About Ignite!
*
People
Ignite! exists only through the vision and optimism of people we work with and those we respect and admire.
Like –
Hasmita Chavda is our Intern who by example encourages us to higher aspirations for the programmes. A Global Fellow at 18, Hasmita is also a journalist, arts activist and an unofficial Creative Spark. hasmita@ignitefutures.org.uk
Prof Guy Claxton gave us the five R’s – the creative thinking attributes or characteristics, and we have tried to reveal these to young people since Ignite! began in 2003.
Emily Cummins is an Ignite! Creative Spark with a string of titles to her name, including Barclays Woman of the Year 2009. An inspiration and role model for young people, we try to get as much of Emily’s time as we can.
Matt Damon – the Academy Award film actor is also the co-founder of Water.org and a passionate advocate of environmental sustainability.
Heidi Gale is Ignite!’s Creative Learning Champion because she is. Heidi develops new programmes to encourage schools and teachers to reveal and exercise the creative capacities of their students. heidi@ignitefutures.org.uk
Howard Gardner is a leading writer and academic in how children learn and the different kinds of intelligence of people. We borrowed a line from his work to support the name, Ignite!.
Arvind Gupta is an inspirational teacher whose creativity in drawing science lessons from home made toys and experiments using waste materials is legendary. www.arvindguptatoys.com
Rick Hall is Director of Programmes for Ignite! and visits conferences and policy forums to network and build partnerships for new projects and programmes. He is also founder of Rehearsal where mistakes happen. rick@ignitefutures.org.uk
Tim Hunkin is one of our favourite genii; artist and engineer his Rudiments of Wisdom, Secret Life of Machines and Under the Pier show at Southwold continue to inspire. Tim leads occasional workshops for us and we wish we could have more.
Sai Pathmanathan is Director of the Ignition* Programme for Ignite!. With a research background in neuroscience, Sai leads on all things creative in STEM education, communication and learning. sai@ignitefutures.org.uk
Sir Ken Robinson’s talk at TED in 2006 on creativity and education has been watched by half the globe, and his books The Element and Out of Our Minds should be required reading for everyone with a responsibility for the education of young people, which is about everyone really.
Gever Tulley encourages young people to do dangerous, mind expanding things at the Tinkering School and the inspirational Exploratorium in San Francisco. We would like him to come and work with us.
Amy Turner has been with Ignite! since March 2009 and as Programme Assistant holds the key to the important cupboards. Amy is also an experienced Scooter Pilot. amy@ignitefututures.org.uk
Sarah Walley has been Programme Manager for Ignition* since September 2008, and leads on STEM programmes like Come Alive with Science, Creative Sparks and answers to difficult questions. sarah@ignitefutures.org.uk
Ignite! is blessed with a passionate and committed Board of Directors
Cathy Bereznicki is Chair of Ignite! and hails from Scotland. In her day job, Cathy is Director of the Labs of Learning for Performing Arts Labs (PAL).
Katie Chapman is an Ignite! Board member and a Creative Spark (once an Ignite! Creative Spark, always an Ignite! Creative Spark). Katie is an executive in the CSR department of Virgin Media.
Chrys Allen (Ignite! Board member) is an artist; she works in a variety of media including print making and has been artist in residence in France and Finland.
Pauline Mouskis is the Treasurer of Ignite! and is passionate about spreadsheets and balances. Pauline has been Chief Finance Officer for a number of organizations in the charitable and voluntary sector.
Tom Hadfield is an entrepreneur and visionary creative thinker. Tom is a Harvard graduate, Director of Breathable Foods and, we are pleased to add, another of our Board members.
Diane Gelon, Ignite! Board member, is an attorney at law with a practice in London and a strong interest in the arts.
Liz Newton, is a Director of Programmes at the Prince’s Trust. Liz was a member of the staff team at Ignite! from the outset, and has also worked in the Education team at BBC Blast. And she is also a Board member of Ignite!
