Suzanne Raether is a fundraising consultant, writer, and nonprofit executive who works with individual artists and arts and culture organizations to ensure they have the strategies and capacity to reach sustainability. She owns Well Endowed Philanthropy, a consulting practice that puts big money in small pockets. Her goal is to increase the financial and operational sustainability of musicians, performing artists and arts organizations.

Srishti Das thrives at the intersection of music, sports, and emerging markets. With a Master's Degree in Global Entertainment and Music Business from Berklee College of Music, she brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to her work. Her diverse career spans roles at influential companies such as JioSaavn, MIDiA Research, and The Orchard, where she has led significant projects around music, media, and entertainment. These projects have explored crucial topics such as the development of emerging markets, the evolution of music scenes, cross-entertainment fandom, and gender-based inequalities within the music industry. But Srishti's involvement in music doesn't stop at her professional career.

Matthew Ché Kowal is the Co-Founder of Majestic Collaborations, a consultancy that partners with governments, non-profits, and performing arts organizations to integrate emergency preparedness into their planning and community roles. Their signature initiative with Performing Arts Readiness, The Art of Mass Gatherings, includes symposiums, podcasts, and curricula designed to use community events as experiential learning opportunities for crisis and disaster preparedness. Through webinars, venue assessments, collaborative asset mapping, and master planning, Majestic Collaborations helps clients secure infrastructure funding, provide essential services, and develop cross-cultural, interdisciplinary resilience networks and workforce programs.

Derrick Tabb, born on May 27, 1975, in the historic Tremé neighborhood of New Orleans, is a GRAMMY-winning drummer and a beacon of community change. He began his musical journey at the age of 7, turning his passion into a profession by age 11. A pivotal figure in his early life was his middle school band director, who deeply influenced his personal and musical growth.

In 1994, Tabb helped form the Loony Tunes Brass Band, which later became the renowned Hot 8 Brass Band. However, his journey took a significant turn in 1996 when he joined the Rebirth Brass Band, achieving national acclaim and winning a GRAMMY in 2012 for the album “Rebirth of New Orleans.”

Beyond his musical accomplishments, Derrick is the co-founder of The Roots of Music, a non-profit organization established in 2007 in response to funding cuts to music programs post-Hurricane Katrina. This program offers free musical education and academic support to at-risk youth in New Orleans, nurturing the next generation of musicians and community leaders. Through his work with The Roots of Music, Derrick has not only preserved the musical heritage of New Orleans but also provided a safe and creative outlet for hundreds of children, embodying the spirit of resilience and community support.

Paolo Petrocelli is cultural manager driven by the belief that culture, arts and education are a major force for growth, development and change globally.

He is the Director General of the Stauffer Center for Strings in Cremona, the first international music centre entirely dedicated to string instruments, and the Founder and President of EMMA for Peace (Euro-Mediterranean Music Academy), international non-profit organization for the promotion of music diplomacy between Europe and the Middle East.

Samm Farai Monro AKA Comrade Fatso is one of Zimbabwe’s urban culture pioneers whose work has had a major influence on the country’s hip hop, spoken word and comedy industries. Comrade Fatso is founder of Magamba Network, one of Zimbabwe’s most dynamic organizations working on the cutting edge of culture, media, activism and innovation.

Will Page is the author of ‘Tarzan Economics: Eight Principles in Pivoting through Disruption’. He was formerly Chief Economist of Spotify and PRS for Music, where he pioneered Rockonomics.

Joan-Albert Serra began as a performer and composer, but soon developed a real passion for music education and the promotion of music’s transformative power and capacity to foster intercultural empathy and understanding. This has been the inspiration for his extensive international career as a leader of music education institutions and programmes, consultant, researcher, teacher, lecturer, curriculum designer, writer and producer.

Ru Johnson is a cannabis and music industry brand operative based in Denver, Colorado. The owner and founder of Roux Black Consulting, the project management division of The Penthouse Agency, Johnson works with brands and entities that want to expand their consumer market through the lens of advocacy and campaign development. Her work has focused on fusing the components of the music industry and cannabis spaces that make an impactful and artful change in community. She believes the reduction of cannabis stigma will bring more opportunities for equity and inclusion for minority communities.

Solomon holds an International Master’s Degree in Dance Knowledge, Practice and Heritage jointly offered by the Choreomundus Consortium, which comprises the University of Clermont Auvergne, France, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway, University of Szeged, Hungary and University of Roehampton, United Kingdom. He also holds a Master of Arts in Ethnochoreology from the University of Limerick, Ireland. Currently, he is a PhD candidate in Applied Ethnomusicology at Dublin City University in Ireland. His research interests lie in indigenous dance and music heritage sustainability.

The BLMP Team keeps an eye on the music ecosystem in Birmingham and its immediate surroundings. Our aim is to inform the public, policy-makers, and the different stakeholders involved within the live music ecology in the city about the impact of changes that are occurring at national and global levels that have a potential impacts on music ecologies. We aim to contribute to enabling the city to continue to be one of the most vibrant places in the country to enjoy and create live music. In the future, our research will expand to other cities and regions, allowing us to help other urban and regional music ecosystems to thrive.

Andrea King is the Director of Culture and Arts for Love and Living (CALL), an NGO dedicated to business development, collaborative working, trade, business to business opportunities and south-south cooperation, towards advancing the creative and cultural industries in Barbados and the Global South. She is also a member of the UNESCO Expert Facility for the 2005 Convention on Cultural Diversity.

Nicole McNeilly is a consultant researcher, evaluator, strategist and facilitator. She works across culture and the creative industries but maintains her passion for music having trained in music composition and musicology. She has worked across Europe and beyond for organisations including PRS for Music Foundation, Arts Council England, Europeana, the British Council, UNESCO and the EU’s DG INTPA.

Dani Ribas is Director of Sonar Cultural Consultoria. She holds a PhD in Sociology from UNICAMP; was a consultant for UNESCO and Mercosur Cultural, and was director of DATA SIM. She teaches music business at Music Rio Academy and Cultural Management at UNICAMP. She is a consultant in music career planning and management, based on data analysis and audience behavior trends.

Ruth Daniel is a former musician, record label owner and global festival maker. I am now the award-winning CEO of an organisation called In Place of War that works with arts and creativity in places of armed conflict. I work closely with the music industry to build music spaces, mobilise equipment and musicians to conflict zones. I am an Honorary Research Fellow at The University of Manchester. I work across 26 countries and consider myself to be a creative activist. I accidentally became a DJ and have performed across 20 countries and some of the biggest festivals in the world.

Dr. Michael Seman is an assistant professor of arts management at Colorado State University. Michael’s work examines issues in the creative economy and focuses on how music ecosystems and regional growth intersect. The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, NPR, CNN, and regional media outlets often seek Michael’s perspective and insights. His work is published widely and most recently by the Brookings Institution.

Dr Christina Ballico is the editor of Geographically Isolated and Peripheral Music Scenes: Global insights and perspectives (Palgrave, 2021) and the co-editor of Music Cities: Evaluating a Global Policy Concept (Palgrave, 2020). Between 2016-2019, she was the Research Fellow on the Australian Research Council Linkage Project Making Music Work: Sustainable portfolio careers for Australian musicians.

Em Ekong has over 20 years experience in London and across Africa, working closely with intergovernmental and government institutions on the continent like UN Women, the United Cities and Local Governments for Africa, and cities including Lagos and Accra, to transform and improve the quality of life for its citizens through advocacy and lobbying and strategic development.