Staff
Sally Taylor, Chief Executive
Sally’s career has spanned running an opera company, including producing work in prisons, working with musicians, universities, in arts sponsorship & for Arts Council England.
Lucie Bright, General Manager
Lucie’s job is to make sure the office is running smoothly, which usually means doing a bit of everything! Lucie is keen on any artwork involving horses, cats or birds.
Md Robaitul Islam, Finance Officer (p/t)
Robaitul joined Koestler Arts in 2018 to look after our finances, making sure everything runs smoothly.
Mark Rogers, Database Manager
Mark oversees our database and the processing of the Awards entry forms. As a former actor, he is particularly interested in the script submissions.
Fiona Curran, Director of Arts
Fiona manages all aspects of public programmes. She loves the mix of emotion & humour in Koestler artworks & seeing the response of curators, families & visitors to unique pieces.
Jo Tapp, Arts Manager
Jo is responsible for the regional exhibition programme. Jo enjoys bringing different groups together to create an exhibition. She likes Iguanas.
Lara Akinnawo, Arts Coordinator
Lara is the first point of contact for arts awards related enquiries and works on awards marketing and exhibitions and event support.
Laura Pattison, Arts Coordinator
Laura leads on the administration of the Koestler Awards - sending out entry forms, recruiting our amazing judges, and issuing thousands of certificates and prizes.
Phoebe Dunn, Arts and Exhibitions Assistant
Phoebe is responsible for our wonderful volunteers who help us throughout the year. Coming from a publishing background, she enjoys all the different styles of written entries.
Jessica, Arts Assistant (p/t)
Jessica joined the arts team in 2019. She enjoys working with the visual pieces and spending time reading the stories of how and why each piece came to be.
Isobel Rahman, Arts Assistant (p/t)
Izzy joined Koestler as a volunteer and now works as part of the Arts Team. She enjoys artworks which tell stories and deepen our understanding of the artists’ experiences.
Beth Aydon, Arts Team Assistant (p/t)
Beth has been part of the Arts Team since 2018. She enjoys being part of an organisation that encourages people to make art using whatever material is available.
Mali Clements, Development Director
Mali joined the fundraising team in 2016 & loves working in a team where you can do a bit of everything. Her favourite part of the job is getting to know our fantastic supporters.
Jenni McGowan, Digital Engagement and Communications Manager
Jenni looks after our website & social media, spreading the word about our projects & exhibitions. She loves introducing people to our work & sharing unique artworks & stories.
Jon Petre, Development Assistant
Jon joined Koestler in 2020. He loves seeing the impact that our Awards have for entrants & meeting the brilliant people who support our work. His favourite entries are poetry.
Sarah Matheve, Director of Outreach
Sarah joined Koestler Arts to set up our mentoring scheme. Since 2009 she's led on the development of our outreach work, including managing evaluations into the impact of our work.
Fina Schneider, Outreach Coordinator
Fina worked as an Arts Assistant for 2 years before rejoining the Outreach Team. She enjoys visiting establishments to witness the creativity of Koestler’s entrants first-hand.
Ellie Donaldson, Mentoring Coordinator
Ellie is responsible for managing the Arts Mentoring Scheme. Being able to follow mentees journeys & successes throughout their time on the project is the best part of the job.
Charis Dishman, Arts and Outreach Officer (p/t)
Charis helps organise outreach projects around our Awards programme to engage new entrants & audiences. She particularly enjoys working on events for families of exhibited artists.