Arts and Culture
Perrett Laver has extensive experience of senior level executive search across a range of organisations within the wider creative and cultural sectors.
We care passionately about the value and wider skills that the arts and culture bring to society, and are deeply committed to working for organisations that promote these sectors, particularly at a time of global uncertainty and rapid change.
Complex sustainability issues face these sectors, including funding, engagement, diversity and the appropriate use of digital technologies. As a truly integrated, global firm, we offer genuinely deep local and regional knowledge and networks to locate the strongest and most exciting talent for our clients to seize the opportunities these challenges present, wherever they may be.
We have worked on global non-executive and senior executive assignments to support specialist and curatorial appointments. Alongside this, we have also conducted a wide range of searches across all professional service functions, where we have a strong track record of utilising our extensive networks across the wider private and non-profit arenas to support successful cross-sectoral appointments. These have included senior assignments in the areas of fundraising; finance; digital, marketing and communications; human resources; education, learning and participation; programming and audience engagement; estates and buildings.
How We Think
Where We Can Help
Museums, Galleries and Heritage
Perrett Laver has worked for a wide range of organisations that exist to promote the value of heritage and culture to wider audiences. These have encompassed national museum groups and libraries, through to heritage bodies and internationally-renowned contemporary visual art galleries.
Our assignments have been at non-executive director, Chief Executive and senior Director-level. Alongside our global networks of leaders with specialist and curatorial backgrounds, we have used our wider experience across a variety of sectors to identify and successfully secure professional services leaders from all functions.
Performing Arts and Multi-Disciplinary Cultural Spaces
We can offer experience of leading assignments for a variety of global organisations that promote engagement with performance art forms, and the performing arts more widely. Appointments have been for theatre, opera and wider music companies and venues, as well as for leaders for festivals and multi-disciplinary spaces.
Our assignments have been at non-executive director, Chief Executive and senior Director-level. Alongside our international networks of leaders with relevant specialist careers, we have used our wider experience across a variety of sectors to identify and successfully secure professional services leaders from all functions.
Conservatoires, Specialist Higher Education Institutions and Specialist Arts Schools
We are passionate about the opportunities and skills that education for the arts, cultural and sporting areas bring to young people, and to society more widely, particularly at a time when wider global economic and political changes pose potential threats to their promotion and future sustainability. We have therefore developed a strong track record of recruitment to specialist educational organisations that draws upon our deep expertise across the educational, cultural and sport sectors.
Perrett Laver is one of the global market leaders for educational and academic appointments. We work with a wide variety of higher education institutions around the world, ranging from the strongly research intensive to the solely teaching and learning focused. Working with schools, our clients include leading UK independent schools, maintained schools and special schools, educational charities, international schools and global schools groups. Perrett Laver has also worked extensively with international educational bodies, funding councils, learned societies, policy organisations, and other leading bodies where educational agendas meet wider government policy and priorities.
Our work has been at the non-executive and Vice-Chancellor, Principal, Head and equivalent level, alongside numerous leadership roles at senior academic and professional service leadership level. We also have a large scale Global Chairs and Professors practice, working annually on a vast range of research leadership appointments across a variety of different disciplines.
Non-Profits, Foundations and Learned Societies
As a wider firm, Perrett Laver is one of the global market leaders for our work with non-profits, educational and charitable organisations, and we are passionate about utilising this experience for the broader service and promotion of the arts, culture, sports and education in global society.
We have therefore proactively supported a number of trusts, foundations, learned societies and membership bodies, and other non-profit or charitable organisations that exist to advocate for these sectors more widely, across a range of senior executive and non-executive appointments.
Who To Talk To
Dr Emi Saliasi
Senior Consultant
EMEA
Dr Emi Saliasi
Senior Consultant
Emi is a Senior Consultant.
Her senior level executive search experience includes Executive and Senior Academic and Administrative appointments in the Higher Education, Research and Innovation, Social Impact and Environment and Arts and Culture sectors. In addition, she has worked on multiple senior appointments in the intersection between academic organisations, arts and culture, and industry.
Emi holds a BSc in Psychology, an MSc in Cognitive Neuroscience from Utrecht University and a PhD in the Cognitive Neuroscience of Aging from the University of Groningen. Before joining Perrett Laver, Emi worked as a postdoc in Social Medicine at the VU University Medical Center in Amsterdam. Besides her academic commitments, she also represented the PhD community in Groningen and helped manage the communication platforms for a large conference.
