Youth Music Awards 2024 Judges

Hailing from the North West, proud Manchester man Aaron Fairweather, AKA Aeron Darka, is a DJ, creative and talent manager. Working with major global brands, creating partnerships, marketing and talent development across the entertainment and sports and lifestyle industries, he DJs for Hip Hop soul collective Children of Zeus, manages Abnormal Sleepz, and is keeping his foot entrenched in the music industries of both Manchester and London. A dot connector and facilitator by nature, he works for his community through his brand partnerships work and consistent drive to push Manchester culture, regional areas and the unheard communities from UK to JA, Nigeria and the diaspora and beyond to the masses through his work inside and outside of Culture Marketing at Red Bull UK.

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Abbie McCarthy is an award-winning presenter, DJ & content creator and one of the best and most heralded music tastemakers in the UK. Abbie is the go-to-girl for new music recommendations. Abbie currently presents for BBC Introducing and has discovered and has championed a vast array of great acts from the very start, including Mimi Webb, Venbee and many more. You can catch Abbie interviewing on your TV screens, via E4 Extra and The Box Network, hosting Fresh This Month, a show that shines a spotlight on the biggest new artists on the planet. Abbie is the mastermind behind Good Karma Club, a critically acclaimed gig night championing the hottest new artists around. The platform has provided early shows for the likes of Sam Fender, Olivia Dean, Mae Muller, Tom Grennan, Easy Life, Enny, Caity Baser, Cian Ducrot and many more. The sold-out nights have also featured a fair few famous faces in the crowd over the years, including Alex Turner, Lewis Capaldi & Bastille.

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Amelia Dimoldenberg's popular YouTube channel is home to the iconic Chicken Shop Date series, amassing 1.6 million subscribers, 230 million views and 13 million hours of content watched on the platform. Amelia runs her own production company Dimz Inc - which also is home to Amelia’s Cooking Show. Amelia's hosting duties include The BRITs, The NME Awards, The Mercury’s, Reading & Leeds Festival, British GQ’s Men of the Year Red Carpet and making her U.S red carpet debut for the 2023 Golden Globes. Awards include a 2021 Streamy Award (Chicken Shop Date) and a 2022 Glamour Woman of the Year (Creator of the Year).

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Anna Karatziva acts as primary liaison between Paramount’s music brands and the industry, delivering exclusive and unique content across all platforms. She also sits on the International Music Council, which defines the organisation's global music priorities. Anna has worked on events such as MTV EMAS & MTV Unplugged, MTV's Push campaign and has launched shows YO! MTV Raps and Gonzo.

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Anthony Hamer-Hodges, Principal of LCCM, began his music industry journey as a teenage DJ in Edinburgh, later becoming the Saturday night DJ for the VIP Tent at T in the Park for seven years. Moving to London, he worked on a number one album for the Manic Street Preachers at Sony Music, rose to Label Manager at Ministry of Sound, and managed British soul singer Nate James. After earning a Masters in Entertainment Law, Anthony held senior roles in brand licensing and music streaming. With over 30 years of industry experience, he now shares his expertise through education.

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Electronic music duo BICEP have been hailed by the BBC as “one of the biggest names in UK dance”, and continue to cement themselves as one of the defining global electronic acts of our times. 

Cecilia Chan set up independent agency The Pool. She joined Primary Talent International as assistant to agent Cris Hearn, and followed him to Coda in 2015. Alongside Hearn, she worked with artists including Mark Ronson, Gary Numan, Tricky, Above & Beyond, Planningtorock and is especially proud to have helped develop Kaytranada's live touring show since the beginning of his career. Chan has been involved in sustainability projects within the agency and through industry group Music Declares Emergency. She has signed artists including iamamiwhoami, LF System, Arielle Free, Ejeca, Shimza, Dot Major and recently added LOSTBOYJAY to her roster.

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Originally from Baltimore, Christine Osazuwa got her start in music at 15. She holds degrees in music, marketing and data science and combined those passions into roles in data & marketing at Universal Music Sweden and Warner Music Group in London. Currently, Christine is the Chief Strategy Officer for ticketing & event marketing startup Shoobs where she leads their marketing & brand partnerships strategy. In addition, she sits on the board of The LIVE Association, Indie Venue Week, and Keychange US. Christine is also the Founder of Measure of Music–part conference, part hackathon– which introduces music & data to others while highlighting majority minority attendees and speakers.

