Brighton Dome & Brighton Festival announces New Chair & Trustees

Brighton Dome & Brighton Festival (BDBF) has appointed a new Chair and five Trustees from the fields of business, social enterprise, the law, education, arts and heritage to its Board.

The journalist and broadcaster Polly Toynbee will retire in December after 13 years as Chair and will be replaced by current Trustee Danny Homan, previously senior leader at Historic Royal Palaces and The Big Lottery Fund.

The new trustees are Brighton-based Judah Armani, a social enterprise practitioner and founder of InHouse Records, the world’s first record label to be launched in prisons; Nick Juba, Chief Executive of Greater Brighton Metropolitan College; Jordan Kensington, a London-based global entrepreneur and President of Invincible Media, a company that produces the Urban Music Awards; Melanie Lewis, a Tribunal Judge specialising in health, education and social care; and Marina Norris, a consultant and advocate of cultural regeneration in communities.

BDBF adopted an inclusive approach to appointing candidates by working with independent recruitment advisors Green Park and a process developed by Diversity by Design to actively seek individuals from previously underrepresented social, economic and professional backgrounds.

Andrew Comben, Chief Executive, Brighton Dome & Brighton Festival commented:

“We are honoured and excited to have such an incredible range of volunteers join our Board. Their personal experiences and professional expertise will collectively enhance the future direction of our organisation and strengthen the diversity of decision making, as we aim to widen arts access and participation across communities.

Polly Toynbee’s invaluable leadership and vision as Chair for the past 13 years has been integral in overseeing the growth of the organisation, particularly the Corn Exchange and Studio Theatre re-development. This is an exciting time for Danny and the trustees to build on that legacy and all the opportunities it presents.”

Danny Homan added:

”It’s a huge privilege to take over as Chair from Polly, following her distinguished tenure and at such an important and exciting time. I’m looking forward to leading our talented board of Trustees and taking Brighton Dome & Brighton Festival into a new era. I’m committed to making the arts accessible for everyone and celebrating the extraordinary diversity, creativity and innovation that exists within our communities and across the city.”

As custodians of the Grade I and Grade II listed Brighton Dome, which is part of the city’s iconic Royal Pavilion Estate, BDBF presents a rich and varied multi-art form programme throughout the year, as well as the annual Brighton Festival, community and participatory events, and music and arts education service for children and young people across Brighton & Hove and East Sussex.

Biographies:

Danny Homan, Chair

Danny Homan has over 20 years of experience within the culture and heritage sectors. Recent senior leadership roles include Chief of Staff at The Big Lottery Fund where he was responsible for strategy and governance across the charity and Communication and Development Director at Historic Royal Palaces in London. Danny lives in Hove and London and has been a BDBF Trustee since 2014.

Judah Armani, Trustee

Judah Armani lives in Brighton and is the founder of social projects that affect community change. He established InHouse Records UK, the world’s first record label to be launched in a prison and run by prisoners and Public Service, a social design practice, improving lives through innovation. As a community interest company, the profits are invested into projects for social change. He studied at the Royal College of Art and Open University with expertise in product design, service design, human rights and corporate social responsibility.

Nick Juba, Trustee

Nick Juba has extensive experience within the education sector and is currently Chief Executive of Greater Brighton Metropolitan College. Based in Brighton, Juba has served as a Non-Executive Director with Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust and Coast2Capital Local Enterprise Board. Previous voluntary roles include Trustee for Brighton Fringe and member of Our Future City, a cultural initiative to support children and young people in Brighton & Hove.

Jordan Kensington, Trustee

Jordan Kensington established Invincible Media in London 20 years ago, a global company which includes media publishing, a record label, property, luxury goods and events management. Based in London, Jordan is the CEO and Founder of British Music Week and the Urban Music Awards, the biggest awards show and festival for urban music in Europe.

Melanie Lewis, Trustee

Melanie is a Tribunal Judge sitting on cases in special educational needs and disability discrimination in schools, care standards and primary health and previously for hearing immigration and asylum cases applying to EU legislation. She is a committee member of the Judicial College and delivers training for judges around the world. Melanie lives in Piddinghoe, East Sussex and her voluntary experience has included Rights of Woman advisory work and as a school governor.

Marina Norris, Trustee

Marina lives in Hove and is Director at Cultural Baggage, a consultancy focusing on creative industry growth. She has extensive experience working with the private sector, local authorities and within Arts Council England as a senior manager. She is a Trustee of Farnham Maltings and Brighton People’s Theatre and a Director of Dixon De Jaeger based in Amsterdam.

The BDBF Board from December 2019:

Danny Homan (Chair)
Judah Armani
Tim Aspinall
Lucy Davies
Professor David Gann CBE
Cllr Amanda Grimshaw
David Jordan CBE
Nick Juba
Jordan Kensington
Melanie Lewis
Cllr Phelim MacCafferty
Chris Martin
Marina Norris