I am a Nottingham (UK) based independent creative engagement manager who brings diverse communities, young people and artists together to make art about a range of issues.

My Fellowship looks at how US black-led arts initiatives and organisers, particularly in Chicago, are using radical approaches to bring about social change and transform diverse neighbourhoods. The Fellowship enables me to meet with groundbreaking community-led arts projects in Chicago and internationally online.

As an arts education specialist of colour, I am aware that there are very few black-led arts initiatives using this collaborative approach in the UK. During this challenging time I want to use this research and its findings to demonstrate to the wider arts sector and funders that the most powerful way to be relevant to diverse communities is to be representative of them and co-created by them. As a result of my Fellowship, I aim to replicate this model by developing and setting up the first black-led arts platform working with diverse communities in Nottingham, called The Us Agency.