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An award-winning musician, Elizabeth combines synthesisers, haunting vocals, and ordinary everyday objects to challenge what music is, how it’s made and who musicians are.  Elizabeth was featured as one of the Mastercard Music Trailblazers ahead of the 2024 BRIT awards, recognised as an artist driving positive change in the music industry across technology, diversity & inclusion, helping make music more inclusive for all. A producer, composer, vocalist, and tech-enthusiast, her second EP ‘Kenopsia’ released in 2023 explored challenging subjects such as loss and grief, and received radio support from BBC Introducing, Unmade Radio and Black Country Radio. Elizabeth won the ‘Inspirational Music Leader’ award at the Youth Music Awards in 2023 for her inclusive community music and facilitation workshops, focused around songwriting, technology and youth voice.

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Ellie is the new host to the Kiss Hype chart Monday-Thursday 7-9pm. Alongside this, she is a new member to the Kisstory family from Monday-Friday 11-3pm and super Kisstory Sundays 7-10pm on Kiss! Not forgetting her Sunday night Kiss Fresh 9-11pm and FM 1-3am shows focusing on the best of Drill and UK Rap - giving 28 new artists a week their first ever Kiss play, as well as pioneering her love for music with her weekly '15 Seconds Deep' feature. In 2022 Ellie received a DJ Mag nomination for Best of British ‘‘Best Radio Show’ and followed that on with being nominated for this years ‘Best Radio Show’ at Music Week Awards 2023. Ellie DJs across festivals internationally including, Reading & Leeds, Kisstory, Outlook Festival, Glastonbury, Flackstock, Wireless and Boardmasters. She presented the first ever Main Stage Rap competition with 8bar at Strawberries & Creem Festival and was honoured at Brunel University with an alumni billboard for her work in the music industry.

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Eve is a GRAMMY, Daytime EMMY, BET and MTV Video Music Award winning artist. She served as the host of The Talk, CBS’ Daytime Emmy Award winning talk show. Eve is best known for her multi-million selling records “Who’s That Girl”, “Gangsta Lovin”, “Let Me Blow Your Mind” ft. Gwen Stefani which won the inaugural GRAMMY Award for best Rap/Sung collaboration in 2002. 

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Gilles Peterson hosts a weekly Saturday afternoon show on BBC Radio 6 Music that’s one of the broadcaster’s most popular music shows, helms independent record label Brownswood Recordings, and is the founder of online radio station Worldwide FM. Gilles also hosts the Worldwide FM radio station on the GTA V computer game. Since 2005, he has hosted the annual Worldwide Awards in London and Worldwide Festival in Sète, France, and in 2019, he launched the new We Out Here festival in the UK. In early 2021, Gilles released the Str4ta album (with Bluey from Incognito) and his first full length book ‘Lockdown FM - Broadcasting In A Pandemic’.

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East London’s finest, the critically acclaimed musician and poet of the people, Hak Baker, is respected by his peers and contemporaries as one of Britain’s most authentic voices in alternative music. He was invited to support Mike Skinner and Little Simz on tour last year, performed at Glastonbury, and has collaborated with Toddla T and Ezra Collective’s Joe Armon-Jones. His debut album, Worlds End FM, was released last year to critical acclaim.

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Hayley Marchant has worked in the music industry for 12 years. She began as a marketing assistant at Warner Records, then moved to Island Records to be a marketing manager, promoting stars like Ariana Grande and The Weeknd. After a year in artist management, Hayley joined Columbia Records and has now been there for four years where she is now Head of Marketing. She's currently leading campaigns for Perrie, Harry Styles, Adele, and more.

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Joining DJ Mag in 2012, Iain was pivotal in the brand's full North American launch and has gone on to work across the company to solidify DJ Mag’s place as the world's leading electronic music print magazine. Translating DJ Mag’s editorial direction into a global events strategy, Iain has worked with some of the world's most exciting artists on events & activations across the globe. Working closely with industry and community partners, Iain has pushed to ensure that supporting grassroots projects is at the heart of DJ Mag’s future.

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Jasmine Takhar is the host of BBC Introducing and the Official British Asian Music Chart on the BBC Asian Network. In 2021, her passion for and strong connection to new UK artists was recognised when she was announced as the new host of the 'BBC Introducing' show on BBC Asian Network. She then received a nomination for Best Radio Show from the Music Week Awards in 2022, followed by successive nominations in 2023 and 2024. Fast forward to 2024, where Jasmine was announced as the host of the brand new Official Asian British Music Chart on BBC Asian Network which launched in April, compiled by the Official Charts Company. Jasmine’s passion for breaking through new artists has also lead to her hosting various music events for new artists around the country including BBC Introducing at Glastonbury, R1's Big Weekend, The Great Escape Festival, Latitude Festival and at South by Southwest Festival. Outside of radio, Jasmine also heads up the project 'Scene Not Heard'. A platform dedicated to providing a voice for unsigned rap, grime and R&B artists from outside of London.

