25-year career in public service and leadership—most notably as the founding Chief Executive of Libraries Unlimited—Ciara has, over the past six years, built a thriving consultancy supporting museums, galleries, and heritage organisations across the UK.
Ciara’s clients include the Foundling Museum, Royal Cornwall Museum, The Box, Royal Albert Memorial Museum, Barnsley Museums Service, Compton Verney, Wellcome Collection, and Tate. Her work spans mentoring museum leaders through major transformation, strategic reviews to boost sustainability and income, and delivering leadership development and team coaching. She has worked with Tate in various roles over the past 6 years, including a recent 18-month assignment working closely with the Director of Tate Britain on a programme of culture change.
A trained and accredited coach and action learning facilitator, Ciara has coached and mentored museum professionals and teams, helping organisations develop high-performing, resilient leadership. She has also held academic and advisory roles, including Professor of Practice at the University of Exeter Business School, National Council member of Arts Council England, and governor at Arts University Plymouth. Click here to find out more about Ciara at her website.
Louise Emerson has worked at CEO and senior management (Natural History Museum) in Museums and the Arts for 25 years. Louise helps organisations focus, think differently, take difficult decisions and progress. She specialises in all stages of strategic and business planning; including organisational refocus and change, income generation and fundraising, developing audiences, Board development, establishing partners. She has worked with several AIM members since 2020 and on the AIM New Stories New Audiences programme as well as delivering webinars for The Heritage Alliance.
She is a National Lottery Heritage Fund consultant, an accredited Coach and Mentor (senior level practitioner EMCC), a Help to Grow consultant and mentors with AMA, Universities or Warwick, Leeds & Kingston, and has an MBA. Click here to visit Louise’s website.
Andrew Evans is a fundraising, business development, and governance expert who has worked with a wide range of museums to solve difficult problems. Before becoming a consultant and mentor, his last ‘real’ job was as Director of Development at National Museums Liverpool and, previously, Head of Fundraising and Communications at Bluecoat arts centre Liverpool. As a consultant Andrew’s clients have included museums led by volunteers without their own venues, to some of the world’s largest museum groups. Andrew particularly enjoys supporting smaller organisations in rethinking their approach to generating income and looking at governance issues and practical ways of working that can solve problems and unlock growth.
Andrew is Vice-President of the National Library of Wales, trustee of the Equilibrium Foundation grant making trust, and of Civic Voice. He lives in North Wales – but is a great fan of a train (he’s very excited that one of his current clients is Rocket all Aboard) and will happily travel to your nearest station!
Stephen Feber worked across the museum sector nationally and internationally since 1980 as a curator, consultant, director, and chief executive. Over four decades, he established or developed five major independent museums and visitor attractions, including Quarry Bank Mill, The World of Glass, Eureka! The National Children’s Museum, Magna Science Centre (Stirling Prize winner), and Heartlands in Cornwall. He also led the creation of York Museum Service and facilitated its transition to trust status.
Alongside this, Stephen delivered over 40 consultancy projects for organisations such as the RAF Museums, Heritage Alliance, SPAB, Jersey Heritage, Luton Culture, and the Imperial War Museums—bringing end-to-end experience from concept and design to funding, construction, and the operation of financially sustainable attractions.
Deeply committed to sector leadership, Stephen co-founded the Museums and Resilient Leadership programme with Andrew Lovett, which supported over 65 museum professionals between 2012 and 2022. He was also a founding member of Directing Change in 1990, an annual leadership retreat for senior museum professionals. Stephen is a graduate of the Getty-funded Museum Leadership Institute, a seasoned board member, and a trained Samaritans listening volunteer.
David Gaimster is an established executive director, advisor and thought leader in museums and the cultural heritage, having worked in senior roles across the UK and overseas. He has a track record of delivering positive transformation – physical and digital and organisational – enabling cultural institutions to extend their reach, achieve greater sustainability, relevancy and impact, and to thrive in what feels like a relentlessly uncertain operating environment.
David has worked for over 30 years in senior leadership, curatorial, policy and research roles for museums, heritage organisations, universities and for central government, 20 years of these as a CEO of four major museums in London, Glasgow, New Zealand and Australia, with staffing ranging from 30 to 300. He is a Fellow of the Museums Association (FMA). Whatever your size or need, David’s lived experience as a cultural CEO can help you to resolve complex issues with advice and support ranging from visioning, strategy, master and business planning, service reviews, collections and digital strategies, content and interpretation pans to mentoring and board development. David combines evidence driven and people centred approaches that ensure the best results and impact. Click here to visit David’s website.
