Our Directors
Michele Armstrong, Chair
Michele is currently Head of Volunteering at The Auckland Project. She has a long and established career in the voluntary sector, was previously CEO of 2D Voluntary and Community Sector infrastructure organisation for 20 years where her role included supporting organisations in fulfilling their ambitions and providing information, advice and guidance on a range of third sector issues she was also a trustee of County Durham Community Foundation for 18 years.
Michele brings to our board a wealth of expertise in good governance, oversight and scrutiny. She is passionate about her local community and believes everyone should be able to access arts and culture at whatever level of interest or ability, in her free time you will find Michele at a museum or art gallery or out walking enjoying the beautiful Durham countryside.
Jay Conlon, LGBTQIA+ Advocate
Having recently graduated from University of East Anglia, Jay moved home to County Durham to launch their career in the creative industries sharing their love of community arts with the next generation of young people. Jay was a peer researcher for Kings College London supporting the development of a new LGBTQIA+ curriculum for schools and is a trained Key Facilitator.
As a teenager Jay was a member of Durham County Council’s Children & Young People's Overview & Scrutiny Panel and Public Representative Board Member of the 3 Towns Area Action Partnership. They bring to the board skills and experience in equality and diversity, LGBTQIA+ rights and youth advocacy. In their spare time Jay likes to write poetry and talk politics.
Michael Dawson, Safeguarding Advisor
Michael retired after a long career in Education; his last position being Vice Principal following a tenure as Head of School and Director of Computing and IT. Over the last 15 years Michael has specialised in Pastoral work as Designated Safeguarding Lead- a position which gave him a wealth of practical experience solving and managing the many problems encountered by young adults today.
As a board member Michael brings not just his extensive safeguarding knowledge and expertise, but also his passion to encourage young adults to succeed in whatever task they set themselves. In his free time and whilst wearing another professional hat, Michael is also an accomplished sound engineer having worked in the industry professionally in his youth and latterly with his own small company that contributes resources to Jack Drum Arts ongoing events and provision.
Anne Reed
From 2017 to 2025, Anne served as an elected Durham County Councillor for the Crook Division and chaired the Children and Young People’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee.
Anne's diverse career includes 14 years in health and social care, where she assessed the needs of individuals with learning disabilities and developed care plans. Anne also lectured in further education for 11 years, helping students develop IT skills. For almost 10 years, Anne fostered children and young people, gaining a deeper understanding of community concerns and the importance of creating supportive environments.
Anne is excited about bringing her community engagement expertise and connections to the board. Passionate about her local community, she believes we can all make a positive difference in people’s lives.
In her spare time Anne enjoys going on holiday , visiting places of interests but mostly she enjoys being with her family.
Emma Rose, Secretary
Emma is currently Regional Programme Manager for Career Ready. She has decades of experience working in the third sector delivering high impact programmes within the education landscape prioritising working with young people to improve their social mobility, opportunities and attainment whilst building confidence and resilience.
Emma brings to our board a range of skills including marketing, working with businesses to deliver their corporate social responsibility strategy and deliver their ESG objectives and experience of working with schools and colleges to enhance their career offer and increase their ability to achieve the Gatsby benchmarks. Emma is passionate about the North East, community engagement and when she has free time you will find her drumming with Runaway Samba and Baque de Ogum.
Sally Marlow
Sally Marlow is Professor of Practice in the Public Understanding of Mental Health Research at King’s College London where her research interests include health inequities and the role of the arts in mental health. She is also a regular broadcaster on BBC Radio 3, Radio 4 and the World Service, where her programmes include “Storm and Stress”, a BBC Radio 4 series on young people’s mental health, and Scoring Mental Health, a programme for BBC Radio 3 in which people with mental illness co-composed new music to convey their lived experience of mental illness.
Sally was born and raised in the north east and after two decades living and working in the commercial sector in London, New York and various countries in Africa, she made a career change to academia in 2006. She has recently put down roots in the north again, and brings commercial experience, communications expertise and academic rigour to the board.