FELLOWS
L|A|L.2 Cohort
The fellows below are part of L|A|L.2 - Access to Diverse Cultural Expressions in Theater.
Joshua Alabi (L|A|L.2) - Nigeria
Joshua Alabi is the Founder/CEO and Artistic Director of Kininso Creative Limited, a cultural organization based in Nigeria and the United Kingdom. He is a director, writer, producer, teacher and consultant. Joshua is a Global Fellow of the International Society of Performing Arts, New York, a prize recipient for 'Kolofu' at the 2023 Kuss Festival, as well as the Mervin Stutter Award at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. His project, 'Dear Beloved Friend,' the first of its kind from Africa, reached audiences across The Netherlands, Nigeria and Denmark, and won the Golden Calf Award for Best Digital Culture at the Netherlands Film Festival 2023.
Alia Alzougbi (L|A|L.2) - UK
Alia Alzougbi is a cultural strategist, artist, and facilitator working at the intersection of art, social justice, and environmental care. She is a Chevening Scholar, a Clore Fellow, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, and a 2026 ISPA Global Fellow. Alia is the Artistic Director and CEO of Shubbak, Europe’s largest festival of contemporary Arab arts. Her practice is internationally recognised as a forager of critical encounters towards collective liberation with projects spanning activations of local corner shops to takeovers of world-renowned museums. Alia uses the arts to interrogate the root causes of inequality, imagine alternative presents, and rehearse possible futures.
Debora Balardini (L|A|L.2) - Brazil / France / USA
Debora Balardini is a New York-based Brazilian-Italian-American performer, theatre director, educator, and integrative therapist with extensive experience in voice and theatre work, including Choreographic Theatre (Pantheatre Company-Paris) and the Roy Hart Voice Centre in the South of France. She is a co-founder and Executive Director of Group Dot BR - New York’s only Brazilian theatre company. Balardini received an official proclamation from the US National Council of Women in Consultative Status with the UN Economic and Social Council for her humanitarian work dedicated to women's empowerment. She is a FortyOver40 Forbes Honoree.
Marc Bamuthi Joseph (L|A|L.2) - USA
Marc Bamuthi Joseph is a spoken word artist, librettist, speaker and thought leader making culture and designing equitable futures. He served as the Vice President of Social Impact at The Kennedy Center from 2019-25. He is TED Global Fellow, an Emerson Collective Dial Fellow, an inaugural recipient of the Guggenheim Social Practice initiative, and an honoree of the United States Artists Rockefeller Fellowship. He is also the winner of the 2011 Herb Alpert Award in Theatre, an inaugural recipient of the Doris Duke Performing Artist Award and a 2022 inductee into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. An internationally renowned cultural strategist, Bamuthi has lectured in 25 different countries and his TED talk “You Have The Rite” has been viewed more than five million times.
Jamie Bennett (L|A|L.2) - USA / Canada
Jamie Bennett works with nonprofits, philanthropies, and government agencies through a partnership with Lord Cultural Resources, focusing on arts, culture, and equitable community development. Recent clients include the American Museum of Natural History, The BIG We and Historic Clayborn Temple, the Doris Duke Foundation, Greater Columbus Arts Council, Knight Foundation, The Kresge Foundation, The Joyce Foundation, MacArthur Foundation, Museum Trustee Association, National Endowment for the Arts, and Walk with Amal. Jamie has been interim co-CEO of Americans for the Arts, interim CEO of United States Artists, Executive Director of ArtPlace America, and Chief of Staff in the Obama administration's National Endowment for the Arts.
Bill Bragin (L|A|L.2) - USA / UAE
Bill Bragin is the founding executive artistic director of The Arts Center at NYU Abu Dhabi. Bragin is a co-founder of globalFEST, 2018 winner of the Association of Performing Arts Professionals’ William Dawson Award for Programmatic Excellence. Previous activities include serving as Director of Public Programming of NY’s Lincoln Center and as Director of Joe's Pub at the Public Theater. He has served as a jury member, advisor, or speaker for the International Society of the Performing Arts, WOMEX, CenterStage US, Pan African Creative Exchange, Culture Summit Abu Dhabi, MAP Fund, Arts International, National Endowment for the Arts, Performing Arts Market Seoul, and Porto Musical.
Sami Daoud (L|A|L.2) - Egypt / UK
Sami Daoud is the Executive Director of the Breaking Walls Dance Festival in Egypt, a pioneering platform for site-specific performances, dance films, and inclusive workshops. He has successfully managed strategic partnerships with major cultural institutions, including the American and Spanish Embassies, the Cervantes Institute, and the Italian Cultural Institute. Beyond his work in festival management, Sami designs and delivers behavioral change programs and interactive facilitation for multinational organizations such as Mercedes-Benz Middle East and Exxon Mobil. His training methodology is grounded in his formal theatre background, holding an Acting Diploma from the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama in London.
