Jane Weeks (Chair)
Jane Weeks is a museum consultant specialising in strategic planning, project management and income generation.
Ms Weeks trained as an archaeologist, graduating from the University of Southampton before undertaking postgraduate research in nautical archaeology at the University of Bristol. Following maritime research projects in Italy, Germany and Poland, she worked in the Museum of London, before joining a publishing house. In 1987, she was appointed Press Officer at the National Maritime Museum, later becoming Marketing Manager, and in 1990, Manager at the Royal Greenwich Observatory (formerly the Old Royal Observatory).
Since becoming a consultant in 1994, Ms Weeks has worked with major national museums, cultural institutions and small independently-run collections both in the UK and abroad. Clients include the British Council, the Museums Association, the National Maritime Museum, University College London, the National Museum of Bahrain, The Museums, Libraries and Archives Council and the National History Museum in Sofia, Bulgaria.
Ms Weeks is a former Board Member of ICOM UK and the Association of Independent Museums Council. She was a Trustee of Pallant House Gallery, Chichester from 2000-2004.
Chris Corrigan
Chris Corrigan has had a life long interest in wildlife, but with a particular passion for birds. He has worked for the RSPB in South East England since 1990 and has been the Regional Director since 1998.
Chris has worked with a range of regional organisations, notably as a representative on the South East England Regional Assembly (SEERA) and as the Chair of the South East Forum for Sustainability (SEFS), the network of voluntary environmental organisations which coordinates and promotes policy work at a regional level. He has also been an advisor on the Sustainability Committee for the South East England Development Agency (SEEDA) and is a judge for the SEEDA Sustainable Business Awards.
Prior to working for the RSPB, he was employed by the Nature Conservancy Council in Orkney and Shetland and taught for two years in Zimbabwe with Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO).
He is also a Primary School Governor and a trustee of the Ibstock Cory Environmental Trust.
Jennie Fordham
Jennie Fordham is an independent adviser on heritage education strategy and delivery. After teaching history in a London comprehensive school for eleven years, she joined one of the GCSE examination boards, where she was part of a team developing modular GCSE examinations to meet the needs of the National Curriculum. She then moved into the heritage education field, researching and developing an education strategy and programme for two exhibitions in Kent.
Jennie then moved to English Heritage, where she was South East Regional Education Officer for thirteen years. Her role involved the writing and production of books for teachers on the wider historic environment, and the management of innovative educational projects in areas such as Citizenship, art and architecture, and structured family learning.
She has run training courses for teachers and heritage professionals both in this country and abroad, and was a representative on the Council of Europe’s Working Group on Heritage Education.
Keith Halstead
Keith Halstead is a former Regional Director for the National Trust. During eighteen years with the Trust he held various senior management roles in the North West, West Midlands and Thames & Solent regions and led a number of significant projects, particularly in Liverpool, to demonstrate the important role the historic environment can play in urban regeneration. These included the restoration and opening of the former home of Paul McCartney; securing the future of E Chambre Hardman’s house, studio and photographic collection; and implementing a major revival plan for the Speke Hall. He was also involved in saving Red House in Bexleyheath – the first and only home William Morris ever built.
Currently, Keith is Chief Executive of the Community Transport Association UK – a rapidly growing national charity giving voice and providing learning and enterprise support to member organisations which are delivering innovative transport solutions to achieve social change. He is also a member of Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations and a Fellow of the Royal Society for Arts.
Sue Runyard
Sue Runyard is a former Head of PR and Marketing for the Victoria & Albert Museum, the Natural History Museum, and the J. Paul Getty Museum. She has served as press officer for two cabinet ministers during a secondment to the Cabinet Office, and ran the museums component of the European Arts Festival in 1994. She devised and for nine years administered the Museums & Galleries Commission’s Marketing Grants Scheme. Until recently, she was Director of Museums Without Walls, an international consultancy on strategic planning for museums and arts organizations. Currently, she is Head of Corporate Communications & PR for the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and CEO of the BTG Educational Foundation based in Los Angeles. Her publications on museum management are held throughout the English- and Russian-speaking world. She is an Associate Trustee of the Manchester Museum of Science and Industry.
Marilyn Scott
Marilyn Scott has worked in Museums and the Heritage sector all her career, following graduation from the University of Leeds with a degree in Art History. She has an MA in Higher Education and was responsible for setting up and managing the post graduate programme in Heritage and Museum Management at The University of Greenwich.
She is currently Director of the Lightbox, a lottery-funded new museum and gallery in Woking, Surrey. She has recently retired after five years as a member of Culture South East and has served as member for Culture on the Regional Assembly for the South East. She is a Board member of MLA SE and sits on the Professional Development committee of The Museums Association and has also been a professional fundraiser in the heritage and arts sector. Marilyn formerly worked at The Victoria and Albert Museum for 15 years, in the Department of Corporate Affairs and has also worked as a Property Manager for The National Trust in the South East.
She has a passionate interest in giving access to heritage to as wide an audience as possible and also in facilitating small not for profit organisations to achieve their aspirations with limited funding and resource. Marilyn is curatorial adviser to three independent museums in Surrey and Berkshire and works with local friends groups in Surrey who are helping to preserve two at risk heritage sites. She is also a consultant for The British Council on museums and travels widely advising museums on fundraising and income generation.