Alan Horn — Chair
Alan Horn is the Director of Development at The Glasgow School of Art, where since 2010, he has been a member of the Senior Leadership Group with responsible for external engagement and strategic philanthropy. Previously, he held similar roles at The Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, and Glasgow Life, where he also led the award-winning campaign to refurbish Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum. His early career was in retail management and economic development.
He is an experienced Charity Trustee, currently serving on the boards of The National Library of Scotland, St John Scotland, the Merchants House of Glasgow, and Glasgow Chamber of Commerce. Alan is passionate about music, particularly opera and choral singing.
Mark Batho
Mark retired from being a Vice-Principal at Abertay University in July 2020. Before that he had been a civil servant for nearly 30 years and then Chief Executive at the Scottish Further and Higher Education Funding Council. He is currently serving as Chair of The Robertson Trust.
Mark’s interest in music began at the age of 8 when he became a choirboy and he has since sung in choirs all his life. He is married with 3 grown-up children and 2 small grandchildren. He lives in Edinburgh.
James Cook
Dr James Cook is Senior Lecturer in Early Music at the University of Edinburgh where he also serves as the ECA Director of Research. Before this he worked at the universities of Sheffield, Bangor, Cambridge, and Nottingham. He specialises in music of the medieval and Renaissance periods, cultural heritage, and the digital humanities, as well as hosting Edinburgh College of Art’s Research Podcast Artful Enquiry.
James lives in Linlithgow with his wife and two young children and enjoys singing and playing various string instruments.
Susie Gray
Susie has worked in arts PR for over 20 years. As Head of Communications for the Edinburgh International Festival she delivered media and strategic communications across digital, social, stakeholders and media, and conceived and established the international launch and engagement plan for the organisation. Prior to which she worked across press and marketing at the Traverse Theatre. She was also a Communications Consultant for the European Union and in 2011 was instrumental in the launch of the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad. In 2015 Susie established The Corner Shop PR, now Premier Scotland. One of the UK’s leading cultural PR agencies their clients range across all artforms and from grassroots individual artists to the UK’s leading festivals.
Alex Hayes
Alex is Head of Development (Arts & Divinity) at the University of St Andrews, where since 2013 he has mostly been working with individual donors to support the arts and humanities, including the Laidlaw Music Centre, Byre Theatre and the Wardlaw Museum. He was lead fundraiser for the successful capital fundraising campaign for the new Laidlaw Music Centre.
Prior to joining St Andrews he worked for five years on corporate sponsorship at the Edinburgh International Festival, which followed a ten year career in marketing and communications with large financial services organisations in London. He was a Board member and latterly Chair of the St Andrews-based vocal music festival, St Andrews Voices.
Alex’s musical life began as a boy treble at Jesus College Cambridge and as an adult he has continued to participate when he can in opera, musical theatre and choral performance.
Raymond Jack
Fiona McAllister
Fiona McAllister is a senior legal and governance adviser at Channel 4 Television Corporation, where she works closely with executives and editorial leaders on complex legal, regulatory and reputational issues of strategic importance to the organisation in order to support decision-making, often in high-profile and fast-moving environments.
Prior to joining Channel 4, Fiona spent more than a decade in private practice advising on reputational, media, litigation and commercial matters. She is qualified to practise in Scotland, England & Wales and Ireland.
Alongside her executive career, Fiona has a strong track record in governance, professional leadership and charitable service. She is a member of the Council of the Law Society of Scotland, serves on the executive committee of the Media Lawyers’ Association and is an Ambassador for LawRocks, supporting access to music education for young people. Previously, she served as President of the Scottish Young Lawyers’ Association and as a Director of LawWorks Scotland. In addition, she co-chairs Channel 4’s gender equality network, 4Womxn, where she has led the development of pioneering policies on pregnancy loss, fertility and menstrual health, helping to advance inclusion and wellbeing across the organisation and country.
A trained musician and keen saxophonist, Fiona is passionate about widening access to music and the arts. A qualified coach and mentor, she brings to the Board expertise in governance, strategy, regulation and organisational leadership, together with a strong commitment to education, inclusion and cultural participation.
Kalvir Sangha
Kal has over 25 years’ experience across tax, finance and strategy. He has held senior roles in practice during his career, including Partner at RSM where he co-led the UK M&A Tax Practice and, prior to this, at KPMG where he led the Scottish Corporate Tax team in Glasgow.
He retired from practice in 2021 to focus his energy and experience fully on activities and projects supporting positive climate and social impact outcomes. Kal is currently Managing Director and Head of Sustainable Finance at Noble & Co, a leading investment bank based in Edinburgh. He also sits on the Executive Board of NVH Global Limited, a multinational group developing innovative technologies in clean water and clean energy, with a particular focus in supporting projects in developing countries. He is CFO of Cohesion Medical.
He lives in Glasgow with his wife and two young children.
