Our patron Olivette Otele (she/her) Ph.D., FRHistS has been recently appointed Distinguished Professor of the Legacies and Memory of Slavery at SOAS, University of London.  Her area of research is colonial and post-colonial history and the histories of people of African descent. She has received several major research grants looking at the African diaspora and the Atlantic slave trade and has led projects working with local communities in England, Wales, Canada, and West Africa to understand how the history of the transatlantic slave trade is still impacting the population today.  Otele holds a Ph.D. in History from Université Paris, La Sorbonne, France. and received an honorary doctorate in Law from Concordia University in Canada. She is a Fellow and former Vice President of the Royal Historical Society and has been a judge of the International Man Booker Prize.  As well as having written numerous scholarly papers and books, Professor Otele is also a regular contributor to the press, television and radio programmes including the BBC, Sky News, Guardian, Sunday Times, Elle Magazine, Huffington Post, and The New Yorker.

Edward is the CEO of the Royal Literary Fund and was director of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) for 14 years. He has been on the board of tiata fahodzi since 2012. A writer, director and dramaturg, he has worked for the National Theatre, RSC, Young Vic, Royal Court, Complicite and at theatres around the UK including a long association with Chichester. He has written and produced drama and comedy for BBC Radio. He has written libretti for the Royal Opera House, ENO, Glyndebourne, Manchester Festival and BBC Proms and ballet scenarios for the Royal Ballet, Ballet Black and companies in Bern, Copenhagen, Montreal and San Francisco.

Debo Adebayo has been the Creative Associate at Tamasha since 2024, between 2018 and 2023 he was their Lead Producer, and between 2015 and 2018 our Developing Artist Producer and Marketing Manager. He is also the Senior Producer at Tangled Feet. Previously, Debo was the Deputy Artistic Director for Paines Plough, the interim Head of Youth Programming at Battersea Arts Centre, worked part-time with Tangle Theatre Company as their Communications Director, as well as working with Nitrobeat (formerly Nitro Black Theatre/The Black Theatre Co-Operative), and The Red Room. He has also worked with companies such as Talawa, Utopia Theatre and Collective Artistes as a marketing consultant. He collaborates regularly as producer and sound designer/music supervisor with playwright Mojisola Adebayo. Alongside theatre and performance, Debo also has a passion for underground music; he founded an independent, boutique music publishing and supervision company, Mix ‘n’ Sync in 2012 representing largely independent electronic artists. He founded and ran record label Native City, and is a DJ, a club night producer, and music producer.

Sherma is a Family Law Solicitor with accreditations to specialise in complex cases relating to children and international familial child abduction. Sherma undertakes a wide range of Family Law cases including divorce, domestic abuse, and cases involving Social Services. Sherma is also an actress, having performed at the Old Vic and Stratford Theatre East, and currently studying at Identity School of Acting.

Caroline is the Director of People & Operations for the Creative UK Group, leading HR strategy and organisational development. Specialising in creative sector HR and Ops for 20 years Caroline is passionate about nurturing an environment in which we can all bring our true selves to work and be our very best. She believes in building a strong company culture based on trust, shared values and core purpose. Caroline is a Chartered CIPD member and a trusted advisor who champions the creativity of diverse talent.

Amy is a British-Ghanaian actress, singer and voiceover artist. She is an RSC alumna with extensive experience in classical and modern theatre, film and television. Amy trained at Mountview. She is also an Associate Artist at Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory (STF). Theatre work includes: Henry V, A Midsummer Night’s Dream (STF); Doctor Faustus, Don Quixote, Comedy of Errors (RSC); Shakespeare Live! from the RSC (RSC/BBC); Blithe Spirit (York Theatre Royal); The School for Scandal, Doctor Faustus (Greenwich Theatre); Funny Girl (Chichester Festival Theatre). Television credits include: Holby City, Doctors (BBC) In addition to narrating audiobooks, Amy has a recurring role in Greenborne, a radio series for B7 Media; and is a regular voice in the gaming series Zombies, Run! for Six to Start. Amy has programme management experience. She recently became a certified NLP Master Practitioner and Hypnotherapist, which she puts to good use as a Breakthrough Coach. Amy enjoys helping improve children's literacy as an online school reading volunteer for the Bookmark Reading Charity.

Alisha is a Creative Producer from South London and advocate for change through the arts. She has been working in Theatre since graduating from the University of Kent with a Drama and Film degree. She has worked in Participation at the Lyric Hammersmith, Frantic Assembly, and is currently the Neighbourhood Theatre Producer in the Taking Part department at the Young Vic. Alisha is the Co-Founder of the producing company Sculptress working with talent to cultivate new and exciting stories to share with audiences.