Lis is an experienced marketing communications professional and has supported Bristol Creative Industries since 2010. Lis was elected Co-Chair of BCI in 2023 and, along with Heather Wright, drives the vision of the organisation and nurtures key stakeholder relationships.

Prior to founding AMBITIOUS, Lis held board level positions at some of the UK’s leading independent and integrated consultancies including Bray Leino, working with regional, national and international brands, businesses and organisations.

She previously chaired the Chartered Institute of Public Relations South West, served on the CIPR’s national council and was awarded a fellowship for her voluntary work in the sector.

With a particular interest in building better relationships between the creative industries and education providers, particularly Post 16, Lis has been an industry adviser for Cabot Learning Federation, Access Creative College and a Governor of City of Bristol College.

Find Lis on LinkedIn

Heather is a BAFTA-winning animation Executive Producer and Creative Industries Consultant. She is a collaborator and connector with a passion for creativity. Heather was elected Co-Chair of BCI in 2023 and, along with Lis Anderson, drives the vision of the organisation and nurtures key stakeholder relationships.

Currently Scale Up Director for Innovate UK, Heather previously spent 22 years as Executive Producer, Senior Management Team and Board Director at Aardman Animations, where she was credited with being a major contributor to the cultural, commercial and creative success of the company.

She has many credits to her name but is most proud of her work as Executive Producer on BAFTA winning ‘Tate Movie Project’ actively engaging over 35,000 children across the UK, to co-create ‘Itch of the Golden Nit’.  As Chair and Trustee of Creative Youth Network she supported the CEO and the Board during a time of transformation from being a local activity centre to being one of the South West’s most respected youth arts groups.

Heather is also an active member of the AHRC Creative Industries Advisory Group.

Tom is an experienced creative agency leader specialising in digital experiences and creative technology solutions.  

Tom has held leadership positions in industry leading creative agencies across both the UK and Australia that have be recognised at prestigious awards including Cannes Lions, BIMA and The Effies. Tom eventually landed back in the South West to head up creative technology studio, Aer Studios. Proudly B Corp Certified, Tom and his team have be ranked in the top 100 best workplaces in the UK and have recently been appointed to the BBC UX Design roster as the only agency representing the South West region.  

Tom’s passion is in creating meaningful digital experiences that have a positive impact on people & planet. He believes that bringing the creative and technology sectors closer together can have a huge benefit to the South West.  

Steven is a director and joint owner of Burnside, Chartered Accountants based in Queen Square, Bristol, where he advises owner-managed businesses, many of which are in the Creative Industries. 

Having been an Adviser to the board since 2007, he was appointed to the Bristol Creative Industries board in 2016 and fulfils the role of Finance Director. 

Kate Sikora is the co-founder and Managing Partner of Noble Performs, a digital performance marketing agency based in Bristol renowned for helping organisations achieve remarkable results. Highly commended as the IOD Director of the Year 2023 and serving as a Taan European Governor, Kate is committed to driving excellence and innovation in the digital marketing landscape.  

Beyond her professional endeavours, Kate finds joy in family life, practicing yoga, and exploring new culinary creations in the kitchen. 

Adam brings over 16-years of commercial film production experience, serving as a founding director of B Corp registered companies JonesMillbank and Nine Tree Studios.  

With his roots in documentary filmmaking, Adam has honed a talent for uncovering the essence of stories, establishing profound connections with his subjects. While he remains a practitioner, he also dedicates significant time to nurturing relationships with agencies and brands, earning him a reputation as a trusted partner in the industry. 

Adam now collaborates with globally recognized brands, leveraging his expertise to drive innovative projects. He maintains a keen interest in the intersection of education and creativity, aiming to foster greater connectivity within the Bristol Creative Industries (BCI) around film and video and create a space for collaboration through Nine Tree Studios 

Julz has a 20+ year track record of delivering disruptive engagement solutions for complex campaigns across the community, civic and commercial sectors. He has worked for award-winning communication agencies, world food distributors, large-scale events, ethnic media and ethical banks. Julz is proud to have transformed, enriched and saved the lives of people from under-represented groups.

From Knowle West to Westminster, as an award-winning creativist, he is inspired to creatively use the tools of activism to co-create with organisations and other like-minded changemakers keen to advance adventures in diversity and social change, for good.

David is the co-founder and Operations Director of Atomic Smash, a Website performance agency based in Bristol, specialising in optimising WordPress, WooCommerce and Shopify.   

Since its inception in 2010, Atomic Smash has prided itself on a caring team culture, emphasising continuous learning, creativity, and problem-solving. In this role, he has been recognised for kindness in leadership by being nominated as a Kindness & Leadership Leading Light. David’s approach to business reflects a deep understanding of the web’s potential to transform how companies and individuals communicate and conduct business.  