Martine Dennewald (L|A|L.2) - Luxembourg / Canada
Martine Dennewald currently serves as co-artistic director of Festival TransAmériques (FTA) in Tio’tià:ke/Montréal, a position she assumed in the summer of 2021 alongside Jessie Mill. In this role, she has brought almost two decades of curatorial experience to one of North America’s most ambitious performing arts festivals, which combines the presentation of theatre, dance and interdisciplinary work with a commitment to exploring decolonial practices within a shared leadership structure. Her work draws on the international networks she has built over years in different European countries, her fluency in eight languages, and a conviction that festivals are unique platforms for intercultural dialogue, structural critique, and exploratory programming.
Rita Ezenwa-Okoro (L|A|L.2) - Nigeria
Rita Ezenwa-Okoro is a creative culturist who harnesses the transformative power of play and performing arts to raise and nurture leaders. Her book Doing. Being. Becoming. earned her numerous speaking features, including at the United Nations 9th Global Forum and The Association of the Study of Play (TASP). Rita is the Executive Director of the Global Play Brigade as well as the founder of the Street Project Foundation, a United Nations Award-winning organization. A Mandela Washington Fellow, Rita is also a three-time global fellow of the International Society of the Performing Arts (ISPA), and is now the first Nigerian to serve on their board.
Susan Feldman (L|A|L.2) - USA
Susan Feldman is President and Artistic Director of St. Ann’s Warehouse, a world renowned international presenter/producer on New York City's cultural landscape. She has built a career activating found spaces and turning them into cultural destinations, and has led St. Ann's Warehouse in transforming industrial warehouses into open, flexible theaters, and artistic homes for a global community of many of the most world's most innovative artists. The crowning achievement of Susan's career was building a permanent home for St. Ann's Warehouse in an historic Tobacco Warehouse on the Brooklyn waterfront, a year-round cultural center and community hub in the heart of Brooklyn Bridge Park, which opened in fall 2015.
HEctor Flores Komatsu (L|A|L.2) - Mexico / USA
Héctor Flores Komatsu (小松輝) is theatre-maker and producer with roots in Mexico, Japan, and the United States. He is a member of Makuyeika Colectivo Teatral, an MFA candidate in Directing at the David Geffen School of Drama at Yale University, and a fellow at Georgetown University’s Laboratory for Global Performance and Politics. Héctor founded Makuyeika after a year-long theatrical exploration across Mexico’s Indigenous communities as the inaugural Julie Taymor World Theatre Fellow. His directing work includes Andares, which has toured extensively in Mexico and internationally. Other original works include Rematch (based on the Popol Vuh), Ix-kik: blood, moon, sister, and Canek. Previously, Héctor worked as an actor and apprentice to Peter Brook at the Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord in Paris. In Japan, he has trained with the Suzuki Company of Toga and with Tatsushige Udaka of the Kongō-ryū school of Noh. BFA in Theatre Directing (University of Michigan).
Boo Froebel (L|A|L.2) - USA
Boo Froebel is Director of The Democracy Cycle at PAC NYC, a commissioning program supporting new performance works across theater, dance, music, opera and multidisciplinary performance, which explore themes relating to the nature, practice, and experience of democracy. Froebel also consults on organizational development, and produces festivals and events such as NYC FREE, the Little Island opening festival; ContraBanned: Music From the Banned Countries; The Onassis Festival; and David Neumann and Marcella Murray’s performance trilogy. Froebel previously served as Tamizdat General Manager; Producer of Lincoln Center Festival; Curator/Producer of live art at Whitney Museum; and as Artistic Director of Galapagos Art Space.
Lynn Fu (L|A|L.2) - China / USA
Lynn Fu is a Shanghai/New York based independent curator and producer. Her career focuses on international collaboration between China, Asia and beyond with her passion in exploring new possibilities of connecting people from different backgrounds through the performing arts. Lynn is a former ISPA global fellow, Edinburgh Fringe industry associate and international jury member of the European Spaces of Culture. She has frequently sat in curatorial panels at international festivals since 2019. In 2021, she co-founded Arts Access Shanghai, a platform to increase access to Shanghai's cultural institutions for the local disability community through connection, education and advocacy.
Jamie Gahlon (L|A|L.2) - USA
Jamie Gahlon is a cultural organizer, producer, and theatremaker. Jamie is a Co-Founder of HowlRound Theatre Commons, a free and open platform for theatremakers that amplifies progressive, disruptive ideas about the art form and connects diverse practitioners worldwide. Prior to her work with HowlRound, Jamie launched the American Voices New Play Institute and the NEA New Play Development Program as part of the Artistic Development team at Arena Stage in Washington, DC. Jamie holds a B.S. in Foreign Service with a focus on Culture & Politics from Georgetown University and an MA in Performance Curation from Wesleyan University’s Institute for Curatorial Practice in Performance.
Fizza Hasan (L|A|L.2) - Pakistan
Fizza Hasan is the Founder and Artistic Director of Theatre Wallay, a performing arts company in Islamabad, Pakistan, active since 2005. Under her leadership, Theatre Wallay stages world literature, creates original plays, and runs initiatives for community engagement and cultural exchange, often in collaboration with embassies, NGOs, and cultural institutions. An ISPA Global Fellow for 2024-26, she was awarded the Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Ministry of Culture in 2025. With a deep commitment to artistic and social impact, she remains an advocate for theatre as a powerful tool for storytelling, learning, and change.
