Alex Brown is the Manager of the QM Centre for Creative Collaboration. Since he began working at Queen Mary in 2023, he has made a substantial impact on Queen Mary's capacity, resources and approach to engaging the creative sector. He has done this in manifold ways building a network of local grassroots organisations and linking them to the evaluation work of students in our Business Management school. He has led our Assistant Producers scheme, enabling students across the university in all three faculties to develop professional producing skills and working with local artists and arts organisations. He has coordinated projects on AI and the creative workforce, civic evaluation, and participatory research with young people. He has designed and developed the Centre website from scratch, creating a series of resources for academics, students and the creative sector.
Alex's engagement is always fuelled by deep expertise in the challenges and limited resources faced by the creative sector, informed by his long professional experience working in that sector. This shapes a deeply ethical approach to engagement, always acknowledging the power-imbalance that will shape collaborations between a university and tiny grassroots organisations or freelance artists. He advocates tirelessly for the value of creative work while also enabling the work of a truly interdisciplinary range of academics at QM to flourish.
Alex has worked with Grassroots organisations such as Mile End Community Project, Numbi, Season of Bangla Drama, Spitalfields Music, Wasafirii, as well as Youth organisations such as Spotlight and Toynbee Hall. He also partnered with advocates and policy makers such as Actors' Equity, Musicians Union, Arts Council England, GLA Culture team and DCMS.
Madi Stephens is deeply committed to fostering inclusive and equitable engagement in research, particularly with underrepresented groups. Her work spans various contexts, including engaging care home staff during the COVID-19 pandemic and collaborating with adolescents from East London and the favelas of Brazil. Her work consistently aims to bridge the gap between communities, academia, and clinical practice, creating meaningful collaborations that prioritise fairness, co-production, and shared impact.
Throughout her career, she has implemented innovative engagement initiatives. For instance, she co-organised AMPLIFY, an event that raised community awareness about research outputs co-produced by adolescents and staff at Queen Mary University of London. She also curated a photo exhibition and community conversation event in Rio de Janeiro, collaborating with local stakeholders to showcase outputs created by adolescents who were co-producers in her research. This event provided a platform for these young people to share their insights and experiences with the public, fostering dialogue and a deeper understanding of their lived realities.
A key aspect of Madi’s work is translating research into practice. In her clinical role as a nurse, she has made research findings accessible for practical implementation, promoting their integration into clinical settings to enhance care and outcomes. At the Engage conference, she shared her experiences utilising Photovoice as a method to bridge gaps between communities, clinicians, academics, and the wider public.
Finally, her work has had a global impact and emphasises knowledge sharing. During her PhD, she presented her co-produced research findings to academics and clinicians at the University of Alberta, highlighting the critical interplay between social and environmental factors in mental health.
Her PhD work involved building strong partnerships with various external organisations, charities, and local groups, all of which played a vital role in the success and impact of her research. In East London, she collaborated with Future Leaders, an organisation dedicated to fostering leadership among local adolescents. In Brazil, her research was closely connected to People's Palace Projects, an arts and research center affiliated with QMUL. Additionally, she worked with Redes da Maré, a civil society institution in Brazil that produces knowledge, projects, and actions for marginalised communities. During her role as a Research Fellow at Falmouth University, she collaborated closely with a local care home, which was instrumental in providing access to care home staff for a study focused on research engagement within this population.