Cultural Compact

Birmingham Cultural Compact was formed in October 2024 to work with Birmingham City Council to drive forward their new Cultural Strategy Framework for Birmingham.

The Compact is Chaired by Professor David Mba, Vice Chancellor of Birmingham City University with Cllr Suleman Cabinet member for culture being Vice Chair.

Current members of the Cultural Compact were initially selected by the Chair, Birmingham City Council and Culture Central to bring together key cross-sector representation to ensure the framework and outputs were co-owned.

 The current compact members are:

David Mba
Cllr. Saima Suleman
Symon Easton
Erica Love

Symon Easton,
Head of Culture,
Birmingham City Council

Erica Love,
CEO, Culture Central

James Watts
Rhys Boyer

James Watts,
Director Birmingham, Arup

Rhys Boyer,
Public Health,
Birmingham City Council

Alex Tross,
Deputy Chair, Colmore Bid

Gurjit Jagpal,
Goldman Sachs

Sara Jones
Mohammed Ali
Simon Delahunty-Forrest
Nick Reed
Hayley Pepler

Simon Delahunty Forrest,
Assistant Director Inclusive Growth, Birmingham City Council

Nick Reed,
B:Music CEO and WM Music Board Chair

Hayley Pepler,
Head of Culture, Creative Industries and Digital Roadmap, WMCA

Matt Hammond,
West Midlands Growth Company

Henriette Breukelaar
Sarah Kennedy

Henriette Breukelaar,
West Midlands Regional Director at the Canal and River Trust

Clara Day,
Chief Medical Officer

Jon Gilchrist

Sarah Kennedy,
Senior Relationship Manager, Arts Council England

Jon Gilchrist,
CEO and Artistic Director, Birmingham Hippodrome

Sally Burns

Sally Burns,
Director Public Health, Birmingham City Council

Emma Stenning,
CEO, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra

Sara Wajid
Brian Carr

Sara Wajid,
Co-CEO, Birmingham Museums Trust

Brian Carr,
BVSC

Cllr. Saima Suleman (Vice Chair),
Cabinet Member for Culture, Birmingham City Council

David Mba (Chair),
Birmingham City University

Mohammed Ali,
CEO and Artistic Director Soul City Arts

Sara Jones,
University of Birmingham