Sara Hilton is an accomplished cultural and heritage leader, with significant strategic and project experience. She has excellent facilitation and mentoring skills and supports clients to challenge assumptions, encourage innovative thinking, and explore creative solutions. Sara is an accredited coach and uses a coaching approach in her work with individuals, teams and governing bodies, supporting them to open up their thinking and find their own solutions.
Sara is an effective advocate and strategic communicator, with strong regional and national networks. She has recently moved to Devon, but works across the whole of the UK and is Chair of the National Trust’s Regional Advisory Board for the North of England.
Sara supports organisations of all sizes with:
- Governance and board development
- Strategy and organisational change
- Strategic partnerships – engagement, stakeholder perceptions and impact
- Project development – project visioning, project mentoring, project health-checks and investment readiness
- Mentoring – acting as a supportive critical friend to chairs, trustees and museum leaders
- Facilitation – supporting the thinking of organisations, teams and governing bodies
- Crucial conversations – supporting the sometimes difficult, but necessary conversations that may be needed to enable change
- Evaluating change and impact.
Sam Hunt is based in the South West. He has extensive experience of working with heritage organisations across the UK – large and small. Previous appointments include Executive Director of AIM, Chief Executive of South West Museums, Libraries and Archive Council and Head of Bath Museums Service. He is a trustee of the National Maritime Museum Cornwall and Lyme Regis Museum, and a Fellow of the Museums Association. His specialisms are visioning and strategic planning, options studies, governance, and organisational reviews, change management, staff and trustee recruitment. Click here to visit Sam’s website.
Reyahn King is a seasoned museum leader with 20 years of senior leadership experience including as CEO of York Museums Trust. As a cultural consultant, she supports organisations in the development of strategy and vision and provides leadership coaching. She has supported a wide range of museums and cultural organisations in this way from volunteer-led organisations like Bailiffgate Museum to larger independents including the London Transport Museum. She has developed business cases and business plans and can support teams thinking through transformational change.
Reyahn is a qualified facilitator and accredited coach. Reyahn is also a Heritage Fund framework consultant for public engagement and brings a strong understanding of exhibition programming and making, how to work with communities, anti-racism and how to reduce carbon emissions in practice.
Sarah Lawrance has more than thirty years’ management and leadership experience in the museums and heritage sector, with a specialism in the strategic development of collections and programming aligned to organisational and audience development goals. Sarah is especially keen to support smaller and volunteer-run independent museums to achieve their full potential as centres of creative resilience and place-making, celebrating local heritage and contributing to community wellbeing. She is particularly committed to developing collections-inspired creative programming for older people including people with dementia and was awarded an Arts Council England: Developing Your Creative Practice grant to focus on this area in May 2022. She is a Mentor for the AIM: New Stories New Audiences programme and a member of Arts Council England’s Designation panel. Click here to see Sarah’s LinkedIn profile: Click here to see Sarah’s LinkedIn profile or email on: [email protected]
Ruth Lesirge is a highly experienced governance consultant and has conducted several governance reviews in the museum and heritage sector. She is the co-author of Successful Museum Governance (AIM 2020) – with Hilary Barnard.
Her focus is on enhancing the contribution of the Chair-Chief Executive/Director relationship to realising the museum’s goals. She is currently President of the Association of Chairs and is a former Head of Governance Practice for Centre for Charity Effectiveness and former Senior Visiting Fellow at Cass (now Bayes) Business School.
Together with Hilary Barnard (as HBRL Consulting), she designed and delivered the Spark! programme (2021-23), the Induction programme for new museum Trustees (2021-23) and the Museum Leaders and Museum Enablers residential development programmes (2016-18), – for the Association of Independent Museums. She is a former Chief Executive of two national charities and a member of The Experience Network. Click here to find out more about Ruth.
Alex Lindley is the director of Alchemy, an Organisation and People Development consultancy that specialises in working with clients in the cultural and Not-for-Profit sectors. Alchemy works with organisations that value the flexible and bespoke service that a micro-consultancy can offer. We focus on helping people and organisations to reach their full potential, whether that be through organisational development research and consultancy, leadership development training, coaching or mentoring. Click here to visit the Alchemy Consulting website.
