Happy Museum works through a formal partnership with Julie’s Bicycle .
Our Happy Museum Steering Group works with Julie’s Bicycle to shape our strategic direction and open up new opportunities. A representative of Julie’s Bicycle attends Steering Group meetings along with members of the Happy Museum team.
Reem Akl works in sustainability and corporate responsibility, with previous engagement roles across finance, the social impact space, and the arts. She has led and supported programmes on mental health with Big Society Capital, tech-for-good, and currently focuses on issues around the just transition for small businesses. She is a Fellow of the On Purpose leadership programme.
A passionate believer in the power of art to engage hearts and minds, Reem spent a number of years in the creative sector, working with Shubbak, the UK’s largest biennial of contemporary art from the Arab world; as well as co-leading the Arab Image Foundation in Beirut (Lebanon), a collection dedicated to the preservation and study of photography.
Reem holds an MSc in Economics and Economic History from the London School of Economics, and an MA in Documentary Photography from the University of the Arts London.
Tahnee Blakemore works for Jersey Heritage as an Education Officer. She says ‘People, place and planet are key themes which I have an interest in as an ecologist, conservationist and anthropology graduate. I am passionate about the importance of nature connection and believe in evaluation and proving your impact. I have been in different roles both within and outside of the heritage sector, however, since being a child, museums have been where I felt at home. I am very excited about being a part of the Steering Group for the Happy Museum, as The Happy Museum’s values link closely to our values at Jersey Heritage- we believe in storytelling- to showcase people’s stories about cultural and environmental (biodiversity) heritage, in order to engage communities and preserve the island for future generations.’
Charlotte Derry is a play and museum consultant for schools and the cultural sector who manages Playful Places, an independent sector support organisation offering mentoring, training and creative idea-generation for play in public venues. Playful Places works with the beliefs that play is essential for children’s well-being, that play has the capacity to better connect us, and that playful thinking and behaviour can help us develop our creative capability to respond to social, cultural and climate challenges.
Charlotte has been part of the Happy Museum Community of Practice since it’s beginnings, and co-authored Rules for a Playful Museum with the Visitor Team at Manchester Museum, as part of the first Happy Museum cohort. Together they helped to establish the Playful Places Network with the aim to support museums and cultural venues improve the conditions for play and playful engagement with their collections, spaces and ideas.
Charlotte has been part of two research projects for Play Wales with Wendy Russell, Ben Tawil and Mike Barclay which explored the success and reach of the Welsh Play Sufficiency Duty. She is a regular workshop facilitator for Kids in Museums, and was part of the editorial and publishing group for Stuff and Nonsense Thinking Differently about Children’s Play, Inspired by the work of Stuart Lester, contributing two chapters on children’s play, movement and occuplaying in museums.
Charlotte is a mum, wild swimmer, walker, gardener and yoga teacher who is passionate about food, cooking outside, and being in nature (a lot)! Her work is driven by the desire to and find creative ways to improve the quality of life and well-being of both visitors and staff in cultural venues, and to advocate for spatial and social equality within public space for children and young people. A former play-worker, trainer and museum exhibition, learning and access officer, Charlotte brings her creativity and enthusiasm for history, culture and playful learning, her passion for cultivating spaces for human well-being and her capacity for connecting people and ideas into all her work, and in support of the Happy Museum.
Liz Fraser-Betts is a coach, creative consultant and educator with over 20 years’ experience working across museums and galleries. As Director of Dot Dot Dash Coaching, she designs and delivers leadership development, coaching and organisational training for individuals, teams and organisations in the arts. Her recent clients include the National Trust, London Transport Museum, Royal Opera House, Engage, GEM and OXCEP. Her work focuses on creating safe, generative thinking spaces to address organisational challenges such as career change and retention, confidence and mindset, learning strategy and performance. Her workshops are interactive, reflective and always hopeful (with play firmly encouraged!).
Some of her most recent strands of work include;
~ Leading the Extend Leadership course for Engage: The programme is tailored for people working in learning in arts and cultural sectors, to support them to lead and develop in their future careers.
~ Teaching the Cultural Learning Apprenticeship at Westminster (level 3)
– Delivering group coaching courses for museum professionals (currently running a bootcamp for GEM Inclusive pathways for Early Year professionals) & coaching leaders through The Clore Leadership Foundation.
– Evaluating the NLHF project at the New Quentin Blake centre of Illustration, Museum of Oxford and Portsmouth Cultural Education Partnership.
– Project Managing The Story Exchange – Paul Hamlyn Foundation funded with The Story Museum and OXCEP.
Becky Jefcoate is a museum leader, consultant and currently Practitioner Research Associate in Collections & Wellbeing at the Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge, where she created Happy Place, an immersive, participatory installation designed to spark joy, calm and connection. Her international research across USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand explores how museums can actively support wellbeing and happiness.
Becky’s wider practice spans creative programming, strategic masterplanning, audience development, interpretation and project delivery for organisations across the UK including Museum of London, English Heritage, National Trust, Royal Academy of Arts, Royal Opera House and Bloomsbury Theatre. Previously, Becky was Director of the Cartoon Museum, where she led a transformative redevelopment, bringing the worlds of cartoons, comics and animation to life through immersive galleries, playful storytelling and creative programming. As Founding Director of Wells Maltings, she oversaw the transformation of a historic Maltings building into a vibrant cultural destination featuring a new heritage and learning centre, galleries, theatre and vibrant space for creativity and community programming including the much-loved Wells Pirate Festival.
In her spare time, Becky loves to travel to new places whenever she can, and enjoys mudlarking – discovering small everyday treasures down by the river. She is delighted to be joining the Happy Museum Steering Group.
Susie Tucker is the Head of Strategy and Communications at the National Museum Directors’ Council (NMDC) which represents the leaders of the UK’s national collections and major regional museums. She leads NMDC’s work on advocating for museums to government and other stakeholders and helping NMDC members work together to shape museum sector policy and practice. She was previously Director, Cultural Property at Arts Council England and has held several other roles at NMDC, after starting her career at an arts and heritage consultancy working with museums to develop business plans and funding bids.
Suzie is passionate about museums and the role they play in individual, community and planetary well-being. She is excited to be part of the Happy Museum Project to help museums become more sustainable and support them in the urgent need to address the climate emergency. When not in a museum or art gallery she enjoys dressmaking, singing in a choir, playing computer games and walking with her dog.
Elaine Yeung is an urbanist and communications consultant whose career spans the UK, Germany, the US and Hong Kong. She has worked across culture, the performing arts and the built environment. At the Humboldt Forum in Berlin, Elaine developed the cultural institution’s digital strategy, supported early placemaking work and contributed to sustainability initiatives. Before this, she spent a decade in the classical music sector working in communications, artist management and production. She has also contributed to urban development and community projects with a Hong Kong-based urban design NGO and a UK-German programme series.
Elaine is currently Senior Account Manager at ING Media in London, where she leads the agency’s work on place. She helps clients use place to build meaningful partnerships and become trusted local actors. Elaine is also a Salzburg Global Public Policy Fellow, where her work has centred on diversity and inclusion in the cultural sector: an area that continues to inform her approach to cultural and urban practice.