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Jay is the Head of National Radio at Your Army; a promotions company that focus’ on breaking acts and developing their growth to a wider audience. The company’s current roster includes the likes of Dave, Sam Smith, LF SYSTEM, Sub Focus, salute, Aluna, Ewan McVicar and more. “I’m passionate about young people getting into creative industries as I didn’t know the vast amount of jobs that exist for people with different skillsets – I had never heard of radio plugging before applying for a job at Your Army,” Jay shared.

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Working in the industry for over 10 years, Jayd Williams has worked with some of the world’s biggest brands and companies from Universal Music, Sony, Warner, L’Oréal, Coty to Revlon. She has worked on marketing activations for endorsement and sponsorship deals such as Big Sean x Blackberry and created marketing plans for Lady Leshur x Olay and Raheem Sterling x Gillete. Jayd has also worked on artist activation deals with beverage brands such as Heineken, Remy Martin and Moet Hennessey.

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JD Donovan is a platinum-selling young music executive who has delivered over 500 million streams for independent music talents. After working with some of the biggest global names in music after getting his break at 22 under US ‘super-producer’ Dallas Austin as a staff writer and producer, he struck out on his own in 2017 founding his own specialist agency, It’s Never Simple, focused on developing new industry talents in an ethical way – whilst consulting for industry companies on best practice in artist relations and marketing. At video streaming and on-demand platform Lounges.tv, JD works in-house to fuel the growth of emerging content creators and artists – helping them be fairly rewarded for their talents at highest payment rate in the industry. JD has featured in national UK media advocating for music artists and their rights on Sky News, ITV News at 6 and BBC Radio 5 Live.

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Jess Iszatt is the host of Radio 1’s flagship BBC Introducing show; where she champions and showcases the talents of unknown and emerging music artists. Jess is at the very cutting edge of music, always looking for that rising star.  

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Jodie runs one of the most exciting new music nights in the UK, ‘Discover Live’ - which has become pivotal in new artists development - and champions the very best independent and new music. Jodie has previously presented for shows on Radio 1 and BBC Introducing. Jodie's dedication to spotlighting female artists as headliners reflects her commitment to fostering inclusivity and diversity in the music industry. Jodie has just launched an innovative new YouTube format and show ‘Fan Girl Files’ which is where she’ll interview someone as their superfan.

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Jodie Luckie is a Senior Publicist at award-winning PR company, Toast Press and has spent the past three years dedicated to building their electronic roster, looking after the likes of Disclosure, Confidence Man, Daniel Avery, Mura Masa, horsegiirL + many more. She is committed to breaking emerging artists and pushing unheard voices into the mainstream.

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Jon Lawrence is the director of Chalk Press Agency, a London based public relations company representing the likes of Sam Fender, The Last Dinner Party, Mumford & Sons, Mitski, PJ Harvey, and Michael Kiwanuka. Jon started out in publicity back in 2005, working for a couple of prominent independent music PR companies before founding Chalk in January 2015. Jon has been nominated for Music Week’s PR Campaign award five times, and represented a host of #1 charting artists on both sides of the Atlantic, BRIT and Grammy Award winners, Mercury Music Prize winners, Ivor Novello winners, several BBC Sound of.. Poll winners, and plenty more besides.

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Jonny has an innate knack for helping artists find, articulate and maintain their true voices be it Rina Sawayama & Elton Johns ‘Chosen Family’ or Nathan Dawe & KSI’s ‘Lighter' it’s a skill that’s seen him go on to sell millions records to date. Jonny’s collaborations are as vast as they are varied including; Tom Grennan, Joy Crookes, Rina Sawayama, Mahalia, Nathan Dawe, M1llionz, Janelle Monae, Sigrid, Maisie Peters, Hamzaa, Zak Abel, Sinead Harnett, Bruno Major, Tom Odell & Raye.

