Edinburgh International Festival Appoints Three New Trustees To Serve On Its Board

Edinburgh International Festival today reveals three new appointments to its Board of Trustees, bolstering the organisation's international experience and expertise. Joining the Board are corporate communications specialist and Partner at Brunswick Roya Nasser, Commissioning Editor, Entertainment at ITV Lara Akeju, and management and legal consultant Spiro Phanos. The new trustees will work alongside the existing Board of educational, financial and political leaders helping to steer the International Festival into its next phase of development.

Roya Nasser is a partner at Brunswick, an international strategic advisory firm with 23 offices in 14 countries. Her 30 years of experience combine corporate communications and arts expertise and includes leadership positions at major brands such as Eurostar and the Centre Pompidou in Paris. She established a successful communications consultancy, Roya Nasser Communications, that provided strategic guidance to museums and arts organisations across the world including the Whitney Museum of American Art, Opera National de Paris, Louvre Abu Dhabi, Guggenheim Abu Dhabi and Garage Museum of Contemporary Art in Moscow.

New appointee Lara Akeju has over 20 years of experience in television production and development spanning Channel 4, Channel 5 and now as Commissioning Editor, Entertainment at ITV. She led Channel 4's award-winning coverage of the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games and as a Development Manager worked with commissioning editors at Channel 4 to diversify creative talent. Akeju's production credits include the BBC's Panorama, The World's Strictest Parents and Heir Hunters, Channel 4's Beauty and the Beast: The Ugly Face of Prejudice. She served as a Board member of Directors UK from 2011 to 2014 and was elected to the BAFTA TV Committee in 2020.

Spiro Phanos has over 30 years of experience across the legal, financial and arts sectors. A native New Yorker, Phanos has lived in Edinburgh for over a decade and is an ardent supporter of the International Festival. He is managing director at management consultancy and corporate advisory firm Spiridon Ventures and has worked closely with a wide range of music producers, songwriters and recording artists at companies which include ASCAP (the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers) and MCA Music Publishing. Phanos is a member of the bar of the states of New York and New Jersey and is licensed to practice law before several United States federal district courts.

As well as openly advertising the trustee vacancies, the International Festival worked with specialist recruitment consultants Ruebik to identify potential candidates. This combined approach allowed the International Festival to reach beyond its regular networks and attract an accomplished pool of candidates with a range of backgrounds and expertise.

Having successfully led the Board of Trustees since 2017, current Chair Professor Niall Lothian retires in 2021. Edinburgh International Festival now seeks to recruit a new Chair of the Board and invites applications from individuals with the commitment, experience and attributes to lead the organisation over the next period.

Further information about recruitment for the Chair of the Board of Trustees can be found at www.eif.co.uk/jobs

Leonie Bell, Trustee and Chair of the Nominations Committee said,

"I am delighted to welcome Lara, Roya and Spiro to the International Festival Board of Trustees. Their collective wealth of experience and knowledge across the media, communications and legal sectors is a fantastic addition to the expertise of our Board and will undoubtably be a valuable asset for the organisation.

"I am now looking forward to embarking on the next step of the process as we begin the search for an outstanding candidate to take over as Chair of the Board."

Niall Lothian, Chairman, Edinburgh International Festival Board of Trustees said,

"The Board has expertly guided the International Festival through one of the most challenging times in our history and over the last three years has been a pleasure to chair.

"Over the next period we will focus on using innovation to maintain our position as a leader on the world stage, whilst strengthening the Festival's strong roots here in Edinburgh. Internationalism is at our core and the three new appointees bring an incredible wealth of international expertise to strengthen the Board's already impressive global credentials."

To post a comment, you must register and login.