Alyson has come to us through the Business in the Arts Board Bank. She is

the Director and founder of Equality and Diversity UK Ltd and was formerly

Head of Lifelong Learning at Manchester City Council, responsible for

community, adult and prisoner education as well as student grants.

Alyson has over 20 years experience as a senior manager in Further Education

and currently works with FE colleges supporting them to embed equalities

through employment and goods and services. Alyson has a national portfolio gained in her work as Research and Development officer for black communities

and equality. She has experience of research within the prison sector, having

visited 22 prisons in the UK, and exploring the impact of prison education on

black and minority ethic prisoners whilst working for NIACE.

She is a member of the Manchester Advisory Committee, involved in the

selection and interviewing of potential magistrates. She currently supports a wide range of voluntary and community groups within the North West and is a

mentor to a number of individuals in Manchester.

Phil is Chief Executive of Keep Britain Tidy, which is best known for its campaigns against litter, often with particular reference to fast food outlets, and for setting the standards for Blue Flag Beaches and Green Flag parks.  He is now regularly on television, often  locking horns with Bill Bryson.   

He was founder director of RENEW North West, which became Places Matter!, the architecture and built environment centre for the North West. From 1997-2002 Phil was director at Groundwork UK, initially as North West Regional Director and latterly as national Director of Corporate Strategy

Mike has over 20 years experience as a training and management consultant and  in the management of business-led projects.  He has worked for local authorities across the North West and for national organisations such as the Arts Council, Royal Mail and the Learning and Skills Council. He has previously been a board member of Manchester Literature Festival, supporting them to produce their strategic and operational plans. For seven years he was on the board of Action Transport theatre company, assisting with training and development, HR policies and organisational improvement.

Georgena is a Senior Solicitor with the employment team at DWF LLP in Spinningfields, Manchester. She studied law at Lancaster University and at Chester College of Law. She came to Cartwheel through our long standing and very helpful relationship with Business in the Arts.