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Jordan Stephens is a writer and performer, best known as one half of the chart-topping duo Rizzle Kicks, who sold over 600,000 copies of their debut album Stereo Typical in the UK and went on to sell over a million records. Having been publicly open with his own struggles surrounding mental health, Jordan has been very active in creating awareness around the stigma. His mental health campaign #IAMWHOLE reached over 120 million people online and was mentioned in the Houses of Parliament. His children's book The Missing Piece was recently shortlisted for the Waterstones Children’s Prize. His new book Avoidance, Drugs, Heartbreak and Dogs releases in August 2024.

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Kelly Betts is the Editor for BBC Music Introducing, the BBC’s unique new music discovery initiative. Introducing is made up of key local radio shows around the country, finding new music from their scene and feeding the best new music through to Radio 1, 1Xtra, Radio 2, 6Music, Asian Network & Radio 3 . BBC Introducing host stages at Radio 1’s Big Weekend, Glastonbury, Reading and Leeds, Latitude and The Great Escape. In 2007, Kelly helped launch the local BBC Introducing show in Beds, Herts & Bucks & has dedicated her career to helping new musicians across the UK. 

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Khadejia is a presenter and DJ who began her career at the age of 16. Over the years, she has built a strong reputation in the industry, securing DJ residencies internationally and performing for major brands like Nike and Adidas. Additionally, she hosted the afternoon show on Rinse FM for two years, a position she recently left to focus on her production company, ‘Khadejia Productions’.

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Lizz Steichen brings to the business a unique blend of experience as a former musician and seasoned marketing professional. Having transitioned from roles in A&R and PR to touring as a songwriter, singer, and guitarist in an all-girl rock band, Lizz is now focused on her marketing career. At Ticketmaster, she works across EMEA with touring promoters and artist teams to drive their strategic initiatives for global and international tours and has supported global campaigns from the likes of Taylor Swift, Olivia Rodrigo, Billie Eilish, Harry Styles, and Adele to name a few. She is also passionate about nurturing rising stars and has been a primary contributor to Ticketmaster’s New Music content initiative highlighting emerging talent, and in 2023 Lizz oversaw the expansion of the UK’s annual Breakthrough list to include a grant which committed £50,000 to help new artists cover their touring costs.

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Louise oversees the UK editorial team at Hal Leonard – the world’s largest printed music publisher. She handles publisher and writer relationships, assists in deal negotiations, and curates the Repertoire catalogue, managing projects for renowned artists such as ABBA, Adele, Ed Sheeran, Max Richter, Yann Tiersen, and more. Louise also collaborates closely with a number of industry partners, utilising the company’s exclusive rights, content and expertise to co-develop innovative products that enable music-making for a wider audience. Louise is a frequent contributor to the Music Publishers Association's training courses and sits on a number of MPA committees.

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Maia hosts Best New Pop Extra on BBC Sounds – and regularly covers for Mollie King on Radio 1’s Future Pop. Maia also works for BBC Introducing, hosting their special events coverage (on stage, radio and socials) for festivals such as Glastonbury and Reading & Leeds and recently presented BBC iPlayer TV segments at Radio 1’s Big Weekend in Dundee. Supporting new and diverse artists is her passion – she hosts BBC Introducing showcases in London and Manchester – and when she covered Clara on Radio 1’s Future Sounds she curated a show of female/non binary only artists as well as a ‘regional roadmap’ show – supporting musicians from all over the UK. 

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Megan leads on all things Education and Community for Marshall group on a global scale. Harnessing Marshall’s heritage and roots of listening to musicians, Megan uses her industry experience and background to provide opportunities for the next generations of musicians and industry.

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Grammy award winning, BRIT and Ivor Novello-nominated artist/producer/writer MNEK, has clocked up an astonishing fifteen years in the music business. With over 4 BILLION streams on MNEK written, featured and produced tracks, he has grown to become a true powerhouse within the British pop world.

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With nearly 15 years under her belt as a publicist working with the likes of Daft Punk, Florence + The Machine, Daniel Avery and Charli XCX, the majority of that time helming independent agency Totem, Naomi joined Polydor in 2016 as Head of Online PR before switching roles and joining the marketing team. In this new role, she has spearheaded campaigns for internationally acclaimed artists including Lana Del Rey, boygenius, Daniel Caesar and Kacey Musgraves, as well as rising stars Elmiene and Etta Marcus.

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Nikki's work has seen her have stints at Warner Music Group and Believe amongst others, sign acts such as Ayelle, Alfa Mist, Cat Burns and James Vickery. Some of her favourite work has included Glastonbury Festival and Mayor of London Arts & Culture events, scouting, negotiating and signing international audio and visual content/ IP deals (ranging from record deals to distribution) and conceptualising artist campaigns with amazing talent which has resulted in millions of streams and countless sold out live shows. With a keen interest in social impact, she founded mana to advance sustainable careers in the music industry - enabling artists to maximise their projects, advocating for working conditions in which music professionals thrive and as a result breaking down the barriers of who gets to be creative. 