Rika Iino (L|A|L.2) - USA
Rika Iino is Founder and CEO of SOZO, an international arts agency and incubator. Raised across three continents, she brings a global lens to building artist-centered systems of cultural production. The co-chair of Building Ethical and Equitable Partnership, a national initiative on equitable contracting, Rika was the first woman of color to receive the Patrick Hayes Award for transformative leadership from the International Society for the Performing Arts. In 2023, she received the CALI Catalyst Award from the Center for Cultural Innovation for her extraordinary efforts in realizing greater inclusion and equity in the cultural sector. She is currently the principal designer for SOZO Fellowship.
Mara Isaacs (L|A|L.2) - USA
Mara Isaacs is a Tony and Grammy Award-winning creative producer and founder of Octopus Theatricals, developing and producing plays, musicals and multi-disciplinary work across the globe. Selected highlights from 200 productions: Hadestown (Broadway, West End, North American Tour–Best Musical Tony and Grammy); Gypsy with Audra McDonald (Broadway); Patrick Page’s All the Devils Are Here (off-Broadway, North American Tour; 300 Paintings; …(Iphigenia) by Wayne Shorter and esperanza spalding; Film: I Feel Myself to be Part of Something (documentary anthology). Music: Founder and President, Octoverse Media. She is Entrepreneur in Residence with Yale’s Cultural Innovations Lab, Co-Founder of Producer Hub, and Co-Founder of Arts Impact Collaborative.
Thomas O. Kriegsmann (L|A|L.2) - USA
Thomas O. Kriegsmann is a producer specializing in new work development and production worldwide. He was shortlisted for an Oscar nomination and won best picture at the Cinema Eye Awards for Sam Green’s 32 Sounds in 2024, and recently premiered the Tony-nominated Illinoise by Sufjan Stevens & Justin Peck on Broadway following runs at Fisher Center @ Bard, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, and Park Avenue Armory. Current and past work includes projects with Kaneza Schaal, Yaron Lifschitz, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Peter Sellars, Julie Taymor, and John Cameron Mitchell. Ongoing collaborations include Milo Rau, Bryce Dessner, Sophia Brous, Timothy White Eagle, and Compagnia T.P.O. He is a founding member of The Creative & Independent Producer Alliance.
Barbara Lanciers (L|A|L.2) - USA
Barbara Lanciers is the executive director of the Trust for Mutual Understanding (TMU). Her work has been presented by La MaMa E.T.C., Here Arts Center, the Bowery Poetry Club and the 14th Street Y. Barbara is a former company member and choreographer for Two-headed Calf (2008 Obie grant recipient). She was a producer, writer, and performer for the Dyke Division of Two-headed Calf’s queer soap opera Room for Cream, which played at La MaMa E.T.C and the New Museum. Barbara was a Fulbright Scholar with the Hungarian Theatre Museum and Institute and has written independent articles on American performance for Szinhaz Hungarian theater magazine and Didaskalia Polish theater magazine.
Laura Mackenzie Stuart (L|A|L.2) - Scotland
Laura Mackenzie Stuart is Head of International at Creative Scotland, the non-governmental national funding body which supports artists and creative organisations working across the Arts, Screen and Creative Industries in Scotland. Spanning a 35 year career in the arts (so far) Laura’s consistent focus has been on the value of international exposure, be that to absorb new ideas or to extend reach. As an independent international tour producer she worked with theatre and dance companies from the UK, Europe, Taiwan, South Korea, Cuba and Venezuela. Laura currently serves as member of the Finance Committee of the International Society of Performing Arts (ISPA).
Jonathan McCrory (L|A|L.2) - USA
Jonathan McCrory is a Tony Award-winning and Emmy Award-nominated producer as well as a two-time Obie Award-winning artist who has served as Executive Artistic Director at National Black Theatre since 2012 under the leadership of CEO, Sade Lythcott. He has directed numerous professional productions and concerts. He has directed numerous professional productions and concerts. He has been acknowledged as an exceptional leader through Craine’s New York Business 2020 Notable LGBTQ Leaders and Executives. In 2013, he was awarded the Emerging Producer Award by the National Black Theatre Festival in Winston Salem, North Carolina, and the Torch Bearer Award by theatrical legend Woodie King Jr. He is a founding member of the collaborative producing organizations Harlem9, Black Theatre Commons, The Jubilee, Next Generation National Network and The Movement Theatre Company.
Dr. Keith Nurse (L|A|L.1 & 2) - Trinidad and Tobago
Dr. Keith Nurse works on the intersection between trade policy, innovation governance, sustainable development and the creative economy. He is an expert member at the UN Committee for Development Policy, the UNECLAC Commission on Geopolitics, Globalization and Development for Latin America and the Caribbean, and the UNESCO Institute of Statistics. He is the Chair of CaribbeanTales Media Group. Executive producer of the documentary Forward Home: The Power of the Caribbean Diaspora. Formerly the President, College of Science Technology and Applied Arts Trinidad and Tobago and Senior Economist and Advisor on Structural Policies and Innovation at the OECD Development Centre, Paris.
