The Big Draw is privileged to have a fantastic group of trustees from a diverse range of backgrounds, who guarantee that the Big Draw vision is realised and who are accountable for the charities policies, objectives, and strategies.
John is a publisher and cultural heritage commerce specialist, working with museums, galleries and other cultural institutions to help them develop their commercial offering. Having worked in trade publishing for a number of years he then worked for the National Trust and Tate, as well as serving as Chair of The Association for Cultural Enterprises (www.culturalenterprises.org.uk).
He is currently Chair of Batsford Books and is a director of The Hepworth Wakefield Enterprises.
Isobel MACLEOD
Isobel Macleod is a Chartered Accountant and Corporate Treasurer with more than 30 years experience of Finance and Tax in industry, and has been working with The Big Draw since 2009.
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John has over 20 years of broad and varied experience in Innovation, Strategy and Digital Transformation as an Executive, Entrepreneur and Adviser gained in Europe, North America and Asia. He specialises in devising strategies and implementing programmes that engage and acquire audiences and transform culture, customer experience and revenue streams.
Most recently he served as Chief Client Officer at Konekt Group, the innovation, strategy, technology and transformation firm. He was launch COO of the performing arts streaming service, Marquee TV, an award winning social content firm and Europe's first facebook marketing technology group. He is a former executive at the Financial Times and NBC Universal where he developed arts partnerships. He also sits on the Fundraising and Marketing Council of Cancer Research UK and the board of the Almeida Theatre.
Tom Curtis, ECD, EssenceMediacom and Instagram Creator @thingsihavedrawn
With 25 years’ experience in the ad industry, Tom Curtis is the Executive Creative Director at EssenceMediacom, the UK’s largest communications agency, working with many famous global brands across the likes of branded content, partnerships, and creator marketing.
But with nearly a million followers on Instagram, he’s also the ‘dad’ behind the Webby award-winning ’Things I Have Drawn’, that imagines a world in which the things kids draw are actually real. Named AdWeek New York’s Artistry Creator of the Year 2022, he’s also a member of the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences and an ambassador for kid’s charity, Rays of Sunshine.
Emma is an independent consultant who advises organisations in the cultural and heritage sectors on strategy, planning and fundraising. She has a professional background in development at major national museums in the UK, having worked at the National Portrait Gallery and the Science Museum Group.
She has a deep interest in the visual arts and art history, with a bachelor’s degree in fine art from Central St. Martin’s College of Art and Design and an MA in Art History from Birkbeck College. Her volunteer work includes serving as a Trustee at the Association for Art History.
Shula was a portrait artist before shifting to a career focused on commercial creativity over 25 years ago. In this time she's built a track record in media, marketing and advertising strategy for international and domestic brands, winning industry awards for both media and brand work.
Currently CSO EMEA & WW at mSix & Partners, Shula is a frequent industry panellist and awards judge. As a visual thinker, she has personally experienced the cognitive benefits of drawing from an early age and is keen to harness her marketing skills to encourage similar gains for future generations.
Rachel is a British visual and performance artist, and disability activist who exhibits and performs nationally and internationally. Expressionist in approach, she creates solo exhibitions, performances, and collaborative social engagement art projects with disabled, vulnerable, and mainstream individuals and communities across the globe, through drawing, painting, performance, and digital film, with the object of developing cross-cultural dialogues considering universal notions of humanity.
Melissa Sterling is a solicitor and Executive Director at Sony Pictures Entertainment where she advises the international television production business on a broad range of matters. Previously, Melissa was Head of Legal and Business Affairs at the Digital Rights Group, one of the UK’s leading international television distribution companies. She was also formerly a senior lawyer for the Viaplay Group, the Nordic region's leading entertainment provider.
Melissa has a keen interest in the visual arts and her volunteer work includes mentoring a number of aspiring lawyers.