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2x BRIT nominated duo Nova Twins are the zeitgeist-capturing polymath pioneers that our times have been waiting for. Their debut album ‘Who Are The Girls?’ planted their flag as outliers on a mission. The same fighting spirit is ingrained in their new, Mercury Shortlisted album ‘Supernova’, a piece of work that’s fearlessly itself.

Olivia is a music journalist from Oxford, UK. Prior to joining DJ Mag as their Digital Staff Writer earlier this year, she freelanced for publications including DIY Magazine, The Line of Best Fit, and The Forty Five. During her English Lit degree, she worked as Editor-in-Chief of the UK’s largest student music magazine, The Mic. She also mentors young journalists through the Bright Futures UK charity.

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Rhia is responsible for B2B and B2C growth of the leading platform for live music discovery, Songkick. With 8 years’ experience in marketing, including running global campaigns and press relations, she enjoys making data-informed decisions to scale and drive demand generation and revenue. Rhia gains fulfilment in seeking opportunities to represent a range of community groups that are close to her heart from women in Sports & STEM, to being an active member of female leadership groups and the LGBTQI+ community at Warner Music. She believes that no one should be left behind and embraces every opportunity to engage with groups to support and amplify their voices to be heard.

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Shanice Edwards is a Junior A&R Manager at Since ‘93/Sony Music UK. Working on artists such as METTE and DC. Before joining the label, she founded an up-and-coming artist event series, which lead to her being across exciting up and coming artists. Shanice is passionate about finding distinctive artists who are incredibly driven and at the fore of their scenes and genres.

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Since joining YouTube in 2019, Sheniece has played a seminal role in the growth of Black talent both on and off the platform. In addition to working on events such as Skepta’s Live Q&A, GRM Daily Discography with Ghetts & Wretch 32, a Stefflon Don Fan Event, Aitch’s EP launch party, Michael Brun’s Album launch party and Tiwa Savage’s single launch party, Sheniece is actively involved in tackling anti-Black racism and championing Black talent within the music industry. Sheneice's contribution to elevating Black culture has led to her being crowned Music Week’s ‘Rising Star’ at the 2021 Women In Music Awards, and won the Best Publicity & Relations award two years in a row at the Young Music Boss awards in 2023 & 2024

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Sophia is Deputy Digital Editor (Audience) for The Big Issue. A proud care experienced journalist, she writes across social affairs and culture, and finds creative ways to bring the news to social media audiences. Sophia has appeared on Sky News as part of the morning paper review, and BBC Breakfast, speaking on the topic of foster care. She is a 2023-2024 Churchill Fellow, researching trauma-informed journalism. In 2021 Sophia was named on the PPA 30 under 30 list, and in 2022 won ‘Exclusive of the Year’ at the NCTJ Excellence in Journalism Awards.

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Sophia started out in the industry as a musician, before jumping the fence to become a promoter in the Live Nation office in London. Her roster of artists includes the Weeknd, TWICE, Lizzo, Twenty One Pilots and Stray Kids, and she also works on the team looking after Coldplay’s touring in mainland Europe. When not working, she likes gardening, as plants cannot send emails.

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Sophie K is presenter of Kerrang Radio’s breakfast, Absolute Radio Weekends, Amazon Music and her succesful ‘On Wednesdays We Wear Black’ podcast. Sophie has presented her own show (Tube Screamer) for the UK’s most well known rock and metal channel Scuzz TV. She has also been cover presenter for the BBC Radio 1 Indie Show.

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Having started her career in radio events at Global (Capital and Radio X), Sophie moved into the concert promotions world 16 years ago. In her current role as Senior Promoter at Metropolis Music (part of Live Nation), Sophie has built an impressive roster featuring artists like The Lumineers, Bat For Lashes, Laufey, Benson Boone, and Jessie Murph, while also working closely with renowned musicians such as Robbie Williams, Blur, Eminem, Paolo Nutini, Tenacious D, and George Ezra. This year, she is co-programming the 2024 British Summer Time shows in Hyde Park.

