Who's who at MLA East Midlands

Samantha Bestwick, chief executive
Sam leads the engagement of MLA East Midlands with key museum, library and archive stakeholder groups and directs all aspects of the organisation’s work to meet objectives and policies set by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA). Sam sustains close working relationships with other regional bodies, developing areas of mutual interest and acting as an advocate for the sector at local, regional and national levels.

Caroline Pick, director of development and programmes
Caroline leads the organisation’s programmes team, coordinating the delivery of national and local programmes to benefit East Midlands’ museums, libraries and archives.  She works closely with the chief executive to secure inward investment and leads MLA East Midlands’ local government engagement and activity on cultural infrastructure.

Katherine Wilson, director of marketing and communications
Katherine leads marketing and communications for MLA East Midlands, marketing the region's museums, archives and libraries sector regionally and nationally.  Katherine supports the chief executive in the strategic management of MLA East Midlands, managing the organisation’s public profile and developing partnerships with key regional stakeholders.

Cathy Winward, director of finance and support services
Cathy is reviewing and updating financial procedues as well as managing day-to-day finances.  She will develop and introduce performance and project management systems and will take the lead on health and safety issues.

Liz Towner, learning and workforce development manager
Liz will lead on developing and delivering MLA East Midlands’ workforce development and learning programmes. She will also lead regional learning policy and workforce development policy for the sector, build and maintain strong partnerships with regional learning and workforce development organisations and contribute to and support relevant regional sector networks.

Davey Ivens, learning project officer
Davey works on the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) and Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) Strategic Commissioning Programme. His key role is to support the wider museums community and archives across the region to develop and deliver education programmes and to develop links with local teachers and schools.

Deborah Skinner, museum accreditation assessor
Deb works to assess museum applications and annual returns from across the East Midlands for museums taking part in the Museum Accreditation Scheme.

Ruth Stockdale, regional communications officer (Renaissance)
Ruth works to raise the profile of Renaissance in the East Midlands by developing publicity campaigns and ensuring media coverage of, and stakeholder engagement with, events and developments.  She also maintains the Renaissance East Midlands website and assists with events and publications.

Ryan Brown, ICT support administrator
Ryan provides ICT network support to all MLA East Midlands staff and contract personnel. He is the website administrator and works with the marketing and communications team to maintain and update the MLA East Midlands and Renaissance East Midlands sites on a regular basis. Ryan also works to provide secretarial, administrative and clerical support for the Chief Executive and other MLA East Midlands staff.