John leads the RSA’s work across education and learning, including early years, schools and the youth sector. He joined the organisation in March 2022, following 4 years leading Arts Council England’s national policy team, and their work in both health and criminal justice. Other past roles include Head of Learning at the Crafts Council; youth, education & volunteering lead at the Heritage Lottery Fund; and conservation traineeships manager at Tate. Prior to working in creative education, John was Policy Adviser for London with the Offender Learning & Skills Service. He is a regular guest lecturer in higher education, across cultural policy (King’s College London), museum and gallery learning (UCL/Institute of Education) and creative health (UCL).

John has a deep professional and personal interest in music. Formerly on Arts Council England’s national music practice group, the Mayor of London’s music education steering group, and the DfE’s curriculum advisory group for music, he is also a curator of experimental music live events and partnerships (working with artists like Thurston Moore, Sharon Van Etten and Stars of the Lid, and organisations including Café Oto and The English Folk Dance & Song Society). He co-produced the critically acclaimed 2017 feature-length music documentary The Ballad of Shirley Collins, and occasionally writes on music and culture, including for The Quietus and UK Folk Radio. John is on the building management committee for renowned small music venue the Hebden Bridge Trades Club, and since 2019 has made tentative forays into community folk singing (purely for leisure/wellbeing!).

Back to Regenerate: Cultural Policy - what next?