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Tom Mehrtens is Head of Music & Entertainment at leading PR agency SATELLITE414. Their current roster of musicians includes Rina Sawayama, Chappell Roan, Caroline Polachek, Beyonce, Ellie Goulding, Walt Disco and more. Outside of music they also work with a variety of leaders in their fields such as Munroe Bergdorf, Attitude Awards, Mighty Hoopla festival, Homo Sapiens podcast and Queer Britain (the UK’s first and only LGBTQ+ museum).

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Andrew is innovation Manager for Cheltenham Festivals, Senior Academic at the University of Gloucestershire, Cheltenham Culture Board coordinator and in his spare time performs as double bassist with Thrill Collins. He has worked in cross sector roles including events, academia, politics, broadcast and innovation, has written research and worked with young people to help them realise their own musical ambitions. Andrew is autistic and runs a neurodiverse consultancy that specialises in intersectional, regenerative projects to help make businesses and organisations more accessible and sustainable.

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Berkeley is the Head of Music and a principal at Clintons – a market-leading boutique law firm. He represents a broad cross section of the most successful musical talent in the UK and Europe as well as advising many emerging artists on the pathways available in the modern music industry.

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With a passion for marketing, Bre has worked on a number of global artist campaigns. She is passionate about equality, diversity and inclusion, and was previously the Head of Sony Music UK's first ever diversity committee, HUE UK. In 2019, she launched a collective, Women Connect UK, which works to advocate for and provide opportunities for women and non-binary folk in the creative industries.

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Charlotte is passionate about finding ways for organisations to have a positive impact on their communities, their employees and wider society.  

Starting her career in marketing and moving through the voluntary sector into Corporate Responsibility, Charlotte has worked across a variety of functions including Social Impact, DEI and Environmental Programmes. She is an expert in strategic grant-making and has led corporate foundations for global FTSE-listed organisations as well as having been CEO of a charity.

In 2021 Charlotte joined Sony Music UK as their first Director of Diversity, Inclusion and Social Impact. In this role she leads on community programmes, charity partnerships and embedding equitable and inclusive practices across the company.

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Claire is an audit partner at Saffery LLP, a top 15 accountancy firm. She has more than 20 years’ experience and specialises in working with charities. Her client portfolio includes a number of arts charities as well as a wide range of other not for profit entities including grant makers and fundraising charities. Claire enjoys working with her clients to help them navigate a variety of challenges and opportunities. No two clients are ever the same.

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Freddie works in Membership and EDI at London Youth Choirs. He also runs a DIY electronic music record label, hosts monthly radio shows, and DJs in his home city of London and around the UK. Alongside this, Freddie is a member of the first European Music Business Task Force and podcast show host for the Music Cities Network's "Music Industry Voices" podcast. 

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Hanna Chalmers has spent her career working in, and around the media, tech, music and entertainment industries. She spent nearly a decade at the BBC working with a wide research remit across the youth brands from Cbeebies to BBC Radio 1 and 1Xtra. She then moved to Universal Music where she established and led the research and insights practice in the UK. In 2020 Hanna set up CultureStudio Research, a 'culture first' insights practice and collective operating out of London but working internationally.

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Miri is a brand strategist and Head of Communications for a not-for-profit membership organisation. She has worked with an array of consumer brands and charities leading on creative and behaviour change projects. She’s passionate about youth culture, helping people share their lived experiences to influence societal change or help increase opportunities available to individuals and communities. Over the years, Miri has worked on the launch of Apple Music, implementing programmes with Sport England, Youth Sport Trust, and national governing bodies, and even whipped up a media storm(zy) about Youth Music. 

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With a background in public funding, diversity and inclusion, music management and professional development, one of Paul’s first paid jobs in the industry was running a Youth Music funded DJ and Rap project in his hometown of Oxford. Paul currently leads the Music Manager Forum's ground-breaking Accelerator supported by YouTube Music.

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Sarah is the national programme lead for children and young people’s mental health at NHS England. With over 20 years’ experience in public sector children’s services, Sarah has been at the forefront of developing and delivering public policy, leading strategic commissioning and driving large-scale transformational change at a national, sub-regional and local level.

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Nathifa Jordan is the Business Director at CultureMix Arts, a not-for-profit music and carnival arts organisation based in Berkshire. She is an experienced creative with a demonstrated history of working with young people in music related activities. Nathifa has a degree in Sociology from the University of Surrey and is passionate about education and personal development. She leads the facilitation of business training, work experience, careers advice and mentoring making a positive difference to the lives and futures of many young people. Through her work her mission is to help empower young people to achieve their ambitions and further develop prospects for careers in the music and creative industry.

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