Trustees

The Board of Trustees of GEM has overall responsibility for policy, annual budgets, and financial and professional probity. There are seven elected and up to five co-opted trustees.

GEM Trustees are both trustees of the charity and directors of the company limited by guarantee.

We recognise that the GEM board could benefit from a broader range of lived experience and encourage people of colour and those with disabilities to consider a Trustee role in our organisation. Please get in touch with [email protected] to find out more about our current opportunities.

Caroline Marcus, Chair

Caroline is honoured to represent GEM as Chair of Trustees. She works collaboratively with the Board to shape the strategic direction of GEM and to support sector colleagues to connect and learn together. She has 25+ years academic, practical and strategic experience as a museum producer, programmer and change maker. She is passionate about using museum learning to create inclusive environments to welcome all visitors. Caroline’s portfolio career combines her love of teaching and museums. She is a Senior Lecturer (Teaching) for the MA, Museums & Galleries in Education, UCL Institute of Education and directs diverse projects for her museum learning consultancy, Caroline Marcus Associates www.carolinemarcus.co.uk She also creates bespoke museum and gallery experiences for clients www.amuseyourself.co

Caroline qualified and practised as a primary school teacher with a passion for museums. She has wide experience of teaching and leading workshops in many museums. She worked in various roles at the National Gallery. These include Lecturer, Curator (Take One Picture), Access Officer & Outreach Officer. She was lead consultant for sector- support organisation, Kids in Museums, taking on roles including Takeover Day Project Director and Strategy & Project Development Consultant.

Caroline was former Head of Education at the Jewish Museum, and worked for the Imperial War Museum and the British Library as a Holocaust Education Consultant. She is currently a trustee of the National Motor Museum, Beaulieu, Judge for the Sandford Award for Heritage Education and an associate for organisational development consultancy, People Make it Work. She is a cultural champion and advisor for organisations including Action for Children’s Arts, Rereeti (India), and the NHLF Willesden Jewish Cemetery’s House of Life Project. She has an MA in Museums and Galleries in Education (UCL, IoE) and is a graduate of the Clore Leadership Programme.

Kathryn Moore, Deputy Chair

Kathryn Moore smiling at the cameraKathryn has loved museums ever since visiting Lark Hill Place in Salford regularly as a child. She was a secondary school science teacher for over 12 years before a brief spell as a freelancer delivering learning events and an A level psychology conference for Norfolk Museums Service.  She has worked for them ever since, for eight years as a learning officer and then as museum development project officer, for SHARE Museums East which provides museum development for the East of England.

She said, “I volunteered to be a trustee because I love museum learning but also in memory of my mentor Katrina Siliprandi, who introduced me to GEM, who was an amazing force in museum learning and who died much too soon, in 2017.”

Shirehall, Market Avenue, Norwich NR1 3JQ
[email protected]

Richard Bruce, Treasurer

Richard Bruce graduated in Physics, before turning to a range of business activities. He is a Chartered Accountant and has worked in private companies, central government, and charities. He has a broad spectrum of experience in education, covering children and adults with special needs, adult education and colleges.

“I’m extremely interested in museums and the heritage sector, and am delighted to be part of this established, member-led organisation, with such an excellent reputation.”

Ben Pearce, Trustee

Ben is a development, fundraising and charity-governance consultant. Until September 2022, he was the Director of West Horsley Place Trust, who look after a Grade I listed manor house and estate dating back to 1425. Ben was previously Executive Director of Paintings in Hospitals, and was Project Director at the Royal Academy of Arts (RA) during their 250th anniversary redevelopment.

Ben has a BA Hons from the University of Warwick and an MSc from LSE, where he won the 2004 Titmuss Prize for outstanding achievement in social policy. Ben is also a Trustee of the BGI (who run the National Videogame Museum in Sheffield), and is a Guardian and Chair of the Advocacy Committee for the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB). As well as serving on the Board of Trustees, Ben is proud to be an individual Member of GEM, and to help to support museums and the wider heritage sector to bring more of their amazing work out into communities, working together to benefit people’s wellbeing.

