Team & board

A resident of Tower Hamlets for over 25 years, Keith is a passionate Professor at the University of Oxford’s Anthropology Department. He has served on numerous community organisations’ boards, including Whitechapel Art Gallery, and was an active local councillor in the 1990s and 2000s. He has founded several urban regeneration schemes, and acted as a Chair for the Thames Gateway London Partnership.

Cllr Amia Ali has lived in Tower Hamlets all her life and attended Central Foundation Girls’ School. Prior to her current role, she worked as a journalist for the BBC, a legal advisor and as a political advisor to a Member of Parliament. She was elected to Bow East back in 2014 and has been honoured to serve the residents and as Cabinet Member for Environment, Cabinet Member for Culture Art and Brexit and now Cabinet Member for Adults, Health and Wellbeing. As councillor she has campaigned for better services for Old Ford residents; more affordable housing; and safer, cleaner streets and looks forward to pushing ahead in her health role.

Ansuya Vezendy is a dual qualified attorney in the UK and New York with over a decade of experience in global regulatory compliance matters ranging from financial crime prevention to counterparty credit risk. Her investment banking career includes roles with Bank of America in NYC and UBS in London. In addition, Ansuya is the Co-founder of a holistic health retreat center in the Peruvian Amazon rainforest supporting responsible use of psychedelics for cultural and spiritual purposes, runs a private coaching practice and writes poetry.

Burman is a London-based mixed media artist from Bootle, near Liverpool. A prominent member of the 1980s Black British Art movement, Burman has explored politics and the representation of Asian women throughout her career. Her work has been championed by the British Council, Victoria and Albert Museum and Tate.

Jones has been a committed London Borough of Tower Hamlets Councillor since 1994, and served as Mayor of Tower Hamlets in 1999-2000. She founded Eastside Arts Books Ltd, and is a Director of Brick Lane Bookshop and Wiltons Music Hall. She is also a Trustee of organisations like the V&A Museum of Childhood.

Dylan Haskins is Commissioning Executive for Podcasts at BBC Sounds, looking after content partnerships and a slate of new podcast titles aimed at 18-34 year olds. His current commissions include the Peabody Award winning Have You Heard George’s Podcast? from George the Poet and with several upcoming international investigative series such as Where is George Gibney? from Second Captains, Hometown and the launch of the first ever Panorama podcast series. In 2015-16 he was awarded the Jerome Hynes Fellowship by the Arts Council of Ireland on the Clore Leadership Programme.

A regular at Rich Mix since it opened, Jackie O’Sullivan is the Executive Director of Communications at Mencap. Throughout much of her career, she has held important, senior communications and marketing roles in both the private and public sectors, including being Director of the National Lottery Promotions Unit.

Having frequented Rich Mix for almost 10 years, local resident Chauhan is deeply committed to transferring the knowledge she has as a City law firm partner to charitable organisations. She believes in helping arts organisations celebrate diversity, so they can inspire change across the UK.

Sara Wallace is Executive Producer at SMUGGLER London, a production company creating advertising, music videos, documentaries and theatre. Sara has spent fifteen years working in film which has seen her live in New York, produce for Beyoncé and work on behalf of the UN. She now lives in London representing Directors including Kathryn Bigelow, Jonah Hill and Chris Smith.

Azad is a bilingual poet, storyteller and writer who published more than 35 books. She was the first Bangladeshi poet who performed in Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Translations of Azad were published in internationally by known publications including the New Yorker.

Vineet has been in Banking and Financial Services for over 20 years and has worked in different countries, cultures and organizations. He has extremely diverse and rich experience in the areas of finance, risk, operations, business transformation and change, cost management, sourcing, vendor management, human resources and technology. He is a Chartered Accountant and also has a degree in Law.

Bhavisha is a qualified actuary with the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries. She has over a decade of experience in the industry both in the UK and globally. Her experience ranges from managing the business strategy of multinational corporations and providing actuarial financial estimates for international portfolios with many of her clients part of the global c-suite. Bhavisha has a personal interest in the arts as a classical pianist as well as a mental health advocate. She is currently working as an actuary at Lloyd’s of London.

Laura is a qualified Chartered Surveyor with over 10 years of experience in the commercial real estate industry. She has worked in both the European and Asia Pacific markets advising building owners and occupiers on how to extract and create value from their real estate through strategic planning and integrated property transactions. With a passion for how performing arts can be a driver for positive change, Laura is keen to bring her real estate knowledge to support Rich Mix in continuing to be a pivotal part of the local community.