Jeffrey Omura (L|A|L.2) - USA
Jeffrey is an actor, activist, and labor leader, thrice-elected as an officer of Actors’ Equity Association, where he co-chairs the LORT Committee overseeing contracts with over 80 of the largest non-profit theaters across the US. He’s a co-founder of the grassroots collective Queers for Action, formerly Queers for Kamala that knocked on over 75,000 doors in Pennsylvania for Kamala Harris. As a 2021 candidate for New York City Council, he led an Arts & Culture focused campaign, and was named to City & State’s “2021 NYC Labor 40 Under 40”. He’s a founding member of the Exit, Pursued by a Bear theater collective, Fair Wage Onstage, Be An #ArtsHero, an inaugural member of New Yorkers for Culture and Arts Advocates in Residence, and served on Equality NY’s Advisory Council. He’s known for his acting work in film, tv, theater, and voiceovers, and he’s a proud graduate of the Carnegie Mellon University School of Drama.
Zeyba Rahman (L|A|L.2) - USA
Zeyba Rahman is a Senior Fellow at NYU's John Brademas Center, bringing to her position decades of experience at the intersection of arts, culture, cultural strategy, education, media, and public discourse. She previously served for over a decade as director of the Doris Duke Foundation’s Building Bridges Program, where she championed authentic storytelling and cross-community connection through the arts and media. Her career has spanned leadership roles at the Fes Festival of World Sacred Music in Morocco, The Metropolitan Museum of Art. A frequent public speaker and writer on how the arts drive social change, she currently serves on the board of Grantmakers in the Arts.
Tanya Selvaratnam (L|A|L.2) - USA
Tanya Selvaratnam is a multiple Emmy-nominated and Webby-winning filmmaker. She is also a critically acclaimed writer who has published two books, Assume Nothing and The Big Lie, and essays in the New York Times, Vogue, Elle, Glamour, Cosmo, NBC News, and McSweeney’s Internet Tendency. She has most recently been an advisor to the Michael Latt Legacy Fund, Pop Culture Collaborative, Open Future Lab, Economic Hardship Reporting Project, The DO World, Let It Ripple, For Freedoms, and Sankofa. Born in Sri Lanka and raised in Long Beach, California, she holds undergraduate and graduate degrees from Harvard University. She lives between New York City and Portland, Oregon.
Sachiko Soro (L|A|L.2) - Fiji Islands
Sachiko Soro is the founder of the VOU Dance Company, a social enterprise in the Fiji Islands that now sustainably employs 82 people, mostly Fijian Artists. VOU has toured to some of the world’s biggest festivals in over 35 countries. In 2018 VOU founded Fiji’s first tertiary dance institution, the Conservatorium of Dance. In 2019 VOU Dance Company opened VOU HUB Fiji, a 300-seat performance venue that hosts performances by VOU and other artists. Sachiko is passionate about supporting Fijian artists into fulfilling and sustainable career paths and providing opportunities for young Fijians to research their cultural heritage.
Caitlin Strokosch (L|A|L.2) - USA
Caitlin Strokosch is President and CEO of the National Performance Network. From 2002 to 2016, she was Executive Director of the Artist Communities Alliance, an international association of artist residency centers, where she was instrumental in creating the Artist Communities division at the NEA in 2008. Caitlin was elected to the Chicago College for Performing Arts' Advisory Board in 2025, and is an advisory board member of Transcultural Exchange. She has previously served on the board of directors of Grantmakers in the Arts, where she was a member of the Racial Equity, Support for Individual Artists, and Finance committees; as Secretary of the Performing Arts Alliance board; and as Chair of Girls Rock! Rhode Island's board.
Shanta Thake (L|A|L.2) - USA
Shanta Thake is the Ehrenkranz Chief Artistic Officer at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, where she spearheads all artistic programming activities. Previously, Shanta was Associate Artistic Director/Director of Artistic Programs at The Public Theater, overseeing the growth and development of Public Works, Mobile Unit, Under the Radar, Joe’s Pub, The Shakespeare Initiative, and Public Forum, and spent 10 years as the Director of Joe’s Pub. Shanta has received the William Dawson Award for Programmatic Excellence and Sustained Achievement in Programming, Waterwell’s Artist as Citizen Award, and the Parent Artist Advocacy League’s (PAAL) Leader in Care Award. She is also a current co-director of GlobalFEST.
Jenny Tibbels (L|A|L.2) - USA
Jenny Tibbels is a producer and founder of 55B Productions – partnering with artists to develop new, multidisciplinary projects that expand our thinking and engage global audiences. 55B is a tour producer for The Horse of Jenin by Alaa Shehada of The Freedom Theatre, The Magic Bullet by LubDub Theatre Co., and Dabke by Fadi J. Khoury Dance. Jenny has produced the Armory Show Live, PEN America’s World Voices Festival, Experience Design for Williamstown Theatre Festival, and tours for Caborca Theatre in Cuba and Colombia. Jenny is a member of the Lincoln Center Directors Lab and has taught theater and public speaking at Bard High School Early College and St. John’s University.
