Meet the committee members

Ashok is the Deputy Director of communications for the UK Government Cabinet Office. He was previously Director of Communications, UK Government Wales, and before that Director of Mela communications agency. An experienced journalist he worked as Executive Editor, Politics at BBC Wales. As a visiting expert on media and elections for the Council of Europe, he worked on missions and seminars across Eastern Europe. He was Chair of the Organising Committee of the 2018 National Eisteddfod.

Catherine is Artistic Director of Wales' new writing theatre company, Dirty Protest and an independent live performance director from Wales. She is an Arts Associate for the Arts Council of Wales, a Fellow of the Clore Leadership Programme and a regional ambassador for the National Student Drama Festival. Catherine was a Founding Associate of National Theatre Wales and has directed stage productions and run artist development programmes internationally.

David Anderson is Director General at Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales, a board member of the Museums Association and Co-Director of the Exhibition Road Cultural Group. He published a report A Common Wealth: Museums in the Learning Age and managed the creation of the V&A’s new £4 million Sackler Centre for Arts Education, which opened in 2008. He was awarded an OBE in 1999 for services to museums and education.

Elaine is Head of Cultural Engagement and Development at Swansea University’s Cultural Institute and Executive Officer of the International Dylan Thomas Prize. Her responsibilities include leadership of DylanED, the educational strand of the Dylan Thomas Prize, as well as Head of Swansea University’s hub for the Being Human Festival. She has previously held a number of academic positions in Hispanic Studies and is Chair of the UK/Ireland Consortium of Institutes of Advanced Study. 

Eluned Hâf is Head of Wales Arts International, the international arm of Arts Council of Wales and a partnership with British Council. Eluned sits on the management board of the Arts Council. Eluned is also one of the directors of Cerdd Cymru : Music Wales. A journalist by training, Eluned has worked for BBC Wales, Reuters, ITV regions and S4C. She speaks five languages and worked as a press officer in the European Parliament.

Huw Morris is Director of Skills, Higher Education and Lifelong Learning within Welsh Government. In this post he is responsible for the oversight of higher education, further education, student finance and government funded work based learning provision. Before taking on this role he held a variety of academic posts from research assistant to  deputy vice-chancellor at universities in the UK.  

After a successful career in television, included her beating 15,000 applicants to co-present a RTE/The Travel Channel production, Lleucu joined the Arts Council of Wales and was appointed Deputy CEO of Academi in 2002. As CEO of Literature Wales from 2010, she has been key in leading the celebration of Dylan Thomas’ centenary. She is interested in developing global links via live spoken word/hip-hop and writes a column for the Western Mail magazine.

Mary is the Chief Technical Advisor for the UK Skills for Prosperity Project in Indonesia at the International Labour Organization. She is a former Vice Principal of Cardiff and Vale College. She has established successful international partnerships in Europe, China, India and South East Asia, Africa and the Middle East. She holds qualifications in marketing; business, international relations and the political economy and an executive MBA.

Owen is the Chief Executive of Children in Wales and former  Director of Teach First Cymru. Owen is also a non-executive director and trustee at the Adolescent and Children’s Trust - the UK’s largest fostering and adoption charity. A fluent Welsh-speaker and qualified Maths teacher, Owen is passionate about social justice and tackling inequality. 

Rhiannon has spent 19 years creating opportunities for young people through arts and film festivals. She's a founding member of  Wicked Wales, an international youth film festival. In 2017 she joined a team of volunteers to launch Wicked Cinema a community run mobile cinema. She is a former vice chair of Arts Council Wales, Ffilm Cymru Wales, trustee of National Museums Wales, chair of the Scala Cinema Trust and former Leader of Denbighshire County Council. She recently joined the Hijinx Board.