People

Meet the core team, the researchers from our consortium of universities, our Industry Champions, and International Council.

Core team Researchers Industry Champions International Council

This page is the process of being updated as the Creative PEC moves to new co-hosts Newcastle University and the RSA. Below you can see the researchers we worked with during the first iteration of the PEC 2018 - 2023.

Meet the PEC's Industry Champions: a UK-wide network of trusted practitioners, drawn from all parts of the creative industries. The group provide the PEC with guidance on industry’s most pressing challenges, expert insight to inform our research, and critical feedback on our policy recommendations.

Meet the PEC's International Council: a network of leading policy and creative economy practitioners from across the world, convened by The British Council. The group share international creative economy policy intelligence and research opportunities, and act as critical friends in reviewing and providing an international perspective on the PEC’s activities. Find out more.

John Newbigin OBE - UK

Chair, PEC International Council

John is the Mayor of London’s Ambassador for the Creative Industries and is Chair of the Creative Industries Policy and Evide...

Daniar Amanaliev - Kyrgyzstan

Co-founder and CEO of ololo coworking spaces, Chair of Kyrgyzstan’s Creative Industries association.

Daniar is a serial creative entrepreneur and creative economy enthusiast. He is the co-founder, and business conductor of olo...

Laura Callanan - New York City, United States

Founding Partner of Upstart Co-Lab

Laura is the founding partner of Upstart Co-Lab. Upstart Co-Lab is disrupting how creativity is funded by connecting impact i...

Edna dos Santos-Duisenberg - based in Geneva, Switzerland and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Economist, Policy Advisor and Researcher on Creative Economy and Development

Edna is an economist who had an international career at the United Nations. She set-up and was Chief, Creative Economy Progra...

Bernd Fesel - Cologne Area, Germany

Lecturer at the Hamburg Institute for Arts and Media Management

Bernd Fesel started his career in the art market, becoming 1997 Managing Director of the European Gallery Association. He als...

George Gachara - Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia

Social entrepreneur, Arts Manager, and the Managing Partner at HEVA Fund LLP.

George is a social entrepreneur, arts manager, and managing partner at HEVA Fund LLP. George is leading the development and b...

Avril Joffe - Johannesburg, South Africa

Head of Cultural Policy & Management Department at the Wits School of Arts, University of the Witwatersrand

Avril is an economic sociologist working at the intersection of academia and practice in fields such as culture in urban life...

Marcel Kraus - Prague, Czech Republic

R&D Programme Designer and Manager at the Technology Agency of the Czech Republic

Marcel promotes the innovative potential of social sciences, humanities and arts and interdisciplinary innovation at Charles ...

Tita Larasati - West Java, Indonesia

Lecturer and Researcher at Industrial Design Program, FSRD ITB, Indonesia

Tita is a product designer, lecturer/researcher at Institut Teknologi Bandung (ITB), Focal Point for Bandung City of Design U...

Jairaj Mashru - Mumbai, India

Innovation Executive at Salesforce.com

His creative pursuits have led him to also teach design, innovation, and entrepreneurship, to mentor startups, and provide ev...

Omar Nagati - Cairo, Egypt

Architect, Urban Planner and Co-founder of CLUSTER

Omar is a practicing architect and urban planner, the co-founder of CLUSTER, an urban design and research platform downtown C...

Diana Marcela Rey Vásque

Director of the eCommerce Observatory and Consultantv- based in Montreal, Canada

Diana is a Political Scientist with a PhD in Latin American Studies, is an expert in the creative economy and digital economy...

Leandro Valiati - Brazil, France and the UK

Professor and Researcher in Creative Industries and Cultural Economics

Leandro started his career in Brazil as a professor and policy advisor in Creative Industries and Economy of Culture, creatin...