Cynthia J. Tong (L|A|L.2) - USA
Cynthia J. Tong is a Tony-nominated Broadway producer. Recently named one of Variety’s “41 Under 40: New Leaders,” she works primarily in commercial theatre developing plays and musicals. Cynthia believes deeply in meaningful community building, and creating access to the business side of theater. To that end, she co-organized the first ever Celebrating AANHPI Theatremakers on Broadway Brunch (2025), co-founded The Industry Standard Group, and is an educator at Montclair State University and Business of Broadway. From over 25 projects, highlights include: Just in Time starring Jonathan Groff (2025); Caroline (2025, MCC); Gypsy (2024); The Piano Lesson (2022); Grey House (2023); and LORDES (2018; New Ohio Theatre).
Adrienne Wong (L|A|L.2) - Canada
Adrienne Wong is a theatre writer, director, and performer. Her scholarly writing appears in various publications and journals, including the Canadian Theatre Review. She teaches extensively and contributes to the cultural sector as a board member for Playwrights Guild of Canada, a Steering Committee member for Balancing Act Canada, and an Advisory Committee Member for HowlRound Theatre Commons. Former Artistic Producer at Neworld Theatre, she is now Artistic Director of SpiderWebShow Performance and co-curates FOLDA, the Festival of Live Digital Art. Adrienne is a finalist for the 2025 Siminovitch Prize, Canada's largest theatre award recognizing excellence in mid-career directors, playwrights and designers.
L|A|L.1 Cohort
The fellows below are part of L|A|L.1 - Market Access in Music.
Sally Abu Bakr (L|A|L.1) - Palestine
Sally Abu Bakr is a cultural policy expert and senior municipal leader with over two decades of experience in cultural management, strategic planning, and international cultural cooperation. Since 2015, she has served as Director of the Cultural Department at Ramallah Municipality. She played a central role in formulating Ramallah’s Cultural Policy Strategy and managing major cultural infrastructure projects, including the Ramallah City Museum and the Shireen Abu Akleh Media Museum. Abu Bakr previously headed the Culture and Art Unit at the Municipality, coordinating high-profile initiatives such as the Qalandiya International Biennale and the Wein A Ramallah public space festival.
Marlon Burton (L|A|L.1) - UK
Marlon Burton is an agent at leading UK artist agency, ATC Live with eight years of experience with an international roster, which includes acts like: Karpe, MATA, Drax Project, Reuben James, Danielle Ponder, PLK, and Charlotte OC. He joined ATC to help develop their Urban & Contemporary division with the main focus on Rap, Drill, Grime, RnB, Jazz and Soul.
Ula Buyuly (L|A|L.1) - Poland
Ula Buyuly is a sociologist, leadership educator, and career coach at Artist in Bloom, an agency supporting growth and innovation in the creative industries. She specializes in competency development, creative team dynamics, and empathy-based leadership. As a certified Harrison Assessments practitioner, she helps artists and cultural professionals unlock their strengths and lead with purpose. Ula has collaborated with partners such as Music Export Poland, Narodowe Centrum Kultury, Keychange, Different Sounds Festival, and EMMA. She currently leads Music Week Poland: Upskilling Programme!—a national initiative helping artists and managers navigate the showcase ecosystem with confidence and strategy.
Paty Carrera (L|A|L.1) - Mexico / Spain
Paty Carrera is the President of the Spanish Speaking Music Supervision Association (ASM). She has been deeply involved in music supervision, consulting, and licensing for audiovisual productions for platforms such as Netflix, Amazon, Disney, and HBO. To safeguard the interests of creators, Carrera has dedicated her professional life to the world of copyright. She also collaborates closely with music producer Phil Vinall and manages matters for artists like Beto Cuevas, Ely Guerra, Enjambre, and Pato Machete. Carrera’s experience translates in her contribution to workshops, panels, and educational programs that she has developed in Colombia, Chile, Poland, Canada, Spain, and México.
Rachel Cartier (L|A|L.1) - France
Rachel Cartier is a cultural engineering consultant, curator, and creative director with 20 years of experience. As former Head of Music at Deezer, Cartier led editorial strategy and curation, and worked with artists such as Angèle, Rosalía, and Jul. Recognized among the 100 Women of Culture in France, she chaired MEWEM, Europe’s mentorship program for women and gender minority entrepreneurs in the music industry, and served on CNM strategic committees for gender equality. In 2024, she conducted a research mission in Asia on the geopolitical role of cultural industries. As founder of Halcyon, she advises institutions, businesses, and governments on cultural and creative projects.
Rosana Corbacho (L|A|L.1) - Spain
Rosana Corbacho is a clinical and humanistic psychologist specializing in the music industry, with over 15 years of experience. Corbacho has collaborated with organizations such as Spotify, Believe, Live Nation, and Berklee. She has also spoken at major festivals including Primavera Sound, Reeperbahn, ADE, and BIME—where she received the Keychange Inspiration Award in 2022. She is the founder of M.I. Therapy, a specialized clinical team focused on the physical and mental health of professionals in music, the arts, and creative industries. Her work has been featured in El País, Cosmopolitan, and RNE, and she has contributed to mental health initiatives across Europe, Latin America, and New Zealand.
