Our Trustees

People

• Brian Beaton Trustee

  Brian was born in London and has a heritage from Guyana in South America. He has worked supporting vulnerable people over many years and currently works at The House of St Barnabas where he is the Programme and Employment Manager. Brian has a love of theatre, which has led him to write, direct and produce two plays to date.

• Caroline Bristow Trustee

  Caroline is Director of the Cambridge School Classics Project, based in the University of Cambridge's Faculty of Education. Previously the Classics and Religious Studies education specialist for OCR, part of Cambridge Assessment. She taught a range of subjects including Classics, Religious Studies, Philosophy and Anthropology in the UK state sector. Contributes to a range of educational and Classical organisations including as an elected council member of the UK Roman Society, a member of the steering committee for Queering the Pasts, and a collaborator on the international research project 'Modern Argonauts'. Currently working a book project focused on teaching classical myths to promote positive messages about sex and consent.

• David Bullen Trustee

  David is a director, writer, dramaturg and academic. He is a Lecturer in Drama and Theatre at Royal Holloway, University of London. Both his practical and academic expertise is in contemporary performance approaches to ancient Greek drama, particularly those that have an educational or political dimension. His adaptations of Greek drama have been performed in the UK and the US, and he is co-founder and co-director of the Theatre of the Gentle Furies, a collective of artists and academics working with myth.

• Despoina Christianoudi Trustee

  Despoina completed her Acting BA in Athens, Greece. As an actor she has focused on theatre performances in which she has interpreted roles from classical and contemporary repertoire. She has performed in Athens, Belgrade and London.
  She trained as an acting coach at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama and she is currently a Ph.D. researcher at Royal Holloway, University of London. Her research focuses on contemporary actor training and ancient Athenian tragedy. She is a movement director and choreographer and she works as an acting tutor at the London College of Performing Arts and a workshop leader at Royal Holloway, University of London.

• Olga Gekht Trustee

  Olga is a manager at a leading rating agency and possesses extensive experience in finance with a particular focus on credit risk management. She has extensive experience in working with institutions in a highly regulated financial services industry, in diverse geographical locations. She has worked with a variety of companies, from new entrants to well established listed financial institutions, to assess market strategy and to understand and evaluate internal governance processes. She is experienced in managing change and enabling an organisation to evolve and thrive in a changing regulatory and market environment. She holds a Masters in finance from the London Business School and a Bachelor of Science in Economics from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

• Fiona Macintosh Trustee

  Fiona is Professor of Classical Reception, Director of Archive of Performances of Greek and Roman Drama (APGRD), Fellow of St Hilda’s College, University of Oxford. She is an expert on the performance history and reception of Greek drama and epic. Skills and Strengths: Academic research and education; literary creativity; team leadership and development. Contribution: Academic contacts and consultation; pedagogical advisor on education programme.

• Mai Musié Trustee

  Mai is an ancient historian and a public engagement professional. She is currently the ECR Fellow at the Institute of Classical Studies. She works with Swansea University and University of Oxford on impact and engagement activities and projects. Mai’s research explores race and ethnicity in the ancient world, investigating how the ‘other’ is represented in ancient Greek and Roman literary sources. She has organised and consulted on history and heritage projects that foster co-curation, co-production, and building equitable relationships between communities and researchers. Mai is a trustee of Classics for All & the Roman Society.

• Helen Tennison Trustee

  Helen is a multi-award winning theatre director, writer and maker. Her experience includes work for Shakespeare's Globe, Old Vic, The Pleasance, Belgrade Theatre, Soho Theatre, international festivals and site -specific performances. She was previously Co-Artistic Director of Drama Studio London, Artist in residence at the University of South Florida, Associate Lecturer in Shakespeare at Goldsmiths University and Associate Artist at Bathway Theatre and is currently Associate Lecturer in Directing at London Metropolitan University. Helen is passionate about theatre rooted in community. She is researching the urban space and ecology in relationship to the performer's body and tours her interactive performance-lecture, Doggerland.

• Shelley Warren Trustee

  Shelley was CEO of the Arts Foundation for twenty-one years, a registered charity set up to support the individual artist. The award scheme uses the artistic community to seek out outstanding emerging artists in the performing and visual arts, crafts, design, literature, film and new media. She created the annual Arts Foundation Futures Awards (AFFAs) event (most recently at London’s ICA) and devised and produced events related to the awards such as talks, exhibitions, screenings and concerts in collaboration with organisations such as London’s South Bank, the Whitechapel, the ICA, University of London, the Crafts Council and the Architectural Association. She is currently undertaking a part-time MA in Curating Collections and Heritage at Brighton University.