Anita is an equity consultant, facilitator and coach, specialising in Community Engagement, Research Impact and Cultural Strategy. She enjoys facilitating conversations that deepen understanding, broaden perspectives and inspire positive change. She’s at her best when she’s connecting people to science, culture, ideas and each other - and supporting others to do the same.
Anita's background includes community health development, maternal nutrition, Women's civic leadership & policy development. She’s a Churchill Travelling Fellow (2015) through which she visited the USA, Canada and Guyana, to explore community-led approaches to building 'Science Capital' through arts, culture and philanthropy. Her Wellcome Trust Engagement Fellowship (2017-2020) built on this, exploring how science can be driven by social justice and powered by inclusive, equitable and culturally relevant, public engagement.
Anita is the founder of BLAST Fest; a pop-up festival and community engagement platform that fuses the creative power of science, arts and Black culture to bring people together and catalyse social change. Connected to this, she’s currently a Co-Investigator on the NERC funded Engaging Environments project; and a data justice research project, funded by the Digital Good Fund. She’s also leading on ‘Birmingham 15-min STEAM City Unbound’ a UKRI funded feasibility project exploring partnerships, collective impact and STEAM ecosystems that responds to the dynamic assets, needs and aspirations of Black communities in Birmingham, where she is based.