The people driving the direction we take, with inspiring ideas and principled scrutiny – that’s who we are. More detailed descriptions can be read farther down below.

Detailed descriptions about who we are

 

Emmanuela Yogolelo

Originally from Upper Zaire and Kivu in Eastern DR Congo, Emmanuela Yogolelo is a singer-songwriter, live performer, workshop facilitator, speaker and cultural leader. She has appeared at high-profile venues and festivals throughout the UK, including Bridgewater Hall in Manchester, London’s Barbican, Women of the World Festival on the South Bank.

Emmanuela has been commissioned by HOME arts centre in Manchester to create and perform a piece exploring climate justice activism through music and other art forms.

She co-founded the Manchester-based Amani Creatives which focuses on profiling, promoting, celebrating and preserving African arts and culture in all its forms, including educative exhibitions integrating creative photography and development of digital media.

 

Jane Trowell

Jane (she/her) is an arts educator, curator and researcher. For over 30 years she was a member of arts-activist-campaign group Platform:London. Jane worked with the youth-led programme Voices that Shake! on infrastructure & fundraising support between 2010 – 2025. Her current priority is training in anti-colonial action in arts and culture, and education, having recently completed a PhD in whiteness and coloniality in art education. Jane is on the Advisory Board for Healing Justice LDN and Crossing Footprints; an Associate with The What If Experiment; an external trainer with the Learning and Teaching Enhancement Centre at Kingston University.

 

Jesmin Chowdhury

Founding co-director of Ayna Arts CIC, Jesmin is a feminist writer and playwright whose bold, thought-provoking work challenges social taboos exploring themes of domestic violence, misogyny, body-shaming, migration, and female health. Jesmin’s fearless storytelling continues to make a powerful impact in contemporary British Bangladeshi theatre. Her recent climate justice play ‘Ghoorni’, created with support from Crossing Footprints, has gained widespread acclaim.

 

Kooj Chuhan

Kooj interweaves racial justice with climate resistance using a range of interactive, visual, media and performance approaches combined with critical cultural democracy. Co-founder Black Arts Alliance and artist collective Virtual Migrants, he won an award for digital arts connecting refugees with climate change, curated ‘Footprint Modulation’ climate migration exhibition, co-authored Revealing Histories on transatlantic slavery and Manchester, and numerous projects for 40 years. He also chaired the campaign committee demanding justice for the Manchester racist murders in 1992 among other activism roles. Currently director of Crossing Footprints CIC which connects creativity with issues of human rights, environment, inequality and wellbeing.

 

Paulette Clunie

My earlier career was in library services delivering multiculturalism and diversifying library stocks to reflect the interests of their local communities. I joined Arts Council England North West ACENW from 1997 (then NWAB) until 2013. My key role centred around access, inclusion diversity and equity. I worked internally with colleagues and externally with individual artists, arts organisations and local authorities who wanted to include services and opportunities for artists from diverse backgrounds.

I led, supported and delivered a number of inclusion projects such as training for early career arts administrators, or identifying professionals with skills, for example accounting, to sit on the boards of arts organisations. I also supported the development of DaDaFest.

 

Rani Moorthy

Rani Moorthy, a Malaysian-born Tamil playwright and artistic director of Rasa, is known for her impactful theatre work celebrating the migrant experience. With 12 acclaimed plays, including “Pooja” and “Curry Tales,” she has toured nationally and internationally, receiving recognition such as MEN Award nominations. Her diverse talents extend to film, BBC Radio, and TV both acting and writing. Moorthy’s involvement in international collaborations and board positions at ITC and The Octagon, along with her fellowship in the Royal Society of Arts, showcase her significant contributions to the arts.

 

Ricardo Vilela

Ricardo Vilela is a Manchester based filmmaker, producer and digital media practitioner, and founder of Sagitta Media. For over 30 years, he has worked across film, live streaming, immersive media and hybrid cultural production, collaborating with artists, festivals, community organisations and public institutions. His practice focuses on storytelling that connects people, place and social change, with particular interests in migration, identity, access, mental health, equality and underrepresented voices. He has produced award-winning work for theatre and drama, contributed to projects shown on Channel 4, ITV and BBC2, and continues to explore how digital media can make cultural experiences more accessible, participatory and lasting.

 

Sai Murray

A writer, poet, spoken word and graphic artist of Bajan/Afrikan/English heritage. His work addresses issues of self, societal and ecological repair. Sai is a founding artistic director of Voices that Shake! and of Liquorice Fish art/activist promotions; member of Virtual Migrants; organising member of PARCOE (Pan-Afrikan Reparations Coalition in Europe); former trustee of Racial Justice Network and the David Oluwale Memorial Association. His poetry collection ‘Ad-liberation’ and novella, ‘Kill Myself Now: The True Confessions of An Advertising Genius’ are published by Peepal Tree Press.

 

Tony Openshaw

Tony set up Asylum Support Housing Advice (ASHA) in 2004 – helping 7,000 people seeking asylum in Greater Manchester. From the 1980s he has been a key member of various anti-deportation campaigns including that for Viraj Mendis.

He retired in 2015 and joined Out In The City, a social and support group for members of the LGBT+ communities aged over 50, which he now runs.

Tony also volunteers at George House Trust (a HIV agency); and hosts his own monthly radio show “Out On The Radio”.

 

Who We Are – an explanatory note regarding ‘Board’ membership:
In line with the requirements for community interest companies, the Board in legal terms is advisory in nature. However, following best practice protocols for non-profits we have implemented a set of Terms Of Reference which ensures that the Directors operate with optimal transparency and accountability to the Board, wherein the Board have to be consulted on all significant decisions, so that members can provide strategic advice and steer our direction.