Aminatta Forna

Aminatta Forna is an award-winning novelist, memoirist and essayist. She was born in Scotland and raised between Sierra Leone and the United Kingdom, as well as spending periods of her childhood in Iran and Thailand. Her novels are The Hired Man, The Memory of Love and Ancestor Stone.

Katie Derham

Katie Derham is one of the UK’s leading broadcasters and a cornerstone of cultural arts at the BBC. As the face of the BBC Proms, Katie has been presenting the main coverage of the musical extravaganza for the past six years, alongside her regular BBC Radio 3 show, Afternoons On 3.

Tessa Ross (Chair)

Tessa Ross is CEO of House Productions, the film and television production company that she recently launched with her business partner. She was previously Controller of Film and Drama at Channel 4, during which time Film4 worked with the most innovative talent in the UK and built a reputation for developing some of the most acclaimed British films of recent years.

Sam Baker

Sam Baker grew up in Hampshire and after a degree in politics at Birmingham University became a journalist. She has edited some of the UK’s biggest magazines, including Just Seventeen, Cosmopolitan and Red. In 2015 she co-founded The Pool (www.the-pool.com) the online platform that makes inspiring and original content for busy women.

Sara Pascoe

Sara Pascoe is a comedian who has appeared on Live at The Apollo, Mock the Week, QI, Room 101, Never Mind the Buzzcocks and 8 out of 10 Cats as well as acting in Twenty Twelve and The Thick of It and writing columns for The Guardian.