The Estuary Festival Advisory Board brings an incredible mix of diverse knowledge and expertise to support our work. As well as deep connections with Estuary communities, our Advisory Board includes lived experience working on the river and a great understanding of Estuary landscapes and biodiversity as well as extensive experience across arts, charities, academic, public services and business sectors.
Estuary Festival Advisory Board members pictured from left: Theo Albanis, Russell Dolton, Colette Bailey, Mark Godber, Michelle Passfield, Jo Loman, Alex Hawkins, Julie Freeman, Grant Taylor, Claire Dumontier-Marriage, Graham Harwood and Thea Behrman (Artistic Director & CEO).
Estuary Festival is an independent organisation chaired by Colette Bailey.
Colette Bailey is Chair of Estuary Festival. She founded the Festival during her 20 year tenure as Artistic Director and CEO of Metal (2002-2021). She is Executive Director at The WOW Foundation (WOW) and a creative producer, with an established history and over 20 years experience of leading committed and hard-working SME organisations and teams in the UK. Her work has always been purpose-driven, creating arts programmes that are underpinned by social change, community participation and nurturing talent within people of all ages. She is a passionate advocate for the transformational power of the arts to create change – for both people and places – and equally passionate that access to culture should be available to everyone. All her work to date has been to find ways to advocate for, develop and deliver this. 
Theo Albanis is the Project Lead of Corporate Affairs at the Port of London Authority, where he oversees digital media productions, corporate branding, and event execution. With over 17 years of experience spanning strategy development, project management, and creative consulting, Theo has become a leader in producing dynamic events and directing visual content creation that align with corporate objectives and enhances stakeholder engagement. Before his current role, Theo worked as a project manager and events producer in the insurance and maritime sectors, and founded Train to Create, a platform that supported creatives across Europe through workshops, events, and partnerships with global brands, artists, and universities. His leadership in visual arts and event production, combined with a strategic approach to digital content, has earned him a reputation as an innovative leader and creative problem-solver. Theo’s early career includes roles in events production, digital marketing, script writing and corporate communications, where he successfully led various multimedia projects, focusing on audience engagement. His formal education includes a Bachelor degree in Digital Art and photography, and a Bachelor degree in Computer Science, that underpins his expertise in project management, digital media and content strategy. In addition to his professional work, Theo is actively involved in diversity and inclusion initiatives and volunteers with organisations such as the Scouts. He brings a unique blend of creative vision and operational leadership to every project, making him a valuable addition to advisory boards across industries.
Russell Dolton has extensive experience in the public sector, where he has held key roles focused on income generation, business development, and economic growth, particularly in some of Essex’s most disadvantaged areas. In these positions, he has led multiagency initiatives aimed at tackling deprivation, managed complex data systems, provided critical leadership during the pandemic, and introduced cost-saving measures. Prior to his tenure with Essex County Council, Russell played a pivotal role in advancing the missions of three charities, specializing in alternative education, youth work, and outdoor activities.
Claire Dumontier-Marriage is a BID & Partnership Director at Primera Corporation, where she brings over 20 years of experience in stakeholder management, business development, and the creation of strong public-private partnerships. Specialising in Business Improvement Districts over the last decade, Claire is adept at aligning the interests of diverse stakeholders to drive economic growth and community enhancement. Claire's expertise and vision continue to play a crucial role in fostering vibrant and prosperous communities. 
Julie Freeman works with natural living systems and emergent technologies. Her large scale installations, sound sculptures and online artworks have, since the early 1990s, pioneered her conceptual and critical approach to working with real-time sound and data as a living and malleable art materials. Julie has shown work at leading institutions including the V&A, the ICA, Modern Art Oxford, the Barbican and the Science Museum, as well as internationally. She has been recognised by many organisations including the BBC, The Guardian, and New Scientist. Julie founded the Open Data Institute’s art programme ‘Data as Culture’ in 2012. She is a TED Senior Fellow, co-founder of Fine Acts, and runs Translating Nature, a digital and data art studio. 
