Conference speakers

Stephen is the Director at DC Research and has more than twenty-five years research experience achieved through a combination of roles in both academic and private sector research.  Stephen’s work involves managing and delivering national and local research studies and supporting clients across the museums and heritage sectors throughout the UK.

Scott Craig, National Head of VAT at Azets has over 31 years’ experience.  He is widely recognised as having specialist knowledge in the not for profit and charity sector.   Scott is regularly engaged to confirm the VAT liability of income sources, partnerships, grants and collaboration agreements.  He has worked with the third sector in discussions and negotiations with HMRC and regularly improves recovery of VAT

Sally has had over 20 years’ experience of working in the cultural sector in the North East of England. County Durham born and bred, Sally is also a director of Visit County Durham, and a trustee of artist-led studios the Newbridge Project, and participatory arts organisation The Forge.  

Jonathan has strong portfolio of research and evaluation work in arts, heritage, museum and culture.  He specialises in research reviews and evaluations, business planning and organisational review, specialising in robustly assessing and measuring the impact of intangible/hard to measure cultural and heritage assets and interventions, and supporting complex funding applications.

James has worked in the museum and heritage sector since he was 18. Focussing initially on education and visitor experience roles before transitioning into leadership.  Kiplin is his fourth organisational leadership role and he is passionate about increasing and diversifying visitor engagement, waistcoats, and using any opportunity to dress up. 

Caroline has 18 years’ experience of working in museums, with a background in collections management, curatorship and partnership working. Previous roles include Collections Officer with the Scouts Heritage Service, Documentation Manager at IWM, Project Co-ordinator at Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Museum and Curatorial Assistant at the Museum of the Home.  

Like many in museum marketing roles, Samantha does it all; from press and social media, to posters and events. With a degree in archaeology and work experience in curation, community engagement, education and training Samantha is a passionate storyteller with a multi-tool approach, putting a hard sell on heritage. 

Alex is an Organisation and People Development consultant, who specialises in supporting clients with volunteer management.  She has extensive experience of working with AIM members and other cultural and Not-for-Profit organisations to develop volunteering strategies, manage volunteer recruitment, improve volunteer management practices and increase volunteer engagement and motivation.  

A consultant on the AIM Higher Governance programme, Heather Lomas is an experienced heritage and museum consultant with a specialism in governance, board development and organisational health, delivered with a pragmatic and friendly approach. Heather has recently provided consultancy to a range of independent museums supporting succession planning and recruitment of trustee and has developed and facilitated highly successful succession planning programmes for Museum Development East Midlands and Share Museums East. 

Chris has over 20 years’ experience in foreign policy, public affairs and charity governance. He is Co-Founder of Symbio Impact Ltd, a sustainable financing and strategy consultancy, and Chair of Beamish Museum. He is a Senior Advisor of The HALO Trust and an Honorary Fellow at Manchester University. 

Rebecca Maw has nearly 20 years’ experience of working with communities across the North East, jumping into the cultural world just over 6 years ago. Rebecca brings strengths in partnership work, engaging across voluntary and cultural sector networks. She doesn’t shy away from trying out new ideas to get the best for local people and visitors. Rebecca chairs the local infrastructure organisation board, and has an active role in the South Tyneside Cultural Education Partnership and South Tyneside’s Cultural Partnership. Ask her about her dog or motorhomes – you won’t be able to keep her quiet!

Dan works in the Sector Resilience and Skills team at Historic England which supports the heritage sector through developing apprenticeship schemes, producing guidance, delivering training and knowledge exchange. Dan is leading the Sector to Net Zero project which aims to support heritage organisations understand their carbon emissions and develop plans to reduce them.

Matthew has been at HMS Unicorn for two years, and is also a trustee of Museums Galleries Scotland and a Museums Association Rep. Previously, Matthew spent five years with the Scottish Maritime Museum as a Curator. 

Jonathan’s cross-sector career has spanned roles with the National Sealife Centre, Birmingham to launching the new Bullring Shopping Centre before moving to the third sector with Shakespeare Birthplace Trust and Tate St Ives.

Kirsty Murray is a tax partner at Azers with over 20 years  in tax, she deals with all aspects of corporate tax but specialises in not for profit and charitable bodies.  Kirsty advised on charity tax exemptions,  gift aid payments between subsidiary companies and the parent charity, avoiding tax pitfalls, the tax risks of a charity subsidising their subsidiary company and issues of funding.  She is also an expert in the Creative Industries tax reliefs having claimed over £15m for her clients.

Jenny currently leads both Carnegie UK’s Gross Domestic Wellbeing and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion programmes. She previously developed and led Carnegie UK’s UK and Ireland-wide public library research, policy and practice programmes.  She has previous experience of working with UNICEF, Barnardo’s and DFID.  Outside of work Jenny is a trustee of Edinburgh Women’s Aid and has previously volunteered as a befriender, mentor and qualified person-centred counsellor. She cares deeply about creating a more equitable and just society.

Gaby has been manager of The Judge’s Lodging for 26 years, joining it to lead the final stages of its transformation from redundant building to museum. She previously worked in heritage education and management for York Archaeological Trust. She now works for, and plans the museum’s future with, The Judge’s Lodging Trust.

Bryony has a background in strategic museum development, cultural learning and inclusion. Originally training and working in the Arts, Bryony has previously led development work with MLA East Midlands, Cornwall Museums Partnership and SW Museum Development and is a Clore Leadership Fellow.  

Meriel has a decade of experience working in museum insight and is currently an Audience Analyst at the V&A as well as a freelance consultant. She creates audience development strategies with visitors needs, wants and behaviour at their heart, bringing an in-depth understanding of the internal challenges of working in museums. 

Lasana is an interdisciplinary artist, writer, director and filmmaker. Lasana has received arts residencies and commissions with spaces such as Arts Council England, The Tate Britain, The Victoria and Albert Museum, Manchester Art Gallery, Rothschild Foundation, The British Council and other institutions and organisations internationally.

Elliot is a mixed-methods researcher with 16 years’ insight and evaluation experience working for clients across the culture and heritage sector – from the Natural History Museum and National Museums Scotland to the RSC, UNBOXED and the Birmingham 2022 Cultural Programme. He is focussed on the outcomes of research and maximising the actionability of insight. 

Caroline started her museum career at the Signal Tower museum in Arbroath, before moving to the Lighthouse Museum in Fraserburgh. After a spell working for Montrose Museum and Angus Alive, Caroline moved to HMS Unicorn and is responsible for recruiting and mentoring volunteers at Unicorn, as well as all other aspects of outreach and engagement work.   

Lisa Williams is the founder of the Edinburgh Caribbean Association and curates education programmes, arts events and walking tours to promote the shared heritage between Scotland and the Caribbean. She is a PhD candidate, School of Art History, University of St Andrews and an Honorary Fellow, School of History, Classics and Archaeology, University of Edinburgh.