Trustees

Zeinab is the current Chair of the Royal African Society, a trustee of Historic Royal Palaces, BBC Media Action (the charitable arm of the BBC) and of Hampstead Theatre.

She was born in the Sudan and her family moved to London when she was two years old. She studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Oxford University and completed a Masters degree (awarded with a distinction) in History and Anthropology at SOAS, University of London. She has been awarded two honorary doctorates: from SOAS and from the London College of Communication, University of the Arts London, for her services to broadcasting. She is a broadcast journalist and producer, currently the presenter of Global Questions and Hard Talk for the BBC. Through her own production company, she has produced and presented a major television series about African history.

Her awards include International TV Personality of the Year (the Association of International Broadcasters), the President’s Medal by the British Academy (2018) and the MVISA Movie and Video Industry Lifetime Achievement Award. She has been named several times in the 'Power List' as one of Britain’s top 100 most influential members of the Black community.

Zeinab sits on the Donation and Income Acceptance Committee at the Royal Ballet and Opera.

Lord Browne is the Founder and Chairman of BeyondNetZero, a climate growth equity venture established in partnership with General Atlantic. He served as Group Chief Executive of the international energy company BP from 1995 to 2007, having joined the company in 1966 as a university apprentice. He led BP through a period of significant growth and transformation, including eleven mergers with companies starting with Amoco in 1998 and including Arco, Veba and Castrol. His landmark speech at Stanford University in 1997 established BP as a global leader in the way it thought about and sought to address climate change.

In 2007, he joined Riverstone, a private equity entity, where he was co-head of the world’s largest renewable energy fund until 2015. He is presently Chairman of Pattern Energy, a renewable energy company, Windward, a global maritime predictive intelligence company, and Chairman of SparkCognition, an artificial intelligence technology company.

He is presently independent co-Chairman of the UK Prime Minister’s Council on Science and Technology, Chairman of the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering, Chairman of the Francis Crick Institute, Chairman of the Courtauld Institute of Art, and previously served as Chairman of the Tate Galleries and President of the Royal Academy of Engineering. He was the UK Government’s lead non-executive board member from 2010 until 2015, and chaired the committee that published the Browne Report into higher education.

He holds an MA in Natural Sciences from Cambridge University and an MS in Business from Stanford University in California. In 1999 the Royal Academy of Engineering awarded him the Prince Philip Medal for his outstanding contribution to engineering. He has an interest in Italian works on paper post 1450, art, music, opera and theatre, and is the author of five books.

Lord Browne sits on the Nominations and Remuneration and Finance and Commercial committees at the Royal Ballet and Opera.

As CEO/Executive Director Lisa has sat on the Board for the National Theatre since 2015. She is also Chair of the Lyric Hammersmith.

She has worked for the National Theatre for 20 years, joining as Finance Director, and moving into roles as Chief Operating Officer, Executive Director and Joint Chief Executive. Prior to this, she spent four years as director of finance and operations at the National Gallery Company, the trading arm of the National Gallery.

She was awarded an honourary degree of doctor of letters from Sheffield University in 2019. She was awarded a CBE for services to the arts as part of the 2022 New Year's Honours.

Lisa became a trustee of the Royal Ballet and Opera in 2022 and sits on the Finance and Commercial Committee.

Farah has worked for over three decades in the global creative and media industries to scale businesses, talent and innovation and drive better economic and social outcomes. 

Her previous executive roles include President, Kyu group, CEO of Nike Foundation’s Girl Effect, CEO of Permira-owned ALL3Media and Chairman and CEO of Omnicom network AMV BBDO. She served on the British Prime Minister’s Business Advisory Group 2013–15 and was a Business Ambassador for the Creative Industries of Britain. Previously a Trustee of Sadler’s Wells and the Royal National Theatre, she also served on the Advisory Board of the Cambridge Judge Business School and Save the Children. She has been a Non-Executive Director of Huntsworth Plc and Director of the Board of Aldo Group, Canada. She has a joint honours degree in Modern Languages from Emmanuel College, Cambridge University. 

Currently, Farah is a Special Advisor to private equity firm Advent and a Board Director of their ad tech company Seedtag. She is the Chair of Untold Studios and serves as a Trustee of King’s Trust International and the Young Vic theatre. She is a frequent public speaker on the themes of creativity, People-Purpose-Profit and Women’s Empowerment. She is passionate about dance, cinema and tennis and brings optimism, energy, curiosity and humour to everything that she does. 

