Our Trustees bring a range of skills and experiences from different sectors, including museums and heritage, finance, law, digital, media, and the public sector. They are responsible for ensuring the charity is well governed and determining our vision and future direction.
Vanessa Eke – Chair
Born in Cheshire, Vanessa arrived in London, fresh from graduation, to work for what is now KPMG.Nearly 40 years later she has managed to successfully navigate and support the building of a variety of businesses as a working mother.
From KPMG, she spent 20 years within the magazine publishing industry. After leaving the Financial Times Group, she gained experience across numerous industries and territories as Managing Director of Nielsen Media Research and Adex International to finally arrive in the place she now calls home, as Managing Director of LanguageLine Solutions.
Along with an enormous passion for museums, art, music and history, Vanessa brings a wealth of commercial experience to both Kids in Museums and our partners.
Elizabeth McKay – Deputy Chair
Elizabeth is an award-winning creative leader with experience in heritage, public-service broadcasting and commercial advertising. She became the Director and CEO of London Transport Museum in August 2023 after leading the design and delivery of its future vision. In addition to supporting Kids in Museums, Elizabeth is an active member of the Insights Council supporting English National Opera.
Elizabeth was previously Chief Learning Officer at Historic Royal Palaces, where she developed a new strategy that doubled the reach with new audiences.
Before that, Elizabeth was the Head of BBC Knowledge Campaigns and an Executive Producer. Her projects won a Webby, Peabody, Children’s Bafta and a Royal Television Society Education Award for Best Campaign. Elizabeth had a successful career working on leading brands at Grey Advertising in London and New York.
Elizabeth holds a BA in English and American Literature and Language from Harvard University and an MBA from Oxford’s Graduate School of Business. She lives in London with her husband and two children who love museums and try to be part of the many rich cultural experiences that London offers.
Steve Bogle
Steve is Learning, Engagement and Events Facilitator at Keswick Museum in the Lake District where he has responsibilities including marketing and communications, fundraising, programme development and family and community engagement. Additionally, he works as a freelancer with museums and heritage organisations across the country. A graduate of the University of Glasgow, Steve has an MPhil degree in Educational Philosophy and Theory.
With over 10 years’ experience of working with young people and families in both formal and informal educational environments, his particular focus has been working with both autistic and SEND learners. Steve has previously held learning and engagement roles at the Scottish Maritime Museum and Devil’s Porridge Museum, during which the latter was shortlisted for the Family Friendly Museum Award 2019.
Steve lives with his wife Nicola, near the town of Moffat in South West Scotland.
Anne Brisbin
Anne is Group Head of Financial Planning and Analysis at Nord Anglia Education after previously holding the role of Group Head of Corporate Finance. She is a qualified accountant and corporate treasurer and was previously a Director in the Capital Markets Group at PwC.
During the financial crisis in 2009, Anne was Interim Finance Director of HM Treasury’s Asset Protection Agency. She was also was a member of PwC’s Springboard programme, which provided business mentors to graduates of the Royal College of Art, supporting them in taking their art and design initiatives into the commercial sector.
Anne lives in Surrey with her husband and two young children and the family are passionate about sport and encouraging an active lifestyle.
Rachel Brodie
Rachel works at Cumbria’s Museum of Military Life as Learning and Events Assistant. She has several years of experience working with children and young people in varying roles across museums, schools and charities.
Rachel studied Primary English Education with QTS where she specialised in English and History. She began her heritage career at Wordsworth Grasmere as an Education Trainee. She is passionate about enhancing accessibility within the heritage sector and developing relationships with local communities through collaborative projects.
Outside of work, Rachel can be found practising ballet, camping with the Scouts or listening to a podcast. She also enjoys reading, going to gym classes and researching her genealogy in her spare time.
Rachel Kuhn
Rachel Kuhn is an Associate Director with BOP Consulting, an international cultural and creative economy consultancy. She specialises in working with arts and cultural organisations on significant transformation projects.
Rachel’s specialisms include strategic, business, commercial and operational planning. She is recognised as one of the UK’s foremost authorities on visitor experience and operations in museums, galleries and visitor attractions.
Prior to joining BOP, Rachel worked for numerous world-class visitor attractions, including the Museum of London, Southbank Centre, Wellcome Collection and the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.
Christina Lister
Christina is an experienced and award-winning marketing and audience development consultant working with museums, heritage sites and cultural organisations. Her clients have included the Association of Independent Museums, the Arts Marketing Association, the Museum of London, the Science Museum Group, Jane Austen’s House and Museum of Cambridge.
Her 20 years’ experience includes working in international marketing for a global skincare company, for a PR agency on both public and private sector accounts, and as communications manager for a heritage charity.
