ACAVA Team

Meet the team

Alyson O’Malley
Studios Manager

Becca Pelly-Fry
Interim Head of Professional Development

Charlie Kelly
Studios Coordinator

Dan Southward
Relationship Manager (Stoke-on-Trent)

Daniel Passmore
Workshop Technician

Emma Thesiger
Studios Operations Manager

Isabella Niven
Head of Social Practice

Kate Davies
Head of Operations

Lisa Nash
Curator, Social Practice

Lorna Gemmell
Head of Communications

Maxi Himpe
Project Assistant, Social Practice

Rasha El-Sady
Programme Manager

Sara Nunes Fernandes
Communications Manager

Sarah Barrett
Head of Fundraising

Thomas Hylander
Studios Manager

Tom Holley
Chief Executive Officer

"There's this incredible freedom to just be playful and very experimental"

ACAVA trustees

Alex Matthews
Alex is an HR Director with over 25 years of experience and has worked in senior roles in organisations including St Paul’s Cathedral, Conran, English National Opera and Armani amongst others. She’s experienced in areas including Culture and Leadership, Employee Relations, Recruitment, Talent Management and Global Mobility. She is also a sculptor, mother and volunteer including for the homeless charity Glassdoor.

Alice Boff
Alice has worked in some of the UK’s leading cultural organisations including Saatchi Gallery, Artangel, Royal Academy of Arts and was part of the team that conceived and delivered the award-winning 14-18 NOW programme, connecting people with the First World War by working in partnership with heritage and arts organisations across the UK to commission artists such as Rachel Maclean, Jeremy Deller and John Akomfrah.

Caspar van Eijck
Dutch national Caspar works in finance with global asset manager PIMCO, with European institutional clients such as pension funds and insurance companies.
He has lived in Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East. He grew up with a passion for the arts and has fulfilled multiple roles in the charity sector. Caspar holds a master’s degree in general economics from the University of Maastricht and has studied art and art history at Sotheby’s Institute of Art.

Jeff Pym
Jeff has been a chartered accountant for over 30 years, having been CFO for a range of businesses, primarily in real estate, including a Housing Association, small start-ups and listed companies. He has significant experience of business finance, strategy, governance and risk management. Having worked for himself for a number of years he has an understanding of the pressures for individuals running their own businesses and those seeking small professional space from which to operate.

Michelle Kershaw (Chair)
Michelle is a consultant and a property lawyer with extensive experience working in the City of London with tier 1 and international firms. Her experience includes commercial property investment, residential development, finance and asset management. She sits on the South East Committee for the Association of Women in Property and was its Chairman from 2018 to 2019. She is a Board Advisor for Gleensite, a proptech company using machine learning and big data for predictive analysis in the real estate market.

Paul Augarde
Paul is an award-winning placemaking consultant working with public- and private-sector clients on broad-based regeneration schemes. He specialises in socio-economic and cultural place-based strategies and projects, which support resilient mixed communities. Recently, Paul conceived and delivered Poplar Works, a fashion hub in East London, with partners London College of Fashion and the GLA; and helped set up the Mayor of London’s Creative Land Trust.

Rebekah Paczek
Rebekah founded public affairs and communications agency Snapdragon Consulting in 2010 before managing its acquisition by PLMR in 2017. She has 20 years of experience providing policy and political advice across the housing and built environment sectors with experience in both national and local government. Rebekah’s key specialities include political communications, stakeholder relations, communications in property, development, regeneration, waste procurement, PFI and construction communications.

Yasmin Jones-Henry
Yasmin is a journalist and strategist with a specialism covering the arts, macroeconomics and fashion. Born and raised in Brent, Yasmin studied Classics and English Literature at the University of Birmingham, before embarking on a career in publishing. Writing for a number of national publications Yasmin is passionate about championing the importance of craft, creative enterprise and responsible design. As a strategist, Yasmin manages a diverse portfolio of culture and placemaking programmes. Working with investors and developers, Yasmin is committed to demonstrating the social and economic value of culture and its role in supporting inclusive regeneration and positive growth.

Our creative associates

ACAVA Shoots
Andreia Sofia
Ashleigh Ramel
Jason Garcia
Zute Lightfoot (Mentor)

Artist facilitators
Aasha Joy John
Aimee Parrot
Ali Williams
Amy Leung
Andy Healy
Anna Lukala
Anna Reading
Barbara Majek
Camilla Brendon
Carla Costa
Carolina Rodrigues

Chloe Morgan
Clare Burnett
Emily Fuller
Emily Motto
Felix Fuller Kerley
Flora Duley
Gal Leshem
Guillaume Vandame
Heather Martin
Hira Gedikoglu
Jack Rooney
James Torble
Jim Patrick
Josh Bilton
Kelly Large
Lizzie Hughes
Luca Bosani
May Glen

Michael Ward
Millie Nice
Miranda Forrester
Nicole Morris
Paula Roush
Peter Morey
Rachael Nee
Rita Parniczky
Romany Taylor
Sadie St Hilaire
Sara Kelly
Sophie Burrows
Stephen Stockbridge
Susan Sluglett
Teresa Paiva
Tomomi Yoshida
Toya Walker
Ursula Kelly

Our other associates

Finance
Sara Whitton (My Management Accountant)

HR Consultant
Sarah Robson

Property Consultants
Daniel McCarthy
Jenny Cockburn