Jeanne Jenner
Chief Executive
jeanne@arts-media.orgI worked in the commercial sector for many years in marketing before moving to Amnesty International and then Care UK to work on membership campaigns. I joined Arts & Business East Midlands as Professional Development Manager in 1996 and moved to Phoenix Arts in Leicester as Head of Marketing and Development in 2001.
I began my career in commercial marketing, working up the corporate ladder with a range of organisations before making the decision to move into charity fundraising. I very much enjoyed my time with Amnesty International and CARE UK, and may well have stayed within that environment but for a short-term contract working at Tate Britain to fundraise for the proposed Tate Modern development. Having no previous involvement in the arts I learned a huge amount in a short time – both personally and professionally – at Tate. This informed my decision to take a post as Professional Development Manager for Arts& Business, with the remit to establish an office in the East Midlands. The role involved the recruitment of business members and setting up sponsorship deals: no mean feat in a region largely populated by sme’s working in manufacturing. Having built the office up to three staff, I decided that I would like to work more closely with artists and moved to Phoenix Arts Centre in Leicester. The Phoenix was in the process of moving from being a mixed live art and cinema venue to establishing a new digital media centre as part of a large regeneration project and, as Acting Director and a member of the Cultural Strategic Partnership with Sukhy Johal, I had a ring side seat.
I have served on a variety of boards where the organisation was going through a challenging but by no means unique stage in its development. New Works (Leicester) was set up and managed by three ankle-bitingly keen young graduates to satisfy their own demand for a platform for new work. Their incredible successes proved greater than the sum of the parts and the organisation, unable to survive when funding dried up, was forced to fold, using the last of its resources to publish a pamphlet about setting up new arts organisations. The Broadway Media Centre (Nottingham) needed to expand its physical space and, as acting Chair of the Board, I presided over a number of future-shaping discussions, debates and decisions with huge financial ramifications, against the backdrop of a highly volatile and competitive market place. I joined the board of Leicester Comedy Festival as Chair when it had outgrown both its name and organisational structure, having evolved from a 10 day festival staffed for 6 months of the year to an organisation employing six people, with activities taking place across community cohesion, education and artistic development. The board and I worked together with the Director to identify and develop a new business structure which could accommodate the evolving organisation and see it move from a wholly funded initiative to a commercial success. Marriage, relocation and personal interest led me A+M in 2004 when I was recruited as Programme Director and, on Marion Doyen’s departure in 2006, I became Chief Executive.