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Our Board of Directors

Our Board of Directors

About the Board of Directors

Our Directors are:

  • Elected by the members of our network at our AGM, who are individuals or organisations that share our vision and values;
  • Responsible for supporting the Stove Team, which is composed of staff members who work on various projects and events related to creativity, community and place-making;
  • Supportive in delivering both strategic aims and governance of The Stove Network, which means they oversee the direction, performance, quality and accountability of the organisation.

Lynsey Smith (Interim Chair)

Lynsey is a creative economy consultant with almost 20 years of experience.  She has gathered expertise from working in high profile roles for the British Council, Nesta, The Lighthouse and Creative Edinburgh.  Lynsey has strong strategic and leadership skills and is bold in her thinking, building an international network and reputation for her pioneering work with creative hubs.  

Lynsey has gained an invaluable international perspective on the global creative economy after leading on the development of over 100 projects and programmes in more than 40 countries across Africa, Europe, South America and Southeast Asia, in order to advocate or support sustainable creative economies. She spearheaded the creation of the Creative Hubs & Communities portfolio, a brand-new global portfolio for the British Council which she led and internationalised.  

Previously, Lynsey was co-Founder and Executive Director of Creative Edinburgh, one of Europe’s largest creative hubs for the creative, cultural and tech sectors of Edinburgh. Lynsey has been responsible for shaping numerous enterprise programme offers for organisations like Nesta, Eden Project, British Council, Creative & Cultural Skills and Creative Spark.  Most recently, she co-designed a brand-new global leadership programme in partnership with Clore Leadership. Lynsey is an RSA Fellow and alumni member of Future Leaders.

Tony Fitzpatrick

Tony has had a life-long interest in non-traditional approaches to community and economic development in rural areas and worked extensively with the European Commission as head of an EU-wide network of some 80 rural local and regional authorities across 10 member states.

He was formerly on the boards of the Southern Uplands Partnership and Moniaive Festival Village and currently is a member of the Dumfries Partnership Action Group.

He is also a keen, if not professional, local musician. He brings to the Board skills in organisational and people development, networking and a passionate belief in the benefits of collaboration.

Until 2011, Tony was Director for Economic Regeneration at Dumfries and Galloway Council where he was responsible for Planning and Strategic Housing as well as economic development and European and rural affairs. He is a graduate of Strathclyde University Business School. On leaving DGC, he was appointed a Senior Associate Research Fellow at the University of Glasgow Crichton campus where he drove a project to establish the SFC funded Crichton Institute (a research/public policy-focused regional facility). He subsequently became a Director at the Institute until April 2016.

Erica Judge (Treasurer)

Erica is a Director of Funds at Inspiring Scotland, which provides financial and practical support to over 700 of Scotland’s third sector organisations. She was instrumental in launching Creative Communities and Rural Communities Ideas Into Action, two community-led development programmes.  She brings with her over 20 years’ experience in change management, financial strategy and commercial delivery roles.

A US native from New York City, Erica holds an MBA from the Wharton business school, and began her career as a diplomat with the US Foreign Service. She has subsequently worked with a variety of FTSE 50 companies, most recently in the banking and retail sectors. Passionate about community-led change, equity and improving access to opportunity for all, Erica is motivated by a desire to make the world better by helping people and organisations achieve their objectives.

Erica has lived in the UK for over two decades, with half that time in Scotland. She was previously a Trustee of the Curiosity Collective, a charity working to give children the freedom to explore the world of learning beyond the classroom.  She enjoys reading and exploring the outdoors with her two sons and adopted greyhound.

Mike Comerford

Mike is a Chartered Engineer (a designer of ships, boats and other things marine) and a professional Yachtmaster. Mike has worked with UK and Scottish Ministers in policy development in support of shipping, oil and gas, offshore renewables and aquaculture. He has actively supported homelessness, affordable housing and sustainable development work.

He was a volunteer director of a marine sustainable development partnership which developed the management plans for the largest marine special area of conservation in Europe (for bottlenose dolphins) and the first ecosystem-led approach to the integrated management of an inshore fisheries area in the UK.

The Partnership also created a unique collection of fishermen’s jersey (Gansey) patterns and supported the restoration and use of local traditional boats. Mike is a creative person (musician, photographer, aspiring poet and painter) and a strong supporter of the vision of putting creativity and cultural and natural heritage at the heart of restoring and sustaining communities.

Heather Taylor

Heather is a Writer, Storyteller and Creative Practitioner specialising in multi-sensory creative and performance practice, inclusion and accessibility. Registered as an Author with Scottish Book Trust and a Patron of Reading, Heather has a wealth of experience in accessible storytelling.