Dan Ison is Global Leader for the Technology, Telecoms, Media, Sport and Entertainment Industry across Deloitte Consulting Services worldwide. He has 26 years' experience helping multinational organisations optimise their digital transformations, technology roadmaps and customer experiences. In his leadership role, he is a member of the Deloitte Consulting Services Global Growth Executive. 

Dan has also been a professional opera singer and actor, performing with The Royal Opera, English National Opera, Glyndebourne, BBC Proms, the Royal Festival Hall and various opera and concert venues around Europe. He has sung on several TV, radio and CD recordings including on Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte (conducted by Charles Mackerras) and Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms (conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas). 

He is a Cambridge University alumnus, where he read Modern Languages and Management Studies.

Dan has previously served on the Development Board of the Almeida Theatre and as Board Trustee of the New London Children’s Choir. He currently serves on the Finance & Commercial Committee at BAFTA and the Development Board at the Donmar Warehouse. 

In addition to his role as a Trustee for the Royal Opera House Covent Garden Foundation, Dan sits on the Finance and Commercial Committee. 

Dame Carolyn is CEO of ITV plc, which has undergone a significant transformation to ensure it thrives and succeeds in a ferociously competitive digital media world. Under Carolyn's leadership since 2018, ITV has successfully transitioned from a linear organisation to a strong linear and digital media, entertainment and global production business. 

Between 2010 and 2013, Carolyn was CEO of easyJet, leading a turnaround that resulted in a customer-focused airline that made it easy and affordable for passengers. The share price quadrupled during her tenure. From 2006 to 2010, Carolyn was CEO of the Guardian Media Group, leading six Divisions and creating the investment trust that helped to secure the Guardian's financial and editorial independence. From 2002, she was CEO of Guardian Newspapers Ltd. 

Carolyn joined the Board of the Royal Opera House Covent Garden Foundation in 2024 and sits on the Finance and Commercial Committee. She also currently serves as a Non-Executive Director (NED) on the Board of Bridgepoint plc, and is the newly appointed President of The Marketing Society. She has previously served as a NED of Burberry, Tesco, Lloyds TSB and New Look Group plc. She served as a Trustee of the Royal Academy for 8 years, and Chaired their Corporate Advisory Board during this time.   

In 2016, she was awarded a DBE for services to the aviation industry and received an OBE in 2008 for services to women in business. She was named Veuve Clicquot Businesswoman of the Year in 2008 and has received awards for business leadership from the Evening Standard, City AM and Management Today. 

Joanna Streeten is Managing Director of global infrastructure company AECOM’s Buildings + Places practice (Europe and India), which comprises AECOM’s design, project and cost management capabilities. She is responsible for the delivery of AECOM’s major portfolio of buildings and masterplans across the region, including many of the UK’s significant arts projects, in which she has a particular interest.    

An engineering graduate from King’s College London, she is a chartered engineer and qualified project manager. She has over 35 years of project delivery experience in engineering and construction. She has held senior positions in both client and professional consultancy firms and is a former board member of the Association for Consultancy in Engineering. The first part of her career was spent at the BBC, where she was notably programme manager for the restoration and expansion of the BBC’s flagship headquarters Broadcasting House in central London. 

In addition to her role as a Trustee for the Royal Opera House Covent Garden Foundation, she is a member of the Finance and Commercial and Audit and Risk committees.  

Janis served for 10 years on the Arts Council Stabilisation Advisory Panel. She was Chair of the Society for the Promotion of New Music (1983-1988) and has served as a trustee of the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group, NMC record company, International Artist Managers' Association, Royal College of Music and English National Opera. She currently sits on the boards of the London Symphony Orchestra, Britten Sinfonia and Britten Pears Arts and on the advisory council of the Royal Philharmonic Society. 

She studied at Princeton University and has since worked in the music publishing industry. She is now the Managing Director of Boosey & Hawkes Music Publishers Ltd. 

She was awarded Honorary Membership of the Royal College of Music in 2007. In 2014 she was awarded an OBE for services to music.

Janis Susskind became a trustee of the Royal Ballet and Opera in 2022 and sits on the Learning and Participation and Donation and Income Acceptance Committees.