Who are Spectra?

Meet the Team

Email Eman. A smiley photo of Eman, a South Asian woman in her 20s with short curly black hair and large silver glasses. She is in front of lots of large green plants and wearing a black coat and scarf.

Eman

Impact Lead

Eman looks after data – how we share it and tell stories with it. Eman makes sure policies and systems are accessible and inclusive.

Eman oversees data collection and reporting, internal systems and policies. She works with the rest of the team to measure and improve how people feel about their interactions with us, and streamline how we record and communicate this information!

“Buzz Stop was my first project with Spectra and Sandwell Hospital happens to be just down the road so it was brilliant starting out with something so local and relevant to me!”

Email Hayley, a white female with blonde hair tied into plaits. She is wearing a cream coloured boiler suit with a white belt. She is mid performance, and has been captured smiling at something off camera, with her hands held up in the air.
Hayley

Creative Lead

Hayley focuses on how Spectra makes things, with our Core Company, in the community and with other organisations.

Hayley focuses on Spectra’s creative process, both in the studio when we are making work with the performance company, and when we are out and about in the community getting creative with our fantastic partner organisations.

“I love that I get to talk about creativity, play and nature with different people every day, so I’m always learning!”

osephine is sitting at a table in a cafe in front of a wall of pink flowers, holding a milkshake with a twisted straw and smiling into the camera. She is a white woman in her 30s, her dark blonde hair is tied back and she is wearing a black jumpsuit under a pink knitted cardigan
Josephine

Development Lead

Josephine works with our funders and networks, making sure people know about Spectra and we can keep making art.

Josephine focuses her energy on fundraising and supporting Spectra in being sustainable for the future. She works closely with the Steering Group, leads on the Inclusive Governance Network, and supports other people to get funding for their projects.

“I am excited to join this vibrant team and to support the organisation as best as I can. I believe that if learning disabled and neurodiverse creatives and audiences are thriving in the arts then we all benefit!”

Email Kate. A smiley action-shot photo of Kate, a white person with short blonde hair and white framed glasses. Kate is wearing a red boiler suit with leaves stitched on and holding two spoons
Kate

Creative Director

Kate leads Spectra and supports everyone to be a leader themselves. This means looking after lots of different parts of the organisation.

Kate is the leader of the organisation, which, at Spectra, means supporting everyone who works with Spectra to be a leader in their own right. Kate holds space for collaborations, suggests ideas for projects, manages finances and helps with fundraising, delivers creative participation sessions, talks to lots of folks about links between Spectra’s work and what they want to achieve, and helps build stuff!

“I think the arts are hugely powerful in terms of changing society for the better”

A lady with long red hair tied away from her face and a fringe is wearing glasses on the top of her head and smiling at the camera. She is wearing a colourful top and is holding a painted teacup whilst sat at a table.
Kerry

Operations Lead

Kerry makes sure the processes happen for Spectra to work and meet our aims. This includes finances, systems, and how information is shared.

Kerry’s role is to oversee Spectra’s strategic operations, particularly focusing on internal systems, HR, finances and communications.

“I’m so excited to be part of an organisation that works with disabled creatives in such innovative and radical ways.”

Email Maisy, a white person with brown curly hair wearing a green jumper and blue jeans. She is front of a lake.
Maisy

Marketing & Communications Lead

Maisy works on how people find out about Spectra online, on social media and in print.

Maisy looks after how Spectra exists in the digital world and how we communicate our work, values and ideas. They can be found creating social media content, brainstorming marketing ideas with the rest of the team and making sure you know what we’re up to!

“I love making sure we are communicating information in a truly accessible way and finding new ways to share what we are up to!”

Ruby a white woman in her 20s with grey hair and a cream dress, is rolling some clay between her hands while chatting with two other people who are also playing with the clay. She is smiling and they are sitting around a table with flowers on. In the background there are hand painted signs.
Ruby

Community Lead

Ruby works in the community and helps people to make art. She works closely with Spectra’s partners and Shadow Artists. Ruby is often at The Commons!

Ruby’s job is to be out in the community, continuing work with our fantastic partners and also seeking out new friendships and collaborators. She is an artist who helps people to make all sorts of things: willow weaving, mosaic making, paper puppets or nature printing.

“I’m a firm believer that making and creativity is the best way to bring people together”

Meet the Board

A selfie of Mandeep, behind them is their reflection in a mirror
Mandeep

Co-Chair of The Board

Mandeep is a Graphic Designer at Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust. She also enjoys mentoring young people and running creative workshops.

I’m a Graphic Designer at Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust, supporting both clinical and non-clinical teams. Typography is my passion—I love how words and design can transform a blank page into something meaningful.

For over 15 years, I’ve worked across the creative sector with organisations such as Arts Council England, The National Lottery Heritage Fund, and the National Trust. I enjoy mentoring young people and running creative workshops in art, design, and digital media.

