Compass Team
Director
Peter Reed
Peter has worked as an independent producer for over 10 years supporting the work of Louise Ann Wilson Company, Common Wealth, Slung Low and Ellie Harrison’s Grief Series. He has overseen the development of Compass Live Art from a weekender festival in 2011 to the biennial commissioning festival it is today.
Producer
Yasmin Goodison-Braithwaite
Yasmin has a long standing relationship with Compass Live Art, joining as a Young Producer back in 2020 and again as an Assistant Producer in 2022. Yasmin has worked as a programmer, producer, coordinator and community curator across Leeds at East Street Arts, Leeds 2023 and Leeds City Museum. Most recently, Yasmin joined Common Wealth Theatre Company as part of the Performance Collective. Yasmin is interested in the power of live art and performance as it helps us understand our world and communities.
Programme Coordinator
Jennie Gilman
Since joining Compass as a Young Producer in 2022, Jennie has grown into our Programme Coordinator, supporting the programming and delivery of Compass Festival 2024. She recently completed her Masters of Research, exploring the possibilities of Virtual Reality technology as a multisensory mode of storytelling. Jennie is fascinated by the many forms that interactive and immersive cultural experiences can take, and spends a lot of her time initiating collaborations between our artists and local communities to improve arts access.
Communications and Engagement Manager
Will Baldwin-Pask
Will is a freelance marketing professional, running comms company Content Culture UK and local journalism site The State of the Arts. He works with clients across the West Yorkshire creative sector, from grassroots music venues to city of culture festivals – he’ll be coming on board the Compass team to bring the festival back to Leeds in 2026
Assistant Producer
Iqra Khan
Iqra joined Compass as an Assistant Producer in 2026. She works across producing, film programming and communications, recently with Sheffield DocFest, London Indian Film Festival and Transform Festival, and is developing a community archiving project documenting Black and brown histories in Leeds.
Her background in law, focused on postcolonial and migration frameworks, shapes how she thinks about whose histories get recorded and who gets to make and shape culture. Iqra is drawn to participatory work where people are collaborators rather than audiences.
Young Producer
Verity Hannaway-Mackay
Verity is an artist and creative facilitator based in Leeds and Teesside. Previous to her recently completing a 3 year degree in History of Art & Cultural Studies she started her creative journey working in Middlesbrough. Roles in public engagement, co-ordination and admin have continued throughout her time in Leeds while maintaining a connection with her pride and joy Teesside. Her upcoming commission with Leeds Light Night helps her to celebrate the place she has the pleasure to call home.
Young Producer
Ashif Reza
Ashif is an interdisciplinary illustrator/artist, events assistant and emerging curator based in Leeds. Having participated in a performance piece at Compass Festival 2024 and worked with Transform for their previous two festivals, Ashif is keen on bringing exciting performances and art experiences to the public while further developing his producing skills. He is also a current studio holder at Assembly House.
Board of Trustees
Manpreet Dhadda (Chair)
I daylight as an Interpretation Developer at the National Railway Museum, where I help design temporary, permanent, static, and touring exhibitions. I do my part in making sure the arts illuminate every corner of my community, but I’m constantly educating myself on how to take up space in a changing world. If I’m not at my desk I’m walking, painting, or visiting other museums and galleries.
Leah Francis
I am a freelance theatre maker, performer, and facilitator. I am also the Co-founder and Artistic Director of the theatre collective Speak Woman Speak. I believe in the power of socially engaged art and performance and its ability to challenge and disrupt oppressive systems and ideologies. In my spare time I enjoy travelling reading (currently Octavia Butler’s- Kindred) and nature walks I also like dancing on a night out!
Sam Day
Since moving to Leeds in 2011 I have been engaged with the local arts community through my work as an audio and lighting engineer. I have spent many years as a freelancer working across the city and further afield, maintaining a connection to the organisations that support the local community and arts. I am currently the technical manager for the Howard Assembly Room, a multi functional arts venue within the organisation of Opera North. I bring technical expertise to my passion for music and performance.
Dr Shona Hunter
I am a Reader in the Carnegie School of Education at Leeds Beckett University. In that role I direct postgraduate research programs and obsess over state and institutional power and our resistances to it. Outside of the University I sing on my own and with and for others, I cook, run, read memoir and fiction voraciously and am known for the odd bit of (sometimes) successfully executed DIY in my beloved old house.’
Fe
I love anything to do with art, the arts, creativity and human expression. Throw in some wellbeing and we’ve got a great recipe for a delicious life! There are lots of tasty things happening in the art scene in Leeds and Yorkshire and being a part of Compass Live Art means I can continue to champion the wonderful talent that has always been in our region. I’m looking forward to the feast!
Wendy Denman
I have championed arts in Leeds through various public-facing roles in and around Leeds for 20 years, since graduating with an Events Management degree from Leeds Beckett University. Working in destination marketing for Visit Leeds gave me a great love for the city and the people who make interesting things happen here. As well as experiencing Compass Festival events as an attendee, I have also been lucky enough to host a few, in my past roles managing Trinity Kitchen and at Bruntwood where I was the regional lead for cultural partnerships. I now work in place-making community engagement, supporting local residents and businesses to thrive. Outside of work, I get involved in a number of group activities including running, singing, comedy writing, book clubs, and dress-making. My skills lie in being an enthusiastic all-rounder and having fun whilst getting things done.
Bronagh Daly
I have worked in charity management for over 20 years and bring a creative approach to good governance and strategic transformation through a values-led praxis. As a printmaker and small festival director – Leeds Literature Festival and Leeds Art Theology Festival – I am passionate about using creativity as a campaigning tool for human rights, social justice and sustainability. I’m a mother of two teenagers and volunteer as a Scouts Leader in my local parish in my spare time.
Ben Mills
I am a Leeds born community co-creation artist, professional bread baker and Asset Based Community Development worker in South Leeds. I have had the privilege of being involved with Compass as either an audience member or performer from its very inception. I would like to think I can bring loads of experience in helping to connect Compass to the wider community in Leeds as well as offer some insight into the journey of an artist within the organisation. It is a real privilege to now serve the board and I am very excited to get stuck in.