Announcing the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Advisory Group (EDIAG)

Sarah Leigh is a disabled, working-class filmmaker & advocate. She is the founder of INCLUSIVITY FILMS, a company committed to at least 50% of cast & crew identifying as d/Deaf, disabled and/or neurodivergent on every production. She was on Creative UK’s Accelerate programme 2022, & was a WFTV-UK mentee for 2023. She is also the co-founder of INCLUSIVE TALENT.

Sarah adapted, & directed, award-winning short film TYPICAL? She also wrote & directed ONE FOR THE ROAD, based upon a Stephen King short story and ONE DAY, an Official Selection in the Screenplay category of the BAFTA/OSCAR-qualifying festival FLICKERS’ RHODE ISLAND FILM FESTIVAL.

Sarah is a mother to two boys, one of whom is disabled, and her advocacy work includes developing Healthcare Passports with the NHS. She speaks publicly & consults on access & equitable workplaces/practices within the screen industries, & also within healthcare & every-day life. 

Initiating the UK’s first British Sign Language Banking Branch launched Emilie’s career, co-creating with communities and finding innovative ways to make existing things accessible to everyone – particularly people that the original creators didn’t have in mind when designing.

Emilie leads EDJI at the Royal Shakespeare Company, and brings over 14 years of EDI leadership experience spanning a variety of industries including the arts, non-profit, health & wellbeing, financial services and retail. She contributes through numerous arts, access & inclusion, future thinking networks, creative labs and advisory boards around the world, and specialises in the development of neuroinclusion across the creative industries.

Emilie is also a musician and trained sound therapist, supporting academic research programs into music & sound therapy, as well as international projects to build new tools, products and environments. She founded the arts collective Atmostherapy in 2021 which creates immersive sensory experiences for mental health, specialising in therapy for neurodivergent minds.

Isabel Sachs is the founder of I LIKE NETWORKING, a D&AD award-winning platform. 

Isabel is an entrepreneur and public speaker with over 18 years of experience in the Creative Industries, passionate about fostering diverse talent in the creative industry – from artists to arts managers.

She has worked on a variety of nonprofits, culture organizations and consumer-led companies, conceptualizing and producing branded experiences that engage core consumers, as well as communications campaigns, having worked with clients such as Converse, Red Bull and Lollapalooza, amongst others.

She created an award-winning cultural agency, based in Brazil, producing over 50 events a year including international tours, and managing a roster of artists and a theatre company.

Isabel was listed as one of the top 21 most influential women by Startups Magazine and 2022 The Dots 100 Rising Star. 

Ali Jafarey, Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Lead at the Victoria and Albert Museums

Ali Jafarey has been involved in the equality for over 20 years, initially focusing on racism experienced by London’s ethnic minority young people and supporting race -specific case work in all community issues. His passion for the arts led him to the V&A where he heads up the Museums’ equality, diversity and inclusion strategy. He also is an active member of the National Museum’s Directorate EDI Network which brings together the increasing number of employees with EDI in their role within the museum and the arts sector.

He is a highly impactful, strategic human resources, equality, diversity, inclusion and wellbeing thought leader, with a proven ability to improve workforce diversity, cultural change and inclusion and wellbeing in many organisations. He has a strong sense of empathy, which has enabled him to co-design and deliver multiple change programmes, events and activities that promote and improve inclusion, realising benefits across the employee life cycle, service design and provision and developing great community relations.

Scarlett Kefford (they/them), is a screenwriter and ‘sit-down’ comedian whose style and sense of humour are influenced by their lived experience of being a working-class, disabled, neurodiverse, queer person born and bred in Birmingham. 

They have been nominated for multiple awards including the Edinburgh TV Festival/ TV Foundation New Voice Awards 2022 & the RTS Midlands Breakthrough Offscreen Award for Producing and Writing and Short Film Category in 2022 & 2023. They have also worked as a contributing writer on series 6 & 7 of ITV’s Iain Sterling’s Celebability, Mighty Bunny’s Writey Funny radio sketch comedy development writers’ room and ITV’s Entertainment Writer’s Initiative. 

They previously worked as a Production Co-ordinator and Second AD on popular shows such as BBC’s Doctors and Casualty as well as being a Production Manager for short films, stop motion animation and commercials before retiring due to struggles with their physical disabilities and neurodivergence pushing them out of the industry. Since then as well as developing their career as a creative, they became a Bridge06/ScreenSkills trained Access Coordinator.