She also co-ran Museum Freelance for six years, supporting and championing over 2,000 freelancers in the sector through events, research, lobbying and securing hardship grants during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Christina is currently writing Marketing Strategy for Museums, a book to be published by Routledge in as part of their Guides to Practice in Museums, Galleries and Heritage. She lives near Norwich with her family where she is also a school governor.
Paul Marden
Paul is the Founder and Managing Director of Carbon Six Digital, which designs and builds Umbraco based websites, web apps and mobile apps. A graduate of Swansea University, Paul has worked in the IT industry since 1999 and oversees business development and technical delivery for clients of all shapes and sizes. He is an Umbraco Certified Master.
Paul was formerly Director at Capacity Builders International Ltd and a Project Manager at British Airways.
Morrigan Mason
Morrigan is Museums Development Manager for Carmarthenshire County Council, where she has been responsible for developing and delivering the museum service transformation. Her varied role includes managing capital projects, using collections for social good and place branding through engagement with culture and heritage.
Morrigan started her career in the education department at Manchester Art Gallery. She attributes her passion for growing museum community connections to the inspiring and creative approaches pioneered by the gallery.
Previously Morrigan was Deputy Director at Bodelwyddan Castle for 11 years. Here she oversaw organisational change that embraced creative family friendly interpretation, programming and operations, and sustained community interventions to promote mental wellbeing.
Morrigan was born and raised in Wales and volunteers with Girlguiding Cymru in her spare time. She is also a trustee of the Federation of Museums and Art Galleries of Wales, the membership body representing the voice of sector.
Victoria Pinnington
Victoria Pinnington is Director of Communications and Income Generation at the Horniman Museum and Gardens. She has responsibility for all fundraising, communications, digital, visitor experience and commercial activities.
An experienced communications and business development strategist, Victoria has over 20 years’ management experience in both private and public sectors. She moved to London in 2000 to take on a business development role focusing on Asian markets for Eurocentres.
Following subsequent roles at University Partnerships Programme and Lewisham College, Victoria joined King’s College London as Head of International Marketing in 2007. She oversaw a 50% growth in the international student population and won a gold industry award for best international marketing campaign.
Alongside her trustee role at Kids in Museums, Victoria is a governor at Forest Hill School and lives in south London with her husband and two sons.
Joe Rattray
Joe is an emerging museum engagement practitioner with a passion for creating accessible and immersive museum experiences. He honed his skills as Interpretation and Engagement Assistant to the Tall Ship Glenlee in Glasgow, funded by the Art Fund Student Opportunities Programme, where he performed community outreach and ran exciting events. He works alongside his studies in Archaeology and English Language and Linguistics, from which he will graduate in summer 2024.
As an autistic person himself, Joe is passionate about making museums accessible for everyone, and breaking down barriers that come with disability. He hopes to show neurodivergent young people that they really can achieve anything.
Joe has been working with young people in various volunteer and paid capacities since 2018 and spends his summers working as a Camp Counsellor, delivering the Performing Arts activity and running riot with the kids in his cabin!
Jess Thomas
Jess is the Pro Bono Senior Associate at London law firm, Taylor Wessing LLP. She manages the firm’s UK pro bono practice, working alongside charities, not-for-profit organisations and individuals with the aim of securing access to justice in our communities.
Before her pro bono role, she spent 9 years specialising in large-scale commercial litigation and international arbitration, advising on complex international disputes across a range of industry sectors.
Jess studied an LLB in Law with French Law at the University of East Anglia and spent a year studying in Lyon during her undergraduate degree. She subsequently spent a year working at Paris law firm, August Debouzy, before starting her legal training in London.
Jess lives in north-east London with her partner and their daughter. A lover of all things outdoors, outside of work she can be found pottering in the garden, roaming London on her bike or watching live music.
Guy Turton
Guy is Director at Morris Hargreaves McIntyre, a leading international strategy and insight consultancy for the cultural sector. As a specialist in organisational and audience strategy, he delivers high profile and large-scale projects that drive change for world-leading cultural organisations such as Tate, the National Trust, English Heritage, Westminster Abbey and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
Guy’s specialisms include organisational strategy, business transformation, audience insight, evaluation, membership strategy, visitor experience and brand development.
His experience includes being lead visitor insight consultant for a consortium of 19 of the UK’s National Museums and Galleries for almost a decade. This culminated in a pioneering study on museum trends in London for DCMS.
He’s been published in sector publications (e.g. ‘Interpreting The Art Museum’, Museums Etc), regularly presents at conferences including the Museums Association and lectures on the MA Cultural Leadership course at Goldsmiths University.