Marissa is a designer from Bristol with a passion for how people interact with brands and how that experience is shaped through design. In 2019 Marissa won the Ben Martin Apprentice Award in collaboration with Bristol Creative Industries, Babbasa and The IPA. Through that, she attended SXSW in Texas to build her network and gain industry experience through a local internship program.

In addition, Marissa is a scholar on the Editorial Intelligence Social Capital Network programme funded by Google and a dancer in her spare time. She is passionate about helping other young people from underrepresented backgrounds into the creative industry.

Gail is a freelance consultant, working in strategy and policy development and specialising in the creative industries. She is currently working as an advisor to the Creative Industries Council. Gail has worked in national government for over a decade, primarily as Head of Creative Industries Policy at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

Working across the private, voluntary and not for profit sectors, she has successfully secured major funding bids, overseeing programme delivery and advocating with, and for, a range of interest groups including people with learning disabilities.

Gail was Head of Policy for Creative England. She worked with governments and agencies in countries including Columbia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Germany to share best practice.

My experience combines senior consultancy (10+ years) and academic leadership (10+ years), designing and delivering training to support business development and career growth in marketing.  My current focus is on bringing together regional and academic expertise to support business growth within the creative industries.   

I studied my PhD at the Digital Behaviour Lab (University of Bath School of Management) and my research and teaching now focuses on applying psychology to creative processes.  My recent work at Bristol Business School includes investigating behaviour change with Bristol City Council, researching the Bristol brand with Visit West, and understanding the effectiveness of social media advertising.  I also created and led the MSc Digital Marketing at UWE Bristol, led several successful Digital Marketing Bootcamps, and I now co-host the Digital Behaviour Podcast. 

Alli joined the team in 2012 with responsibility to support and grow the membership base. Whilst membership is her prime focus, Alli is involved in other day-to-day operations, including supporting BCI’s events and managing community initiatives.

Prior to joining Bristol Creative Industries Alli spent 20 years working in recruitment. Alli focused on placing people in the creative industries in London and the South West and, in fact, many of the businesses she supported are part of the BCI network 20 years on!

Get in touch with Alli

Dan joined the Bristol Creative Industries team in January 2021 to help create website content & provide community management support of our busy social media channels.

Having started his career in journalism at Sky News, Dan’s background as a small business journalist, content creator and event host over 18 years has led him to interview hundreds of entrepreneurs from famous names like Sir Richard Branson and Deborah Meaden to the founders behind the newest start-ups.

Alongside his work for Enterprise Nation as their Local Leader for Bristol, Dan has also run live webchats from inside 10 Downing Street, helped run small business trade missions to countries including United Arab Emirates, China, USA, France and Germany and is also an ambassador for Social Media Week Bristol

Having previously worked for Bristol Media from 2009 to 2011, Lynda re-joined the team in March 2015. Lynda provides daily administrative support for Bristol Creative Industries and is responsible for managing our finance requirements.

Lynda has over 30 years’ experience as a professional PA and Office Manager, working in both the UK and in Spain. During much of this time, she worked in the Marketing, PR and Creative recruitment industry and brings a wealth of knowledge of the creative sector.

Sian joined Bristol Creative Industries as the Events Manager in January 2022, with the responsibility of looking after the events programme and expanding the offering for the creative sector membership base. She is looking forward to getting to know the members and building a busy events calendar!

Prior to joining the team, Sian first worked in the hospitality industry in Dorset for many years, before moving to Bristol and spending nearly 6 years in the charity sector at a patient support charity. This largely involved volunteer management, communications, and delivering a range of events for patients, volunteers and medical professionals, such as training workshops and conferences.

**Sian is on maternity leave until summer 2025**

Clare joined the team in Nov 2022 to lead on the BCI Internship Programme, working with member businesses and partners to design & deliver a programme of paid internships for young people from under-represented socio-economic backgrounds wanting to explore pathways into the creative industries. Clare will be shaping the programme as part of a wider talent development strategy of training, events and fostering better connections with local education providers.

Clare has wealth of experience delivering high-profile events, cultural programmes & talent development initiatives for various purpose-led organisations across the country including Watershed, The Soil Association & Bristol Climate & Nature Partnership. She is passionate about social impact and cross-sector projects that bring communities, businesses, organisations, and policymakers together to shape a fairer future.

Shonette joined Bristol Creative Industries in October 2024 as maternity cover for our Event Manager Sian, and looks after the events programme. She is always looking for more ideas and speakers to broaden the range and frequency of BCI events, and is looking forward to connecting with members. If you have any feedback on what you’d like to see from our events and member opportunities – let her know!

Shonette also works part time as the Digital Marketing Manager at Visit West, looking after a range of websites, newsletter and social media channels, and also runs bi-monthly marketing meet up The Rules of Engagement, which hosts talks on everything from AI ethics to TikTok tips.