Christina Lister is a marketing and audience development consultant, trainer and facilitator with 20 years of in-house, agency and consultancy experience. She supports organisations with creating marketing and audience development strategies; developing compelling missions and visions; analysing data and undertaking research; advising on communications and strategic positioning; running training and providing mentoring.
Christina has written AIM’s Marketing Success Guide and is the author of an upcoming book on Marketing Strategy for Museums, to be published by Routledge. Click here to visit Christina’s website.
Heather Lomas specialises in helping boards with visioning, reviewing structures and leadership and culture, including coaching and mentoring support for chairs. Click here for Heather Lomas’s website.
“Key areas I can help with are governance issues, business planning, cashflow, organisational changes and business continuity thinking and general coaching for key staff and trustees.”
Rosemary Lynch‘s approach to consultancy is founded on forty years’ experience in the arts, museum and education sectors, specialising in leading and managing people and change. As Tate’s Director of Collection Care, she was responsible for the care of the national collection and the delivery of Tate’s worldwide programme andwas an advocate for programmes designed to build skills and share collections and knowledge across the UK. Throughout her career, she has re-imagined services, working on the ground and with the board/external partners to develop new vision and strategy, including six years as a member of Tate’s Executive group. She has an excellent record in delivering ambitious objectives within tight budgets and working collaboratively to transform teams and cultures.
Rosemary has been working as an independent consultant, mentor and coach since 2021, focusing on strategic approaches to leadership challenges. She has a clear understanding of the relationship between vision, strategy, people, culture and resource and how these elements interact to “create the conditions” for success. She enjoys using her cross-sectoral knowledge to support diverse organisations with stakeholder engagement, strategic planning, sustainable business modelling and successful cultural change. Her professional experience and core values of openness, inclusivity, rigour and accountability are the cornerstones of her practice.
Click here to see Rosemary’s LinkedIn profile.
Hilary McGowan is one of the UK’s leading consultants working in the museum and heritage sector, Hilary has run her own business since 1996 so has great depth and breadth of experience in managing, developing and leading organisations through changing times. Her background as a museum director in York, Exeter and Bristol gives her a pragmatic approach. She is a specialist in governance and leadership, and works through creating customised workshops, coaching, mentoring alongside a range of tailor-made support. Hilary is the author of the AIM Success Guide for Board Away Days.
Her recent publications (co-written with Piotr Bienkowski) are Managing Change in Museums & Galleries: a Practical Guide, 2021 and the new Leadership of Inclusive & Sustainable Cultural Organisations, 2025, both published by Routledge.
Click here for Hilary McGowan’s website.
Julie Molloy is currently the Managing Director of NGG. With excellent personal leadership, management expertise and over twenty years operational experience at Director Level, she has held positions of consistently increased responsibility in Arts and Business. Julie has proven experience in strategic development, planning and implementation, driving and managing significant change programmes focused on increasing organisational capability and effectiveness. A talented and natural leader who, throughout her career, has ensured that individuals reach their full potential within their organisation. Julie has strong technical skills in Financial Planning, Business Management and Process Improvement. Her entrepreneurial commercial approach is underpinned by significant specialist knowledge in operations, experiential retail, buying and merchandising, brand development and book publishing.
Julie steps down from her role as Managing Director in Autumn 2022 to embark on a portfolio consultancy career. Click here for Julie’s LinkedIn profile.
Colin Mulberg has over 30 years practice working across museums, arts, heritage and natural environment in the UK and internationally. He specialises in supporting venues of all shapes and sizes to make the most of all their assets and reach their true potential.
Colin works collaboratively with governing boards, trustees and senior management to review and improve their short-, medium- and long-term resilience. Support Includes:
- Reviewing current earned income steams; highlighting most fruitful activities; identifying possibilities for expanding current activities and introducing new income opportunities.
- Supporting project development and delivery, including capital and National Lottery projects – reviewing project phases and lifecycle, resource demands, staffing structure, decision process, schedule, bottlenecks, delivery risk, etc.
- Mentoring and training governing boards and staff to understand the visitor viewpoint and move towards a visitor-focus.
Colin is a Fellow of the Museums Association (FMA) and a senior leader in the sector. He has extensive experience as a registered NLHF Consultant and a strong track record of developing and managing visitor-facing projects. Click here to visit the Colin Mulberg Consulting website.