[email protected]

Twitter: @HighStreetBen

Sarah Cowie, Trustee

Sarah CowieSarah has worked in the sector since 2004 in a range of institutions including charities, independent museums, local authority museums and national museums. She has worked across a great variety of audiences and currently leads learning at the National Trust for Scotland. Interests include making museums and heritage sites accessible, developing digital learning, evaluating impact, and bringing organisations together. Sarah was a Scotland GEM convenor for four years, has contributed to the GEM Journal and Case Studies, and has led sessions at four previous GEM conferences.

As a Trustee, I would aim to support the vital work of GEM in bringing people together, across large geographical distances and at a time when learning is under threat from budget and staffing cuts. I also have an excellent knowledge of the heritage learning community in Scotland and both the unique and common issues we share with colleagues across the UK and believe it is important that devolved nations are represented at board level”

Sarah Cowie
[email protected]
Twitter: @sarahcowie

Laura Hill, Trustee

Laura has volunteered in museums and galleries within education and outreach, and coordinated events as part of the Museums at Night initiative. Working alongside other volunteers and young people, she has developed educational resources and delivered family and public engagement activities on a range of topics from Oxfordshire archaeology to Chinese tea-bricks.

She is a Youth Ambassador for the National lottery Heritage Fund, where she has supported projects as part of the Kick the Dust Project to involve more young people in heritage projects across the UK.

As an Alumni Engagement Officer at Manchester Metropolitan, she manages digital communications, and has developed a volunteer strategy to engage over 1000 volunteers to support student employability and experience activities.

Laura’s passion for education also led her to serve as a School Governor, and support her University’s alumni association.

Laura Hill
https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurahill50301/

Karin Molson, Trustee

Karin Molson is Learning Manager for MonLife Heritage which operates a series of museums and attractions across Monmouthshire. During a career spanning twenty-five + years Karin has worked for a diverse range of museums, galleries and educational organisations including The Corinium Museum, Bristol Museums and Art Gallery and the WEA.  

Karin has a keen interest in the positive and unique contribution that museums can make to the play agenda, exploring museums as playful spaces, opportunities for playful encounters and creating fun and surprising visitor experiences.

Karin is also passionate about the role museums have to play in supporting the health and wellbeing agenda and, for the past few years, has been exploring museums as dementia friendly spaces, places of intergenerational opportunity with a particular focus on Dementia and developing Dementia programming that has voice, choice and control at its heart.

Karin is Chair of the GEM Cymru curriculum development group which supports Welsh Museums to positively engage with the new Curriculum for Wales and is a GEM Cymru Area Representative.

[email protected]

 

Mark Macey, Trustee

Mark has worked in media and broadcasting for many years. For the BBC, he has worked in production across Radio, Drama, Children’s, Learning and Archives. He has developed and managed many digital platforms, educational resources, projects, campaigns and initiatives. In his current role as Senior Projects and Partnerships Manager for Archive Editorial, he is responsible for key partnerships and projects, many of which are in the museums, libraries and galleries sector. Mark is passionate about theatre and is Vice Chair of Trustees for Half Moon Young People’s Theatre.

“I’ve been passionate about museums since I was young and that passion has continued to this day. I’ve been lucky enough to work in both the education and museums sector and have seen the positive changes that these sectors can have. I’m incredibly proud to be a trustee of GEM and I’m looking forward to working with the team to continue the great work they do”

Ashley Almeida

Ashley is the Young People’s Programme Manager at the British Museum.  His programme works to engage young people with the Museum and its collection through content and events co-produced with the Museum’s Youth Collective.

Ashley has both worked and volunteered in the heritage sector for over a decade as part of the National Trust across various sites in London and the South East and also at MOLA (Museum of London Archaeology).  In both places he worked with a variety of audiences on different learning programmes and led on school engagement.  He has also worked on volunteering programmes previously.

Ashley is passionate about widening access to the heritage sector, engaging atudiences and working to make the sector more inclusive beyond its words.  Ashley is a member of Museum Detox and also a primary school governor.

You can find Ashley on Twitter at @_ashleyalmeida!

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