Board

Jon has over 30 years of experience in the construction and property development industry. An engineer by training, Jon qualified as a Chartered Civil Engineer in 1992 before transitioning into the property development sector, working with various organisations prior to joining Stoford in 2003.

Jon managed the day-to-day running of the Stoford Group of companies until 2012 when he stepped down from his role as managing director to allow him to pursue interests in the arts sector.  In 2015, Jon co-founded Public Artist Limited, an organisation focused on supporting the arts and public engagement. Jon became a trustee of Grand Union in the same year.

Jon now lives in the Scottish Borders and is studying Contemporary Art Practice at Edinburgh College.

Faisal Hussain is an Artist who graduated from Falmouth Art College in 1999. His portfolio of work spans public art, film, sculpture, audio, and text art. His artwork is part of permanent collections in the Manchester Art Gallery, Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery, and Urban Nation, Berlin. Currently, he is archiving one of the largest south asian record collections in the UK and creating and curating new works as part of a 3-year-long project funded by the National Heritage Lottery Fund. Recently, this work has been on BBC 6 Music, The Guardian, Vinyl Factory and at the Manchester Museum’s new South Asia Gallery.

Diandra is an Arts Producer from Birmingham passionate about creating provocative and engaging participatory arts experiences, especially for young people along with underrepresented and socially disadvantaged communities. A musician and former Music Teacher, Diandra recently was Lead Producer of the Birmingham 2022 Neighbourhood Festival Sites, part of the Commonwealth Games cultural programme. She currently works for Birmingham Opera Company as Creative Producer.

Sukhy Nijjar currently works as a Senior Policy Advisor for the Mayor of the West Midlands. Prior to joining the private offie, she had a career in Investment Banking and previously ran her own business.

She has a Masters in Investment Management from Bayes Business School in London. She spent her investment banking career working in Global Markets for various institutions, specialising in Corporate FX Sales for FTSE 100 clients. She left the city of London, returning to the west Midlands to se up and run her own business before joining the Mayoral team in September 2020.

Rob is Bruntwood’s regional lead for Yorkshire and the West Midlands – supporting the development of thriving cities including Leeds and Birmingham.

Drawing on more than 20 years’ experience within Bruntwood, Rob specialises in facilitating collaboration between the private sector, local authorities, research institutions, and universities to create world-class innovation districts and drive strategic growth.

Dorothy Wilson MBE, FRSA, D. Litt, D.Univ, FWU

Dorothy was educated in Northumberland, Wales and Scotland. She is a singer, vocal coach and string player.

In her early career she spent 14 years at West Midlands Arts, seven years as deputy director, working across a range of art forms. From 1990 till 2016 she was Artistic Director and CEO of Midlands Arts Centre (MAC). She now runs her own bespoke consultancy focusing on organisational development and change in the cultural sector. In the 2000s she chaired the West Midlands regional Arts Council and served on the national board of Arts Council England.

Dorothy is a very experienced trustee and board member and currently chairs the boards of Grand Union, Making Music, and the Independent Cinema Office.

Merle is a partner at Fieldfisher, an international law firm with offices in Birmingham. Merle specialises in real estate development. She was previously on the board and chair of DancExchange based at the Hippodrome.