John Nicholls is a specialist consultant supporting small to medium-sized arts, cultural, and heritage organisations through transformational change. He works closely with trustees, volunteers, staff teams, and stakeholders to shape strategic vision, strengthen governance, innovate programmes, and embed sound financial and operational practices.
With deep experience across AIM member organisations, John advises on governance structures (charities, CIOs, CICs, etc.), trading subsidiaries, and policy development. He has led numerous business options appraisals to drive revenue diversification and improve financial resilience and regularly supports organisations developing business plans—often for the first time.
John also brings expertise in strategic partnerships, placemaking, and trustee succession planning, backed by over 25 years of board experience, including as Chair. Known for his credibility and approachability, he is committed to helping clients explore new opportunities with curiosity and clarity.
A seasoned fundraiser, John has secured significant revenue, capital, and strategic support from public, lottery, philanthropic, and corporate sources. His primary fundraising focus is engaging High-Net-Worth Individuals (HNWIs), where he also supports organisations in building a sustainable culture of major donor stewardship. Connect with John on LinkedIn or email [email protected].
Judy Niner has worked with numerous UK museums and heritage organisations, large and small, primarily focusing on fundraising and income generation. She was a trustee of the Roald Dahl Museum & Story Centre and the Waterways Trust. Since 2011 she has chaired the board of trustees of Cogges Manor Farm in Oxfordshire through a period of survival and stabilisation, preparing the organisation for exciting future development and long-term sustainability.
Judy is happy to help with income generation and trading activities, fundraising, relationships and stewardship, communications and defining board roles and responsibilities.
Andrea Nixon MBE FRSA is a highly experienced executive director and cultural consultant with a strong track record in change management, strategic place-making, governance, partnership programming, business development, and fundraising. She has worked with a wide range of clients across the UK cultural sector, including the National Trust, National Museums Liverpool, Arts Council Collection, and the English Civic Museums Network.
Since founding her consultancy in 2018, Andrea has led cultural strategies for places from Salisbury to Birkenhead and supported numerous museums and galleries in developing sustainable visions and operations.
Previously, she was Executive Director of Tate Liverpool (2006–2018), where she led major transformations in programming and business models during Liverpool’s European Capital of Culture year. She also served as Director of Development for Tate London (1998–2006), contributing to the creation of Tate Modern and Tate Britain.
Andrea has held national board roles with Arts Council North, the Crafts Council, and The Audience Agency, and chaired the V&A Dundee Advisory Council through its pre- and post-opening phases. She is currently Chair of the Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse Theatres, a Trustee of Harewood House Trust, and a Director of The Reader CIC. She was awarded an MBE for services to the arts in 2019.
Sarah O’Grady is a non-practising solicitor, former chair of an NGO and manager in a public sector regulator, she works with charities to improve governance and related operational matters, developing practical tools. She specialises in governance reviews, board skills and effectiveness, leadership development and coaching and, as an accredited mediator, conflict management. She can also provide support with constitutional matters and help boards seek and implement legal advice. Click here to view Sarah’s LinkedIn profile.
“The support I could give is on governance, operational matters such as policies and risk management, difficult relationships and situations and coaching especially of chairs.”
Mairead O’Rourke is a consultant, facilitator, and coach with over arts 20 years’ experience in the museums and heritage sectors. Her work includes undertaking lottery funded organisational and governance reviews, supporting the development of business plans and developing research and guidance.
She enjoys working with boards of trustees and teams to find consensus and clarity in times of transition. Mairead’s publications include ‘Making the Most of Your Museums: A Guide for Councillors’ and she has undertaken research projects for The National Archives, Arts Council England and The Art Fund.
Mairead is an Accredited coach and has been a trustee of two heritage organisations. She is a trustee of the Museums Association Support Fund and a Museum mentor. Click here for more about Mairead.
Debbie Read is a fundraising specialist and helps boards to shape governance to tackle their financial realities. She is experienced in working with boards where personal relationships get in the way of successful governance and can also motivate well balanced boards to move to the next level of organisational development. This includes translating dry trustee recruitment approaches into an attractive, but realistic sell on behalf of the museum. Click here to visit the Read Consultancy website.
Joanna Ridout offers over 35 years’ experience in senior management and as a trustee/director in the independent creative sector including museums, galleries and the performing arts. She has a practical and wide-ranging understanding of the challenges in running small to medium-scale cultural organisations and working with boards of trustee/directors. She specialises in bespoke facilitation, planning and mentoring and is also an Action Learning expert (advanced ILM endorsement).