“I’m a firm believer in the power of creativity—it knows no bounds, touches all senses, and is inclusive of everyone. I’m honoured to co-chair Spectra and to champion its mission to open doors, spark imagination, and make creativity truly accessible for all.”

A photo of Sipho, smiling at the camera, positioned in the centre of the image in a crowd of other people. He is dressed all in black holding a microphone and programme.
Sipho

Co-Chair of The Board

Sipho is a performance artist and consultant based in the West Midlands. His work encourages inclusivity and accessibility in the arts.

Sipho Eric Ndlovu is a West Midlands-based performance artist & consultant whose approach encourages accessibility & inclusivity in the arts.

Current Poet Laureate of the University of Sheffield Social Sciences, he was awarded a West Midlands High Sheriffs Award in recognition of his cultural and creative contributions.

“I am so excited to join Spectra as Co-Chair, and I am in full support of the mission to build access and capacity with and in support of learning disabled people.

This is an exciting but crucial time for the West Midlands arts and culture sector, and with so much change taking place, I am honoured to be involved with Spectra. “

Robin playing the guitar with a focused look on his face.
Robin

Board Member

Robin is a musician and accessibility coordinator. He has worked with Spectra since 2019 as a musician and in co-creating performances and gardens.

Robin Jax (he/him) joined Spectra Arts Company as a performing artist for 2019’s Eat the Stars. Whilst predominantly joining as a musician, Robin has contributed in multiple aspects of co-creation for the company’s following shows New Heights and Woods for the Trees, and the outdoor projects Abundance (at City Hospital, Birmingham) and Buzz Stop (at Sandwell General Hospital), as well as being part of Spectra’s board since 2020. Outside of Spectra, Robin performs music solo under the alias RobinPlaysChords, is a guitarist for the London-based band The Shining Tongues, and one-half of the transatlantic autistic duo The Companions. He also works as an accessibility coordinator for The Tin Music and Arts, a grassroots music venue, community space and charity based in Coventry.

Emma wearing blue jeans and a floral jumper. Emma has red hair and a pink walking stick. Emma is stood in Emma's latest exhibition in a 500-year-old repurposed Italian prison next to a sign with some interpretation and in front of some large patches of grass that line the borders of the gallery space.
Emma

Board Member

Emma is an artist and curator. Her research explores experiences and representations of disability. She works with community exhibitions and artists.

I am starting my journey with Spectra as of May 2024 as I complete my Masters studies in Curatorial Practice at the European Institute of Design in Florence. I began working in the arts from the very beginning of my career and now hold experience in a variety of cultural institutions across London and Manchester.

My research has focused most specifically on experiences and representations of disability, and my aim as an emerging curator is to build an artistic aesthetic surrounding disability. I work mostly with community exhibitions and emerging and mid-career artists where I promote disability visibility and vitality in the arts.

An interesting fact about me: I’m originally from France, where I grew up alongside 5 chickens, a hamster, 2 goldfish, 2 dogs and 4 hedgehogs. On sunny days you can find me outdoors looking for moss and plants, and on a rainy day at the local cinema.

Matthew

Board Member

Matthew is a neurodivergent playwright and producer. He is based in the West Midlands. Matthew is Project Manager for Women & Theatre, a theatre company in Birmingham.

Matthew Gabrielli is an award-winning neurodivergent West Midlands-based playwright and producer working across a diverse range of creative projects. 

Since 2018, he has been working for multi-award-winning Birmingham-based theatre company Women & Theatre, currently as their Project Manager. He is also the producer of Birmingham Weekender 2026’s 0121 Stage curated by members of the Hippodrome’s Young Advocate Group.  

As a playwright, his short plays have been performed across the country. His debut full-length play, Zombiegate, opened at Theatre 503, London in November 2022. In 2023 he won the Lancaster Playwriting Prize and was part of Paines Plough’s Tour the Writer scheme. 

“I am delighted to be joining the board for one of the most exciting arts organisations in the region. Spectra makes deeply impactful work, and their commitment to the people they make work with is both meaningful and joyous.”

Sally is smiling, wearing dangly earrings and a black top.
Sally

Board Member

Sally is a community activist. She has worked with National organisations. Sally set up Bearwood Community Hub and focuses on making social change in her local community.

Sally Taylor has always been a community activist. She started her working life at the Arts Council and then the Big Lottery Fund, working at different times on partnership development, funding programme management, funding policy and strategy, and impact measurement commissioning.

In recent years she’s set up a national charity’s first-ever Impact Management team and strategy and now focuses her efforts on social change in her local community, setting up successful frontline community organisation Bearwood Community Hub.

She can often be found trying to cajole her young children into attending community events or trudging up the Clent Hills!