Joe Frankland (L|A|L.1) - UK
Joe Frankland is CEO at PRS Foundation, the UK’s leading independent charitable funder of new music and talent development. Frankland joined PRS Foundation in 2014 as Industry Funds Manager. In 2015, he moved into the Senior Grants & Programmes Manager role, where he worked strategically to plan and manage pioneering grant-making and partnership programmes, and in 2019, he was appointed CEO. Since 2000, the PRS Foundation has given more than £50 million to over 9,000 new music initiatives. The PRS Foundation founded the Women Make Music fund, co-founded global gender equality initiative, Keychange and most recently launched the POWER UP initiative to tackle anti-Black racism in music.
Mila Georgieva (L|A|L.1) - Bulgaria
Mila Georgieva is a cultural manager dedicated to the promotion and internationalisation of the Bulgarian music scene across Europe and beyond. She is the co-founder and Head Producer of SoAlive Music Conference (SAMC), the leading music industry event in Sofia. She currently serves as Vice-Chair of the Bulgarian Music Association (BMA), where she oversees international activities and the Project Manager for MOST – The Bridge for Balkan Music. In 2023, Mila founded the Tales of Sinemoria Foundation, a cultural organisation focused on regional development through arts programming. She is also a board member of the European Music Council and has worked with the A to JazZ Festival.
Aysha Hussain (L|A|L.1) - UK / Germany
Aysha Hussain, originally from East London, is a freelancer in the creative world and is based between London and Berlin. Hussain currently works in the film and music industries in various capacities – from writing assignments and copy editing to working on and developing inclusive recruitment and training strategies. In her current role at Keychange as Research Manager, Hussain works on developing systems for pledge signatories whilst overseeing various other aspects of the Keychange Leaders project. With a lived experience and consciousness of diversity and inclusion at the core of whatever she does, Hussain's work with Keychange and all other work has naturally aligned with this, alongside her love for the arts.
Justyna Jochym (L|A|L.1) - Poland / Australia
Justyna Jochym is the Chief Executive of Festival City Adelaide – the peak body for South Australia’s festivals and events – which works to ensure that Adelaide and South Australia are (inter)nationally recognised for delivering the world’s best festival experience. Prior to this role, she led international cooperation and development at the Krakow Festival Office in Poland, spearheaded new strategies to expand international education for the City of Krakow for the Jagiellonian University. She serves as a board director for many organizations, including the Wyatt Trust, South Australian Tourism Commission, and the Tourism Industry Council South Australia. She is a member of the national Strategic Workforce Advisory Group for the Arts as well as the South Australian Creative Industries, Arts, Finance, Technology and Business Industry Skills Council.
Karolina Juzwa (L|A|L.1) - Poland
Karolina Juzwa is a cultural manager, coordinator of Wytwornia Foundation, and President of the Europe Jazz Network. She is the co-curator of the Summer Jazz Academy Festival, and is the curator of Intl Jazz Platform, an educational programme for professional jazz artists that has taken place annually in Łódź since 2013. Since 2021, the platform has expanded internationally, with editions in Oslo, Lyon, and Amsterdam.. She is also the co-creator and co-leader of the Creative Europe project Better Live, developed with 11 European partners. The project aims to introduce environmental responsibility into the music sector and to foster more sustainable models of international artistic mobility across Europe.
Tamara KamiNska (L|A|L.1) - Poland
Tamara Kamińska has been associated with CCI for over 14 years. As a program director of one of the most significant cultural institutions in Poland, Tamara was responsible for preparing and producing important music events (including WOMEX’17). Tamara is also the author of Katowice's winning application to join The UNESCO Creative Cities Network. She was responsible for the implementation of the entire "Katowice City of Music" program. Since 2018 she has been a member of the steering committee of UCCN. Currently, Tamara is the director of Music Export Poland, the advisor to the Board of the Society of Authors ZAiKS and coordinator of the Europeana Music Exporters Exchange network. As an independent consultant for the development of creative industries, she has been cooperating with a number of cities across the world.
Frank Kimenai (L|A|L.1) - Netherlands / Belgium
Frank Kimenai is a researcher and senior consultant at KEA. He specializes in the music sector, but has a broad knowledge on Creative and Cultural Industries (CCIs) in general – especially in sustainability and resilience. Next to his work at KEA, he conducts PhD research on the resilience of music ecosystems at the Erasmus University Rotterdam. Within this research, Kimenai is currently focusing on future proofing the music sector as a complex system, with a particular interest in systemic transitions and the role of grassroots initiatives in creating more fair, equitable, sustainable, and resilient futures.
Jaanika Lillemaa (L|A|L.1) - Estonia
Jaanika Lillemaa brings together expertise from both the cultural and education sectors. Her professional experience includes leading international projects at Music Estonia, managing international tours for the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, coordinating Estonia's official EU Council Presidency cultural programme in Brussels, as well as heading cultural and audiovisual cooperation at the French Institute in Estonia. Today, Lillemaa serves as an Adviser for EU and international cooperation at the Estonian Ministry of Education and Research, focusing on building international partnerships in the field of education and supporting the global reach of Estonian education services.