She has worked with 100+ organisations in strategic planning across staff and board teams, including helping them to articulate purpose, manage change and build understanding across operational management and governance. She was the Lecturer for the vocational MA in Arts and Cultural Management at the University of Winchester from 2015-2021.
Examples of Joanna’s work include Hampshire Cultural Trust as part of Arts Council England’s Catalyst ‘Inspiring a Culture of Philanthropy’ programme across museum management teams, Manchester Palace Theatre and Opera House Trust and Ambassadors Theatre Group, the Independent Theatre Council and Harlow Art Trust. Click here for Joanna’s LinkedIn profile.
Kate Rolfe is a dynamic, creative and action-focused consultant, with particular expertise in marketing and audience development, commercial planning and new revenue sources, and responsible recruitment for the cultural sector. Kate’s approach is practical, objective and creative; as a consultant she wants to help her clients feel they are having a moment of freedom from their everyday, seeing their challenges with fresh eyes and feeling invigorated to try out new solutions with their teams. Thanks to having always worked at the cross-section between commerce and culture, she knows how to help clients navigate multiple (and sometimes conflicting) priorities, using Design Thinking techniques to help clients overcome ongoing barriers.
Kate runs The Revels Office, a commercial, audience and organisational development consultancy for the cultural sector; click here to visit The Revels Office website. Kate also recently set up Equality In Focus: Arts Edition, as a tool to help the sector consider their approach to diversity, equity and inclusion.
Marilyn Scott is based in the South East and is happy to travel across the UK. Marilyn is an independent heritage and arts consultant working with the Cultural Consulting Network She has experience of supporting boards with all kinds of governance review including trustee skill audits, recruitment, succession planning and process and procedure. She has also supported reviews of governance structure and strategic planning and works as a mentor to boards and chairs. Click here to visit the Cultural Consulting Network website.
Rachel Shepherd is a fundraising specialist based in the West Midlands. Having worked in the museum and heritage sector since 2006 she set up her consultancy nine years ago with the aim of supporting small and medium third-sector organisations to achieve their goals through strategic planning, fundraising, stewardship and income generation. Her experience includes working with organisations in the areas of heritage, the arts, local government, advocacy, medical care, animal welfare and community support. Her outlook is entrepreneurial and works with each client to create a sustainable legacy. Click here to visit Rachel’s LinkedIn profile.
Based in the South West, Helen Smith brings over 27 years of leadership and management expertise to the cultural and heritage sector. She has a track record of transforming challenging organisations into award-winning attractions.
Helen’s diverse experience spans prominent heritage sites like St. Michael’s Mount, The Severn Valley Railway, and The Tank Museum, alongside hands-on management of smaller museums. Her expertise lies in governance, leadership development, business strategy, nurturing a positive culture, driving commercial performance, and change management. She understands the impact an effective culture can have on a team.
An energetic, positive, and creative consultant, Helen is direct in her approach and dedicated to helping organisations achieve positive change.
Beyond her operational successes, Helen has also successfully fundraised for and delivered significant projects throughout her career. Her achievements have been recognised with two national ‘Enjoy England’ awards, one for ‘Innovation and Resilience’ in 2022 and another for corporate events business development in 2007. Helen holds a Post Graduate Diploma in Management Studies (DMS) and a BA (Hons) in Communication Arts.
Dr Sabina Strachan is a consultant, trainer and collaboration expert who has worked with strategic stakeholders for 25 years across heritage, culture, the creative industries and higher education. She is practical in her approach and skilled at helping people get to the root of issues. She uses inclusive, visual and creative methods to solve problems, step-by-step processes to help navigate complexity, and collaborates with clients to determine what approach is going to work best for them.
Sabina supports museums to overcome a diverse range of challenges: from audience diversification, volunteer recruitment, team development and effective governance to strategy development, partnership and income diversification to capital project business cases, stakeholder management and operational development. She has worked with a wide range of organisations, from small volunteer-run centres to local authority services, such as the Alasdair Gray Archive, Scottish Fisheries Museum and Hartlepool Museums & Archives.
Sabina formerly headed up the Scotland office of BOP Consulting and has worked in heritage management and research development. She is a Creative United CIC business advisor and SWAN Autism trustee. Click here to see Sabina’s LinkedIn profile and here for her how2glu business profile.
