Andrew Lansley

Andrew is innovation Manager for Cheltenham Festivals, Senior Academic at the University of Gloucestershire, Cheltenham Culture Board coordinator and in his spare time performs as double bassist with Thrill Collins. He has worked in cross sector roles including events, academia, politics, broadcast and innovation, has written research and worked with young people to help them realise their own musical ambitions. Andrew is autistic and runs a neurodiverse consultancy that specialises in intersectional, regenerative projects to help make businesses and organisations more accessible and sustainable.

Favourite game Legend of Zelda "Breath of the Wild"
Favourite animal Cat or tapir
Favourite hobby that isn't music Baking

Berkeley Edwards

Berkeley is the Head of Music and a principal at Clintons – a market-leading boutique law firm. He represents a broad cross section of the most successful musical talent in the UK and Europe as well as advising many emerging artists on the pathways available in the modern music industry.

Bre McDermott-King

Bre is an International Product Manager at AWAL, a record label under Sony Music Entertainment UK Ltd. With a passion for marketing, she has worked on a number of global artist campaigns. She is passionate about equality, diversity and inclusion, and was previously the Head of Sony Music UK's first ever diversity committee, HUE UK. In 2019, she launched a collective, Women Connect UK, which works to advocate for and provide opportunities for women and non-binary folk in the creative industries.

Pronouns she/her
Favourite pastime Making music!
Favourite book 'Homegoing' by Yaa Gyasi
Favourite scripture "Weeping may stay for the night, but joy comes in the morning" (Psalm 30:5)

Charlotte Edgeworth

Charlotte is passionate about finding ways for organisations to have a positive impact on their communities, their employees and wider society.  

Starting her career in marketing and moving through the voluntary sector into Corporate Responsibility, Charlotte has worked across a variety of functions including Social Impact, DEI and Environmental Programmes. She is an expert in strategic grant-making and has led corporate foundations for global FTSE-listed organisations as well as having been CEO of a charity.

In 2021 Charlotte joined Sony Music UK as their first Director of Diversity, Inclusion and Social Impact. In this role she leads on community programmes, charity partnerships and embedding equitable and inclusive practices across the company.

Pronouns she/her
Favourite film The Time Bandits
Favourite flowers Tulips
Favourite album Stevie Wonder - Talking Book

Claire Wills

Claire is the Bursar at Manor Lodge School, in Hertforshire. Before this, she spent 17 years, including 4 as partner, at Saffery LLP, a top 15 accountancy firm. She has more than 25 years’ experience in auditing and specialised in working with charities for 17 years. Her clients included a number of arts charities as well as a wide range of other not for profit entities including grant makers and fundraising charities.

Pronouns she/her
Favourite colour Purple
Favourite food Chocolate
Favourite gig Oasis at Knebworth 1996

Freddie Aitken

Freddie works in Membership and EDI at London Youth Choirs. He also runs a diy electronic music record label, hosts monthly radio shows, and DJs in his home city of London and around the UK.

Alongside this, he is a member of the first European Music Business Task Force and podcast show host for the Music Cities Network's "Music Industry Voices" podcast.

Pronouns he/him
Favourite album Tongue by Anenon
Favourite biscuit Lemon Puffs
Favourite book The Lemon Table by Julian Barnes

Guvna B

Guvna B is a triple MOBO Award winning rapper, author and broadcaster from London. His album, The Village is On Fire (2023) debuted at number 1 on the Official Hip-Hop and R&B Charts and his sophomore book Unspoken: Toxic Masculinity and How I Faced the Man Within the Man (2021) became an Amazon bestseller. 

He has presented many documentaries across radio and TV including BBC's Gospel Meets Hip-Hop, and regularly appears on The Zoe Ball Breakfast show (BBC Radio 4) and Fighting Talk (BBC 5 Live). He also works as a presenter for his beloved West Ham United. Guvna B is widely considered an influential and important voice within British rap music because of his uplifting lyricism and passion to see every young person reach their full potential.

Pronouns he/him
Favourite film Cool Runnings
Favourite album Kano - Hoodies All Summer

Hanna Chalmers

Hanna Chalmers is a senior research practitioner who has spent her career working in, and around the media, tech, music and entertainment industries. She spent nearly a decade at the BBC working with a wide research remit across the youth brands from Cbeebies to BBC Radio 1 and 1Xtra. She then moved to Universal Music where she established and led the research and insights practice in the UK. In 2020 Hanna set up CultureStudio Research, a 'culture first' insights practice and collective operating out of London but working internationally.

Favourite place Millport, Scotland
Favourite thing Discovering amazing new artists
Favourite way to relax Reading in a hammock

Miri Buac

Miri is a brand strategist and Head of Communications for a not-for-profit membership organisation. She has worked with an array of consumer brands and charities leading on creative and behaviour change projects. She’s passionate about youth culture, helping people share their lived experiences to influence societal change or help increase opportunities available to individuals and communities.

Over the years, Miri has worked on the launch of Apple Music, implementing programmes with Sport England, Youth Sport Trust, and national governing bodies, and even whipped up a media storm(zy) about Youth Music.

Pronouns She/her
Favourite album Dave, Psychodrama
Favourite food Pickles
Happy place Glastonbury

Nathifa Jordan

Nathifa Jordan is the Business Director at CultureMix Arts, a not-for-profit music and carnival arts organisation based in Berkshire. She is an experienced creative with a demonstrated history of working with young people in music related activities.

Nathifa has a degree in Sociology from the University of Surrey and is passionate about education and personal development. She leads the facilitation of business training, work experience, careers advice and mentoring making a positive difference to the lives and futures of many young people. Through her work her mission is to help empower young people to achieve their ambitions and further develop prospects for careers in the music and creative industry.

Pronouns She/her
Favourite instrument Steel pan
Favourite fruit Red grapes
Favourite season Summer
Favourite book Animal Farm - George Orwell

Paul Bonham

With a background in public funding, diversity and inclusion, music management and professional development, one of Paul’s first paid jobs in the industry was running a Youth Music funded DJ and Rap project in his hometown of Oxford. Paul currently leads the Music Manager Forum's ground-breaking Accelerator supported by YouTube Music.

Favourite superhero Batman
Favourite food Cheese
Favourite plants Cacti

Sam Denniston

Sam is the founder of Verdigris Management, an independent artist management company that helps artists realise their creative vision. Sam represents a diverse set of artists across a range of genres. From creating global success stories; Jungle and Hot Chip - to breaking emerging artists - Priya Ragu and Smoothboi Ezra - Sam’s passion for integrity and creativity within the music industry has helped him to grow the company from a one-man bedroom-based operation to a team of 10 working over 25 artists, producers and mixers; in just eight years.

Pronouns He/him
No. 1 favourite My family
No. 2 favourite Track days
No. 3 favourite Sold out shows at Brixton Academy!

Sarah Brown

Sarah is the national programme lead for children and young people’s mental health at NHS England. With over 20 years’ experience in public sector children’s services, Sarah has been at the forefront of developing and delivering public policy, leading strategic commissioning and driving large-scale transformational change at a national, sub-regional and local level.

Pronouns she/her
Favourite album right now 11 by Sault
Favourite gig Portishead at Brixton Academy
Favourite place North Yorkshire coast