Speaker
Speaker
Speaker
Speaker
22 November
12:30
Research Symposium: Agents of Change, How R&D drives transformation in Creative Clusters
Sara Pepper
Cardiff University
Professor of Creative Economy
Speaker Biography
Sara Pepper is Director of Creative Economy at Cardiff University. She currently has two main leadership roles: Director of Creative Cardiff, and Chief Operating Officer of Clwstwr. Her role is to provide leadership and strategic direction to these initiatives and to work with a wide variety of stakeholders including academic, industry and government partners.
Her interest in the creative economy began in 2004 when studying for a master’s degree in Theatre and Contemporary Performance Practice at Hull University, focusing her research on cultural regeneration. In 2008, she was the recipient of the first Cultural Leadership Programme Peach Placement in Wales and since then, Sara has managed programmes and projects that support innovation, entrepreneurship, leadership and knowledge exchange in the creative economy. As Director of Creative Economy, Sara regularly speaks at international conferences, working with partners in countries including Germany, Malaysia, Thailand, Turkey and Georgia.
Previously Sara has held a wide variety of posts from producer to project manager for organisations such as the Southbank Centre, the Wales Millennium Centre, Hull University School of New Media and the Sydney Olympic Games 2000. She is currently a member of the National Trust Wales Advisory Board.
Sara was awarded an OBE for services to the creative economy in the 2021 New Year Honours list.