I have been working for over 20 years in the creative industries both as a freelance visual artist and in many roles supporting and managing professional development and creative regeneration programmes. Currently I am Director of Programmes at Connections Communications Centre in Hammersmith, a charity dedicated to providing media training and services so that every individual can raise their aspirations through media literacy, creative empowerment and the chance to share their story. Connections worked with over 500 young people at risk of disengagement from education last year, and we run a young people’s forum which gives young people a chance to feed ideas into our programmes. This year is Connections 25th Anniversary and we are premiering 6 new short films by young people at the Riverside Studios cinema. We built and run Ontrack an online community for independent training providers at www.ontrack.uk.net. Ontrack includes an online monitoring and tracking database, showcasing, marketing and news, and an online learning environment. We also deliver coaching and leadership programmes for media professionals, and our associated social enterprise, Ravenscourt Media, www.ravenscourtmedia.co.uk provides a media facilities hire service.

Safaa Nhairy is a writer, broadcaster and media consultant. She has lived in Morocco, the USA and the UK. She speaks fluent French, Arabic and English. Safaa has a Bachelor in Communication from George Mason University, in Virginia, USA and an LLM (Master) in International Law from City University, London. Safaa is the founder of The Leader World and the Director of Leader Media Ltd www.leader-media.co.uk .