New Fellows

Naida Culshaw is a weaver, university lecturer and Doctorate of Business Administration candidate at Grenoble Ecole de Management (GEM) in France. As a member of Catalyst 2030 (a movement advancing transformative Sustainable Development Goal solutions) she is a social and systems innovator, connector and sense-maker. Her doctoral research explores how the act of re/membering Indigenous wisdom and local practices informs socially and ecologically minded entrepreneurs and their initiatives. By stirring the remnants of memories, past experiences and ancestral echoes, re/membering can shift one’s focus from the logic of the head to reconnect with one’s embodied heart and ethereal spirit.

Sakif Shamim is the Managing Director of Labaid Cancer Hospital and Deputy Managing Director of Labaid Group in Bangladesh, with over a decade of experience in business management, primarily in the health sector. He leads numerous medical technology initiatives and has played a key role in shaping Bangladesh’s healthcare landscape. Sakif has contributed to national health policies, spearheaded major fundraising efforts and established partnerships with global firms such as Medtronic and Siemens. He also works on generative AI, augmented reality and virtual reality in healthcare. Sakif holds an MBA from the University of Chicago and an MSc from Harvard University. He has featured in Forbes and Time Magazine as a person of the year.

Adina Bezerita is a Romanian American philosopher and scholar, and an alumna of Cambridge and Oxford. As President of the Honorary Council for Science, Innovation and Technology for the Romanian Government Ministry of Research, Innovation and Digitalisation, she actively contributes to knowledge advancement and political and social progress. With her research foundation, Numinous Threads, she develops and presents innovative interdisciplinary projects in ancient wisdom relevant across the humanities and sciences, with an impact on higher education, leadership and governance. Adina is also the first global ambassador for Northwestern University in Romania.

Eddy Nicholls is an illustrator, writer and creative leader. Self-publishing his first book at the age of 14, he has always been a champion of the educational and accessible qualities of comics. He was the creative team leader on [Re]Start: It’s Never Too Late – a genre-breaking graphic novel and guided journal designed to help young people grow. Currently, he is working with major art galleries across North West England, utilising his comic expertise to expand their visitor engagement. He’s also working with the charity Community of Purpose, using design and illustration to raise money for impoverished children in the south west.

Jennifer Hinkel is a business, science and technology leader with expertise in health outcomes, data and economics. She is the President of Sigla Sciences, a co-founder of The Data Economics Company and a DPhil research student in Evidence-Based Health Care at the University of Oxford. She is also a part-time social scientist with the Convergent Aeronautics Solutions strategic foresight team at NASA, working to understand and scope the problems humanity will come to face in the future. Since 2024, she has acted as the Co-Editor-in-Chief of the Blockchain in Healthcare Today: Platform Approaches in Health Care journal.

Elizabeth McKay is Director and CEO of the London Transport Museum. Within the first year of her tenure, she unveiled an ambitious vision for the future, including a new brand, a cultural programme featuring theatre, art and music, and a major capital campaign to ensure that this iconic Covent Garden museum is fit for the future. An award-winning creative leader with experience in museums and heritage, public service broadcasting and commercial advertising, Elizabeth is also an active Trustee and Deputy Chair of Kids in Museums and a member of the Insights Council supporting the English National Opera.

Andy Egan is President of The Scottish Institute of Theatre, Dance, Film & Television. He began his career as a stuntman but, after an injury, transitioned into promotions, publicity and sponsorship, working with companies such as Fuji Film, BP and British Airways. Andy has won two prestigious Ernst & Young awards, for ‘Most Innovative Product’ and ‘Entrepreneur of the Year’. Andy was Vice Chair of Nordoff Robbins music therapy charity and has been a British Olympic Appeals Council member. He is the founder of Silver Rock Studios, a €250m film and television studio set to open in Ireland in 2025.

Modupeola Fadugba is a Nigerian multi-media artist, educator and former chemical engineer. She deploys water as a metaphor for power relations and social exclusion and is best known for her series Dreams from the Deep End (showcased in an Emmy-winning film of the same name and featured at Gallery 1957 in London) and The People’s Algorithm. Modupeola’s work explores themes of identity, access and community. She has been represented in major solo shows as well as group exhibitions including: Dakar Biennale, Senegal, 2016; the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, London, 2020 and 2017; and The Armory Show, New York, 2023.

Yamam Nabeel is an Iraqi, London-based writer and photographer. In 2020, he co-founded Art Forward, an art production house which aims to change the narrative about the Arab region through art, telling stories that have not been heard before. Yamam was born in Baghdad in 1976. His family went into exile in 1980 and spent the following 18 months living across Europe and the Middle East before settling in Hungary and then the UK. At age 16, Yamam’s short stories were translated into Arabic and published to critical acclaim. From 2003 to 2017, Yamam ran FC Unity, an award-winning NGO with a mission to combat violence, extremism and racism through sport and education.

Pam Smith joined Newcastle City Council as Chief Executive in January 2022, having been Chief Executive at Stockport Council since 2017. Pam is also the lead spokesperson for economic prosperity at Solace – the membership network for public sector professionals. In April 2024, Pam was appointed Visiting Professor of Practice at Newcastle University, within the School of Geography, Politics and Sociology. Pam led the university town transformation in Burnley and the £1bn regeneration and transformation of Stockport. Working collaboratively across Newcastle and the region, Pam is now leading the city through the new ‘Green Industrial Age’ as it aims to become a global exemplar for clean energy and sustainable growth.