Media firm Simons Muirhead Burton sponsor steering group of 16 creative industry stars
Two former members appointed to Creative Access board
Creative Access is proud to announce the members of its 2023 – 24 Steering Group. The training programme for future charity trustees once again brings together a group of 16 individuals from the Creative Access community. Showcasing the impact of the programme, two members of the inaugural steering group have also been appointed Creative Access board directors after a rigorous application process; the first alumni of the organisation to do so.
Leading media firm, Simons Muirhead Burton has joined forces with Creative Access to guide and sponsor the Steering Group. Its involvement includes a financial contribution, hosting the meetings at its cental London office and providing in-house speakers on legal governance.
Speaking of the firm’s sponsorship, Peter Weiss, who jointly heads the Corporate, Commercial & Finance team at Simons Muirhead Burton and also sits on the Creative Access advisory board said: “There are many synergies between the work and values of both Creative Access and Simons Muirhead Burton. We are delighted to be able to sponsor this important initiative which will create a pipeline of candidates from communities that are under-represented at non-executive level, who will help organisations to innovate, future-proof decision-making and better reflect the organisations in which they serve.”
Creative Access’s newest non-executive directors commenced their term on 1st November. Cameron Myers, former Creative Access trainee at Hodder & Stoughton and current Commissioning Editor at Penguin General said: “I’m so thrilled and delighted to be joining the Board of Creative Access. I’ve benefitted so much from the organisation’s leadership and impact over the years, so to be able to now feed in to all that Creative Access continues to do on a strategic level is sure to be one of the most rewarding experiences of my career.”
Lizzy Burden, who was an intern via Creative Access at The Times in 2017 and is now UK Correspondent at Bloomberg TV, is also joining the board. She said: “Creative Access secured my first opportunity in journalism so it’s an honour to be part of its incredible work to help diverse talent excel at every level of the creative industries. We can’t let representation be a casualty of these challenging economic times. I’m excited to build on the success of the past decade.”
Josie Dobrin, Executive Chair, Creative Access said: “We’re delighted to be welcoming Cameron and Lizzy to our Board. Creative Access has grown rapidly in both its work and its influence over the past few years. It’s extremely exciting to add two such brilliant and skilled people to the organisation – and especially gratifying to have our first alumni on our board as we seek to grow our impact over the coming years, and to create the urgent change required to representation at all levels of the creative industries and culture sector.
We are also thrilled to have such a phenomenal new group of alumni to our steering group. Our community have a huge amount of skills and energy to offer to leadership teams of commercial and not-for-profit organisations. All too often job descriptions require applicants to have experience for non-executive roles, so by creating this leadership pathway, we are removing obstacles for progression. We are indebted to Simons Muirhead Burton for their huge and invaluable support of this programme.”
The two co-chairs of this year’s group are Anderona Cole (former RadioCentre trainee, now External Relations and Public Affairs Officer at Jisc) and Osas Esosa (former intern at the Financial Times and now research analyst at Olsberg SPI). Anderona said: Anderona said: “Over the years, I have observed how Creative Access has been working tirelessly to help level the playing field and make progress to ensure that those working in the creative sector better reflect society as a whole. I am impressed by the organisation’s willingness to evolve and the determination and wealth of experience held by the individuals who make up this year’s cohort. I am looking forward to working alongside incredibly talented individuals who are united in their desire to bring about positive change.”
See the full list of this year’s Steering Group here.