Chair – Kathleen Soriano 

Kathleen Soriano began her career at the Royal Academy of Arts 30 years ago. In 1989 she joined the National Portrait Gallery as Head of Exhibitions & Collections, with additional responsibility for national and international programmes. In 2004 she became one of the first cohort of Clore Leadership Fellows taking up roles at the South Bank Centre and Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia. In February 2006 she became Director of Compton Verney, Warwickshire and in 2009 returned to the RA as Director of Exhibitions where she remained until 2014 when she left to work independently. She has written extensively in her field and her broadcast activities include the five series of Portrait/Landscape Artist of the Year for SkyArts.

Deputy Chair & Chair of FHRC - Ian McCarthy

Ian McCarthy is a town planner and chartered surveyor with a strong commitment to building viable, vibrant and inclusive places. During an extensive career, he has contributed to the economic regeneration of Manchester and Liverpool and more recently, established and delivered the UK's International Business Festival 2014–2018 as Festival Director. Ian is a Director of several not-for-profit organisations and his own consultancy.

Treasurer - Natasha Bintley

Natasha Bintley is a Liverpool born Chartered Accountant. Having completed a Master of Arts in Economics and Mathematics at the University of Edinburgh, Natasha commenced an ACA training contract at DSG Chartered Accountants, where she was also Secretary of the Liverpool Students Chapter (LCASA). Following qualification in 2017, she moved to RSM UK, working in audit with technical specialisms in AIM Listed companies and the not-for-profit sector.

Anna Valle

Anna Valle is a global business leader with extensive marketing experience, working in the FMCG industry on local, regional and global roles. She has solid experience both in emerging and developed markets across the world. Anna’s latest role is VP, Global Brands at Walgreens Boots Alliance, acting as Liz Earle Global Brand Director. She has a successful track record of managing iconic consumer brandslike Durex, Cow and Gate, ghd and Johnnie Walker.

Catherine Petitgas

Catherine Petitgas is a London-based art historian, patron and collector specialising in modern and contemporary art especially from Latin America. Following a career in finance in London and New York she retrained in art history with a Diploma of Modern Art Studies from Christie’s Education and a Masters in the History of Modern Art from the Courtauld Institute, London. She has been Executive Editor of books on the contemporary art scenes of Brazil, Colombia and Mexico, curator of exhibitions in the US and in Latin America, a lecturer and a guide at Tate Modern and Tate Britain. She is a former Trustee of the Whitechapel Gallery (2009-2018), former Chair of the Franco-British initiative Fluxus Art Projects (2010-2022) and the current Chair of Gasworks Triangle Network in London. She is the former Chair of the Tate International Council (2016-2022) and a member of the Tate Latin America Acquisitions Committee (since 2004). She is also a member of the Board of Les Amis du Centre Pompidou and the Pompidou Latin America Circle in Paris, and founding member of the Guggenheim Latin Circle (since 2016) in New York, among others. She supports several institutions in Latin America including the São Paulo Biennial and the Museo Tamayo in Mexico City. She discovered the Liverpool art scene in 2003 as a Tate Guide and has supported several initiatives in the city since, at Tate Liverpool and the Liverpool Biennial.

Chris Evans

Chris Evans is a London-based artist and tutor at De Ateliers, Amsterdam and Liverpool John Moores University. His work often evolves through conversation with people from diverse walks of life, selected in relation to their public life or symbolic role. He has exhibited internationally since 2000 with solo exhibitions at institutions such as Art Pace, San Antonio; Objectif Exhibitions, Antwerp; Praxis, Berlin; and Project Arts, Dublin. In 2014, he was commissioned to make new work for A Needle Walks into a Haystack, the 8th Liverpool Biennial exhibition. 

David Heron

David Heron is a Chartered Civil Engineer with a long-standing relationship to Liverpool Biennial. David leads the Structural Engineering team at Arup’s Liverpool office, mentoring junior Engineers and Technicians under formal training agreements. David would typically undertake design leadership and coordination roles to ensure successful project outcomes for Arup’s clients and draws on considerable construction industry experience. David is effective in identifying project opportunities and manging risk. David was notably influential in the successful Jaume Plensa Dream and Ugo Rondinone Liverpool Mountain sculptures, in addition to many striking and memorable temporary installations across the city since 2006.

Hetain Patel

Hetain Patel is a London based visual artist and performance maker. His live performances, films, sculptures, and photographs have been shown worldwide from the Venice Biennale, Ullens Centre for Contemporary Art, Beijing and Tate Modern, London to Sadler’s Wells, where he is a New Wave Associate. Patel made his first dance company work for Candoco in 2014, which toured internationally for five years. His work exploring identity and freedom, using humour, choreography and text appears in multiple formats and media, intended to reach the widest possible audience. His voice and performance work online have been watched over 50 million times, which includes his TED talk of 2013 titled ‘Who Am I? Think Again’.

Patel is represented by Chatterjee &Lal, Mumbai, is a patron of QUAD, Derby, and sits on the Artist Council for a-n. He is the winner of the Film London Jarman Award, 2019, Kino Der Kunst Festival’s Best International Film 2020, and has been selected to participate in the British Art Show 9, 2012/22.

Jonathan Falkingham

Jonathan Falkingham MBE is Creative Director and Co-Founder of award-winning property company UrbanSplash. Jonathan has been working in the North West since 1989, when he set up design practice shedkm. He founded Urban Splash in 1993 with Tom Bloxham and has lead big projects ranging from Fort Dunlop to his own award-winning house in Liverpool. Jonathan is committed to good architecture and is a Trustee of the RIBA.  

Rick Behari

Rick Behari is a senior communications director who has managed PR and communications for some of the UK’s leading media brands including the BBC, Fremantle Media, and Sky. He has extensive experience of crisis management, campaign delivery, media, and talent relations. His current role at Sky as Director of Communications, Content and Brand involves overseeing all communications activity for Sky Arts, including the channel’s recent successful free-to-air launch. 

Scott Smith

Scott Smith is Head of Digital Content at Manchester International Festival (MIF) where he leads a department responsible for Digital and Editorial Content, Digital Experiences and Product Management. His experience includes overseeing large-scale digital projects, including website redevelopments, apps, gallery and exhibition audio-visual content, and immersive experiences across NML’s seven museums and galleries. Scott was born in Liverpool and grew up in North Wales. 

Ying Tan

Ying Tan has extensive experience working in the arts and culture sector in the UK with a particular expertise focusing on contemporary art practices within East Asia. Currently, she is Senior Programmes Manager, Collections at the Art Fund, where she leads on museum acquisitions including the development of new funding streams and commissioning projects as well as managing areas of Art Fund’s diverse portfolio of programmes. Previously, she has been Head of Public Art (interim) at Futurecity, Curator at the British Council, a visiting lecturer for Christie’s Education on the MA Art of Asia course as well as the Curating the Contemporary MA course at Goldsmiths, University of London.