Neus LOpez (L|A|L.1) - Spain / Germany
Neus López has over 23 years experience in the field of music export. Between 2002 and 2015, Lopez was the Head of the Berlin office of Catalan!Arts. After joining Initiative Musik in 2018, as Head of Export, López developed and implemented three funding programmes specific for export, as well as several export co-operations with key events and showcase festivals. As part of its GERMAN MUSIC EXPORT activities, Initiative Musik is also representing Germany in european projects like ESNS Exchange or the European Music Exporters Exchange (EMEE), where López has been a board member since 2021 and vice-president since 2024.
Ondiso Madete (L|A|L.1) - Kenya / Finland
Ondi is a multi-disciplinary storyteller from Kenya based in Finland, exploring patterns, cycles, connection and identity through sounds, words, movement and images.
Darek Mazzone (L|A|L.1) - Poland / USA
Darek Mazzone is a DJ, filmmaker, and cultural producer. A longtime host at Seattle’s KEXP and co-founder of SAMA: Music & Art, he spotlights sacred and diasporic music through performances, films, and cultural exchange projects in the USA, Poland, and Portugal. Originally from Poland, Darek has led initiatives for Microsoft and other technology firms, including building startup ecosystems in Asia and developing collaborative platforms for artists. He has also worked with UNHCR, supporting youth in Jordanian refugee camps through education and creative empowerment. Through SAMA and Tashkent Park Creative, he continues to champion cross-cultural connection and a polyphonic world—one where all worlds can thrive.
Dr. Lutz MOller (L|A|L.1) - Germany
Dr. Lutz Möller has worked at the German Commission for UNESCO since 2004 and has been the Deputy Secretary-General since 2015. He coordinates the Commission’s policy advice and its international cooperation, with focus on UNESCO’s international law. Currently, one of his most important initiatives is Fair Culture. He holds a Ph.D. in Theoretical Physics.
Luiza Moroz (L|A|L.1) - Ukraine / Belgium
Luiza Moroz is the Policy Adviser at Culture Action Europe, a cultural network that brings together 280 cultural organisations across Europe. She focuses on topics such as EU funding for culture, working conditions of artists, and artistic freedom in the European Union's policy context. Moroz previously worked at the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine and the Ukrainian Centre for Cultural Research. She has also worked on European integration in culture and completed a traineeship at the European Commission. As a policy analyst, she has helped introduce the concept of creative industries to the governmental agenda in Ukraine and establish the sector’s analytical and statistical framework.
Dr. Keith Nurse (L|A|L.1 & 2) - Trinidad and Tobago
Dr. Keith Nurse works on the intersection between trade policy, innovation governance, sustainable development and the creative economy. He is an expert member at the UN Committee for Development Policy, the UNECLAC Commission on Geopolitics, Globalization and Development for Latin America and the Caribbean, and the UNESCO Institute of Statistics. He is the Chair of CaribbeanTales Media Group. Executive producer of the documentary Forward Home: The Power of the Caribbean Diaspora. Formerly the President, College of Science Technology and Applied Arts Trinidad and Tobago and Senior Economist and Advisor on Structural Policies and Innovation at the OECD Development Centre, Paris.
Emma Mbeke Nzioka (L|A|L.1) - Kenya
Emma Mbeke Nzioka, aka Coco Em, is a multidisciplinary artist and DJ from Nairobi, Kenya. She has curated a three-day Boiler Room event, was the artistic director at the 13th edition of the Norient Festival in Bern, and has performed in over 27 cities worldwide. Dubbed “the hardest hustling DJ” by Okay Africa, Coco Em uses her platform and the Pass Pass initiative, an African Artist led advocacy organization challenging unfair travel restrictions, to highlight systemic inequalities in outlets such as Pan African Music, The Guardian, and the BBC. Following her successful EP "Kilumi," Coco Em is currently working on her debut album to be released at the end of 2025 with InFiné music.
Erica Romero Penderer (L|A|L.1) - SPain
Erica Romero Pender is a music artist, cultural manager, and advocate for live music venues as vital cultural infrastructures. She currently works at Live DMA, the European network of live music associations, and serves on the board of ACCES and as Vice-President of RASC, the Andalusian Venues’ Association. With a background in psychology and a doctorate in the field, Erica specialises in international cultural innovation. At RNR Producciones, she leads projects focused on the digital and ecological transition of live music, capacity building for emerging artists, equity and inclusion in the music sector, and sustainable ecosystems for grassroots venues.