Originally from Manchester, Heather worked as a Special Educational Needs Coordinator and Teacher both in England and internationally before settling in Dumfries and Galloway 5 years ago. Alongside her freelance creative practice, Heather works as Programme Lead for the charity PAMIS (promoting a more inclusive society) the only national charity that solely supports people with profound and multiple learning disabilities (PMLD) and their families. The multi-sensory storytelling programme, Heather developed in D&G has won multiple awards and Heather has appeared on panels about accessibility in the creative and performing arts industries at several major festivals including the Edinburgh International Book Festival.

Jodie Barnacle-Best

Jodie Barnacle-Best is a knitwear practitioner and community arts facilitator based in Glasgow. Whilst completing her masters in fashion and textiles at the Glasgow School of Art in 2021, Jodie joined the Creative Spaces team at The Stove. She took thematic ideas from her knitwear practice, investigating building connections between maker and wearer, into her community arts facilitation work creating and running events for young people within D&G. A passion for community and environment is integral to her creative practice and is also the reason why the work of The Stove is so important to her.

Jodie currently works as a studio assistant at Hilary Jane Keyes, a knitwear design, consultancy and production studio based in Ayrshire. Jodie also takes on a variety of independent textiles projects and commissions. She has been a recipient of the Postgraduate Welcome scholarship from GSA, a Textile Society Student award winner, was selected as a British Council research fellow in 2020 and is pleased to be a member of the Craft Scotland advisory board since January 2021.

Linny Oliphant

An authority in luxury brand development, PR and Marketing, Linny’s 25 year career spans Tourism/Hospitality, Fashion/Textiles, Luxury Automotive and Premium Spirits.

The former Fashion Editor of The Sunday Herald Magazine is a contributor to several lifestyle titles and is regularly quoted in the press. Having held rank as a Director at the University of the Arts, London, Linny is an ambassador for linking industry and education and remains a University External Assessor.

During her 8 year tenure as Brand Manager, Johnstons of Elgin she was credited with revitalising the historic cashmere and fine woollens manufacturer, bringing it to the forefront of the luxury market and founded the renowned collaboration with Scottish fashion designer, Christopher Kane.

Returning to her home region of Dumfries and Galloway in 2014, Linny spearheaded the Annandale Distillery project, including the development of the state of the art Visitor Centre and the delivery of the official opening of the site by HRH The Princess Royal.

Particularly passionate about tourism and creativity, Linny is the Product and Destination Development Manager of the SSDA (South of Scotland Destination Alliance) and a proud to be on The Stove’s Board of Directors. With a love of classic cars, Linny is the founder and owner of ‘The Love Bug D&G’, SW Scotland’s Classic VW Co. based in Lockerbie, which offers chauffeur driven wedding cars, corporate promotions, mobile bars and bespoke tours with door to door service – popular Food & Drink itineraries include the VW Chocolate Tour and the VW Distillery Trail.

Tessa Gordziejko

Tessa is a theatre-maker: creative producer, director, writer, performer; and a consultant specialising in organisational and creative development with arts companies. 

She was a Fellow of the Clore Leadership Programme 2005-7 and has over 20 years’ experience in leadership roles in the cultural sector. These include Creative Programmer for London 2012/ Director of Imove, a £3.2m 2012 Cultural Olympiad programme comprising 32 projects across Yorkshire; Executive Director of Unlimited Theatre; and Chair of Red Ladder Theatre. In 2013 she established Imove Arts as an independent production company which created socially engaged arts projects which connected groups of citizens and communities with a deep set of ideas or themes, framed through collaboration with artists. 

Tessa has a passion for, and a wide experience of, making site-specific performances in unusual, mostly outdoor, settings and is engaged in networks of artists making work about climate and ecological breakdown. She is also a performing poet. Having lived and worked in the North of England for 30 years, she moved to Dumfries & Galloway in 2021 since when she has worked as a producer for several Scottish companies. She is a founder member of The Forest Ridge Project, an arts-led, off-grid co-operative which embraces re-wilding, growing food and creative connections with land, nature, and communities.

Calum Walker

Calum is a freelance musician and composer from Dumfries.  Through his tenure as a guitarist in various bands and ensembles, he has developed a lasting connection to the local music community. 

He has built a portfolio career in community music, supporting the next generation of musicians through music workshops and mentoring (including projects for Paragon, The Stove Network, and the Dumfries Music Conference). 

He is currently studying towards a music degree at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland specialising in Composition.

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