Emi is fluent in English, Dutch & Albanian and speaks conversational Italian.
t: +31 (0) 2 02 40 43 73
Josephine Scholten
Regional Managing Partner, Europe
EMEA
Josephine Scholten
Regional Managing Partner, Europe
Josephine is a Regional Managing Partner, Europe
Her experience of senior level executive search includes Board, Chief Executive, Senior Academic and Administrative appointments throughout Europe, within the Higher Education, Research and Innovation, Social Impact and Environment and Arts and Culture Practice.
Prior to joining Perrett Laver, Josephine gained extensive experience in the Higher Education sector having served as the Executive Director of the Universities of the Netherlands (VSNU) for over 7 years. In addition, she was an active member of the European University Association (EUA). Acting as an Adviser to University Presidents, she was responsible for the national lobbying strategy towards the Dutch Government. Under her responsibility, important strategic projects such as the open access strategy and the national research programme ‘digital society’ were initiated. As Senior Vice President HR Josephine spent 3 years living in Geneva working for an international trading firm. She brings over 10 experience as interim manager in the public- private domain.
Josephine holds a Masters in Political Science from the University of Amsterdam and is a IMD alumna.
t: +312 0240 4389
Milly Smith
Consultant & Head, Arts and Culture Practice, UK
EMEA
Milly Smith
Consultant & Head, Arts and Culture Practice, UK
Milly is a Senior Consultant and Head UK Arts and Culture Practice at Perrett Laver.
She works across the sector in visual arts, heritage, performing arts, cultural agencies and conservatoires on senior appointments including CEO and functional director positions as well as non-executive roles. Her experience includes appointments in the UK and internationally with clients such as Tate, Imperial War Museums, V&A, Design Museum, Natural History Museum, Royal Horticultural Society, Edinburgh International Festival, City of Birmingham Orchestra, Sadler’s Wells and Royal Shakespeare Company.
Milly is passionate about the arts and what it brings to society as a whole and strives to find future leaders who will drive creativity and innovation in the sector.
Milly holds an MA in History of Art from the University of Edinburgh.
t: 0207 340 6207
Katharine Poundstone
Managing Partner, Hong Kong
Asia Pacific
Katharine Poundstone
Managing Partner, Hong Kong
Katharine is a Partner at Perrett Laver and co-lead of our Hong Kong operation.
Her experience includes Chief Executive and Senior Academic and Administrative appointments in Higher Education and Research within Asia-Pacific.
Katharine has until recently been the Resident Director for the Alliance for Global Education in Beijing. A native of Kentucky, Katharine, has lived and worked in mainland China for many years, beginning with a study abroad experience in Beijing in 1992-93.
After graduating from Reed College (BA in Chinese Language & Literature; Biochemistry & Molecular Biology) she spent a year in China as a Thomas J. Watson fellow and then completed her M.H.S. at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. In 2000 Katharine returned to China, where she has worked as epidemiologist on various public health projects, including projects focussing on AIDS/STD prevention and control, with the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, the World Health Organization, and the Chinese government. She also received a fellowship from the Blakemore Foundation to study advanced Mandarin Chinese at Tsinghua University in 2008-09.
Dr Gordon Lobay
Regional Managing Partner, Americas
Americas
Dr Gordon Lobay
Regional Managing Partner, Americas
Gordon is a Regional Managing Partner, Americas. He leads our Canadian operations and delivers senior-level searches across all of the sectors in which we operate. He began with the firm in our London office and subsequently opened the Vancouver office in 2013 and the Toronto office a few years later.
Gordon holds a B.A. in Classics and Anthropology from Alberta, an MPhil in Archaeology from Glasgow, a PhD (on the looting and illegal trading of antiquities) from Cambridge (Homerton College) and a Corporate Executive Certificate from the Alberta, School of Business. He held junior research positions at Texas (Institute of Classical Archaeology) and Westminster (ESRC Project on the UK’s Dealing in Cultural Objects Offences Act 2003) and he was Collections Management Advisor at Alberta (Museums and Collections Services). He was also an Associate Scholar on the Intellectual Property in Cultural Heritage Project and continues to write book reviews for a few academic journals. He also brings government experience from the UK (Parliamentary Ombudsman) and Canada (Government of Alberta), where he managed a socioeconomic program evaluation team and received a Premier’s Award for outstanding client services.
t: +1 604 358 7113