Dr Matthew Tanner MBE is a distinguished UK cultural consultant with more than 30 years’ experience in the museums and heritage sector. Described by Arts Council England as “one of the most outstanding cultural leaders of recent times,” he is widely recognised for his leadership in transforming Brunel’s SS Great Britain into a multi-award-winning museum and visitor destination during his tenure as CEO of the SS Great Britain Trust (2000–2023).
Matthew has led major capital projects, created nationally significant museums and archives, and developed innovative strategies for conservation, governance, and audience engagement. He advises museums, and cultural organisations—through Ttandem Consulting LLP—on strategy, capital project delivery, governance, and funding.
Hon Vice President (and a former Chairman) of the Association of Independent Museums, he also mentors senior staff and trustees, and he brings deep insight and a proven track record of high-impact delivery. A former President of the International Congress of Maritime Museums, he is a leading authority on historic ship conservation and maritime heritage interpretation. He is a former President of the International Congress of Maritime Museums, is a board member for HMS Victory (NMRN). His client list includes the Hong Kong Maritime Museum, Lloyd’s Register Foundation, Yorkshire Sculpture Park, and Wells Cathedral.
Joe Traynor is the former Head of Museum Development at Scotland’s national museum development body, Museums Galleries Scotland. He has worked in national, local authority and independent museums and galleries. Believing passionately that the museum sector should be relevant to communities, Joe works in partnership to make sure that museums are the best they can be.
He is experienced in strategy and business planning, governance reviews, audience and collections development and fundraising. He is an experienced and approachable trainer and mentor in all things museum. Click here for Joe’s LinkedIn profile.
Rhian Tritton has worked in the museum and heritage sector since 1991, most recently as Deputy CEO at SS Great Britain in Bristol. Her experience covers museums of all sizes; independent, local authority and university, as well as the National Trust and Historic England. Her expertise lies in visioning, change management, staff and volunteer development, audiences and visitor experience, and interpretation. Rhian works with organisations to look beyond a specific problem and analyse their operation holistically in order to transform performance. Rhian also brings skills as a trained counsellor, teacher of adults and experienced media communicator to her work with clients.
Claire Turner brings over 30 years’ experience of working with museums, cultural and community organisations, festivals, tourist boards and local authorities. She has been both CEO and Trustee of a number of independent charities and is currently Chair and Founder of a new small charity. She coaches, mentors and supports independent organisations who have very few members of staff and reply on volunteers to deliver their goals, and can bring particular benefit to organisations of this type.
Claire has a passion for encouraging and supporting creative thinking, and prides herself on being able to help Boards identify the real challenges that may be preventing them from achieving their goals. She specialises in working with boards on organisational purpose, diversity, leadership, income generation and stakeholder engagement.
Claire has the Chartered Institute of Marketing’s Post-Graduate Diploma in Marketing and is currently studying for the Institute of Leadership & Management’s Level 7 (Masters Equivalent) in Executive Coaching & Mentoring with the University of Bangor Business School. She is based between Manchester and North Wales. Click here to view Claire Turner’s LinkedIn profile.
Iain Watson OBE is a cultural consultant and visiting professor at Newcastle University, based in the north east of England. He has extensive experience in leading and working with museums of varying sizes and budgets, with a variety of complex governance arrangements including joint local authority, university, independent and national. He also has experience as a board member of several cultural organisations, again operating with very different budgets.
Iain is currently mentoring in small and large museums and supporting a creative tech start-up. He is available to work with boards and senior staff on strategic change, leadership and governance, and prides himself on strong problem solving skills, the ability to communicate complex ideas in a simple manner and a reflective approach to learning and development. View Iain’s Linked In profile here.
Dr Alexandra Woodall is a values-led cultural consultant, formerly Head of Public Engagement, Curatorial and Collections for York Museums Trust. She has managed creative programmes in museums and galleries for almost 25 years and has undertaken consultancy in the UK and internationally. She also has extensive academic and teaching experience. A strong advocate for workplace wellbeing, she is co-founder of GLAM Cares (a support network for community engagement practitioners) and instigated the MA’s Sticks and Stones research on bullying in the sector. She is based in Sheffield.
Alex is highly experienced at supporting organisations to be values-led and audience-focused, particularly through creative facilitation and co-production. She has expertise in:
- enabling teams to develop audience-focused strategy and vision
- facilitating idea generation (often using objects)
- mentoring staff, trustees and volunteers through challenging circumstances.