Sophia Sagaradze (L|A|L.1) - Georgia / Denmark
Sophia Sagaradze is a sound artist, composer, and project leader from Georgia, currently based in Denmark. She holds a master’s degree in Electronic Composition (DIEM) from the Royal Academy of Music, Aarhus, and a bachelor’s degree in Classical Composition from Tbilisi State Conservatoire. Currently, Sophia works at ROSA as a Project Leader for the Musikhjælp Scenesetup that work with festivals across Denmark. Since August 2022, Sophia has been a lecturer at the Royal Academy of Music, Aarhus/Aalborg, where she teaches courses: Composition, Interactive Projects, Programming and Multichannel Setup, and Sound Installations. She is also the founder and leader of Aarhus sound Association(ALF), that aims to create a hub for creative ideas and provides a sustainable environment for work in electronic composition, sound art, installations, interactive art, and surround sound systems.
Anupama Sekhar (L|A|L.1) - India / UAE
Anupama Sekhar is an arts manager specialising in transnational cultural relations. She has worked extensively with the music sector, most recently facilitating the Music Connect workshop—an initiative to connect Asian music professionals—presented by Abu Dhabi Creative City of Music at the Culture Summit (Abu Dhabi, 2024). Between 2009 and 2021, through her work at the Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF), she set up mobility and collaboration grants for the music sector and commissioned sectoral studies such as Contemporary Music: Tuning into Bangladesh. Anupama contributed to the drafting of the Fair Culture Charter—an initiative launched in 2024 by the German Commission for UNESCO to promote equitable cultural relations
Dev Sherlock (L|A|L.1) - USA
Dev Sherlock is the Director of the SXSW Music Festival. As part of his role, he is responsible for artists and showcase presenters from the EU, UK, Australia, and New Zealand. Recognized as the world's premier music showcasing event, and featuring more than 1,000 artists from 60+ countries, SXSW brings together the global music community alongside the film and tech industries for a week of networking and live showcases in Austin, Texas. Sherlock’s background also includes music journalism, film supervision, and broadcasting.
Helen Sildna (L|A|L.1) - Estonia
Helen Sildna is Founder and Head of Tallinn Music Week and Station Narva festivals. She worked at the Baltics’ biggest concert agency BDG (currently LiveNation) as an international talent booker and she established her own music promotion company Shiftworks in 2008. In 2018, Shiftworks launched the Station Narva festival in the easternmost Estonian city Narva, concurrently initiating Narva’s candidacy for the European Capital of Culture in 2024. Sildna is a founding board member of Music Estonia, and was previously a member of former President Toomas Hendrik Ilves’ Think Tank. In 2022 Sildna was awarded the Budapest Ritmo Award for her contribution to enhance collaboration within the Central-Eastern European music community.
Virgo Sillamaa (L|A|L.1) - Estonia / Belgium
Virgo Sillamaa is a music policy researcher, educator and consultant from Estonia, currently based in Brussels. With 25 years of experience in the music sector, he is currently the Research Coordinator of EMEE, European Music Exporters Exchange network, and a board member at the Estonian Authors’ Society. Sillamaa is regularly engaged in project development and implementation, advising initiatives and organisations within the music ecosystem, such as coordinating research in “Europe in Synch” and “Better Live” projects. He is a junior lecturer of Creative Project Management at the University of Tartu Viljandi Culture Academy and also gives guest lectures and workshops on music and cultural policy.
MichaEl Spanu (L|A|L.1) - France / MexicO
Michaël Spanu is a researcher and independent consultant specializing in cultural policy and the creative industries. Spanu holds a PhD in sociology and focuses on the intersections between culture, place, and the economy, with particular expertise in mechanisms such as tax credits, export strategies, and creative cities. He is currently a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Manchester and regularly collaborates with cultural institutions, local governments, and consulting firms internationally.
Franziska Stambke (L|A|L.1) - Germany / Belgium
Franziska Stambke is a communications professional based in Brussels. She oversees the communications and PR efforts for Liveurope, a pan-European platform that enables concert venues to book European bands and collaborate across borders. Backed by the EU’s Creative Europe programme, Liveurope plays a key role in strengthening the visibility and mobility of Europe’s diverse music scene. Stambke is passionate about hope-based communication, connecting people through music, and supporting emerging artists. She previously worked with EUNIC, EU National Institutes for Culture, promoting cultural exchange and European values.
Jarek Szubrycht (L|A|L.1) - Poland
Jarek Szubrycht is the artistic director of Music Week Poland, Head of Communications at Mystic Festival. He is a journalist of Gazeta Wyborcza, the biggest daily newspaper in Poland, and a radio host at Polish Radio 3. He was the creator and editor-in-chief of Gazeta Magnetofonowa,” a music magazine dedicated to Polish music of all genres, and the author of several books and thousands of music articles.
BalAzs Weyer (L|A|L.1) - Hungary
Balázs Weyer is an ethnomusicologist and director of Hangveto, a world music production company in Hungary and the larger region. He is curating several festivals, including Budapest Ritmo. He is the lead expert of Creative Europe project 'MOST' and is representing the city of Veszprem in the UNESCO Cities of Music network. He is a WOMEX Samurai (2014, 2020) and a member of the World Music Charts Europe jury. He is also a producer and music consultant of movie and TV soundtracks, a documentary maker, a music journalist and the chairman of Music Hungary, the music industry association of his homeland. He is a European Capitals of Culture and Unesco Cities of Music consultant for cities on cultural development projects.