They also founded Script Sirens, which was nominated for a National Diversity Community Organisation Award in 2021 – to try and push back against an industry that lacks representation on multiple intersectional fronts

Anneliese Harmon is a multifaceted music, entertainment, film, fashion and brand professional with over 25 years of experience in music management, international marketing, promotions and business development with both major and independent artists & companies. Specialising in global strategy and blueprints for businesses, emerging artist talent and established artists she has worked in the UK, US & key International markets, with a vast network of contacts across the global entertainment industry.

Anneliese has run her own global music management, branding and business consultancy company for over 15 years. She is also a documentary film producer, public speaker, mentor and entrepreneur. She started her career in fashion in New York City before working for Def Jam during the Golden Age of Hip Hop and crossing the Atlantic to do Global Promotions and Marketing for Richard Branson’s record label V2. Fast forward to the last few years, Anneliese recently left her post as GM of the MMF UK where she was responsible for increasing the company’s effectiveness by creating strategy and identifying new opportunities to grow the company and benefit members.

She also had the honour of serving as the MMF’s first employee of colour in its 30-year existence and led on Mental Health, Tech & AI, Equality & Diversity, and Women’s Rights, bringing a unique voice and lens to the many UK Music working groups tables she was given a seat on as a rep for the company. Anneliese is also a Director and Board Member of the Scottish Music Industry Association (SMIA).

Tanya Vital, a RADA graduate, boasts two decades of experience as both a seasoned Actor and Creative Producer in the entertainment industry. Her journey reflects a profound dedication to the arts, showcased through award-winning contributions across the creative sector. With her expertise, she has enriched various production and media companies, refining skills in management, networking, event planning, and mentorship.

As the founder of Vital Culture UK Ltd, Tanya pioneers innovative live events, micro-short films, and immersive experiences, merging gaming technology with interactive storytelling. Her work has earned various nominations and acknowledgment as one of the UK’s Top 100 CreaTech ‘Ones to Watch in 2021’. Tanya’s relentless pursuit of artistic excellence and inclusivity continues to shape the creative landscape in the North of England.

Sarita Malik is Associate Pro-Vice Chancellor (Research Impact) at Brunel University London where she holds the post of Professor of Media and Culture. Sarita has made a major contribution to research on the cultural and creative industries and her work regularly informs the sector’s policy directions and practices. She has published widely on diversity frameworks and policies, culture and inequality, and cultural representation in the screen sector. Sarita has been Principal Investigator on several UK Research and Innovation grants, building partnerships between higher education, the creative industries and diverse communities. Sarita was a Member of the Research Excellence Framework 2021 exercise, assessing research quality across Communication, Cultural and Media Studies, Library and Information Management. Sarita has been a Trustee for the Voice of the Listener and Viewer and in 2021 was appointed to the Department for Culture, Media & Sport College of Experts.

Sameed is Head of Creative Learning at Factory International and Manchester International Festival. Sameed fuses his passion for creativity with education, young people, mental health and school exclusions. He has worked for an Ed-Tech start up in Berlin, multi-award-winning social exclusion charity Football Beyond Borders and most recently Factory International. Sameed grew up in South Manchester, playing football for Fletcher Moss Rangers, attending Xaverian college and later the University of Manchester. He became immersed in the underground Manchester rave scene, DJing at parties in sofa warehouses and derelict buildings in Manchester and Salford. Sameed has toured around the world as an artist, he hosts a regular show on NTS Radio, runs a record label (ELE Records), and produces music under his name Sameed.

Sophie Amono is an award-winning creative director specialising in sustainable, inclusive, and creative projects. An artist, activist, mother, intellect, creator, postgraduate and entrepreneur, their mission is to create new equitable narratives through a sustainable, inclusive, and collaborative (SIC) practise. Their less work, more play philosophy has brought an intersectional focus for cultural programmes such as COP26, London Fashion Week, La Biennale Di Venezia and Universal Music Group. Currently Director of Equity, Diversity & Inclusion at the Council for Higher Education in Art & Design (CHEAD) and Trustee at Scottish Opera, Sophie has worked in the EDI creative space at Creative Scotland, British Council Arts and the British Institute for Interactive Media (BIMA).