Mark Godber is a Producer working in performance and outdoor arts with a strong commitment to facilitating work with artists that creates shared spaces with audiences, and to using art to support movement towards social and climate justice. From 2000 to 2024 Mark worked at Artsadmin in East London as Artists’ Producer and then Senior Producer. From 2009, Mark led eight editions of the biennial 2 Degrees and What Shall We Build Here festivals, which brought artists’ work on climate change and activism to audiences through participation and play. Also for Artsadmin, Mark produced several large-scale one-off commissions, including Plunge by Michael Pinsky, Museum of Water by Amy Sharrocks at Somerset House, and Empathy Museum by Clare Patey at Greenwich Peninsula as part of LIFT 2016. Mark worked with artist Graeme Miller on more than 15 years of international touring and one-off installation projects, and with company Station House Opera on a series of works presenting simultaneous performances across the world. Mark also worked centrally as part of two UK-wide partnership projects Season for Change and Another Route. Previous to working professionally in the arts, Mark completed an MPhil in Theatre Research at the University of Glasgow, focusing on the politics of performance, public art and theatre in urban spaces. Mark lives in Woolwich, South East London and is a parent, cyclist, gardener and occasional activist.
Graham Harwood with his partner Matsuko Yokokoji (YoHa English translation 'aftermath') have lived and worked together since 1994. Their work involves the use of art as a mode of enquiry into technical objects most recently within the fields of health, war, oceans and death. YoHa’s inquiry is usually populated by an interconnection of technical objects and other kinds of bodies as in a clinic, hospital, battlefield or at sea. The focus of our enquiry is where the flows of power can be reconfigured by the ambiguity of art, not necessarily to make art but to make use of it within a wider enquiry. Their work has been internationally awarded and part of collections at the Centre Pompidou, Paris and Tate Britain, London and ZKM Karlsruhe, Germany, Manifesta, Italy. Dr Graham Harwood is Reader in Media Communications and Cultural Studies, Goldsmiths, University of London, where he convenes MA Digital Media, Data Visualisation and the Practice PhD programme.
Alex Hawkins grew up with two brothers and a dog, her Dad was a model maker, a musician, a bird watcher, and a drinker. He worked in insurance as a trainer of people around the world. Her mother is a Christian, a friend, and a supporter of many people in our local community. Alex is dyslexic and has struggled with migraines and their broader symptoms all her life. She is a single mother with three children: an artist, a student studying model making, and a student studying politics. She is the CEO of CYP Yellow Door. CYP Yellow Door is a small local charity that supports young people with counselling, mentoring, advice and support, clubs, activities and outreach work. Alex fortunate in her work because every day brings different challenges, new things to learn, new people to meet, and long-term partners and staff who support and challenge her. 
Jo Loman is a local educator, who is happiest when sharing her enthusiasm for water, wildlife and well-being. She has spent the last decade in a variety of outdoor and environmental education roles around the UK, mostly in Essex. She is currently, the Buglife Community Warden at Canvey Wick nature reserve; where she shares her passion for the natural world and promotes mindfulness through nature connectivity. Jo runs a variety of community events, including collaborations with local artists, where she encourages visitors to explore creativity using natural and recycled materials. So, Jo was extremely pleased to work with Breakwater on the Submarine Consciousness sessions delivered on Canvey Island, which inspired her to join the advisory board. Jo was raised in Essex, spending her childhood paddling in the waters of the Estuary, collecting shells and getting stuck in the mud! These seaside experiences left a lasting impression as Jo went on to become an avid scuba diver and marine biology graduate. She acknowledges the need to be close to the water for her personal well-being and aims to spend time along the coast every day. She recently completed the “One million steps challenge” to raise funds for charity and most of this was paced along the Estuary. Jo is active in her local community with her roles at Canvey Wick and The Cliffs Pavilion but also through volunteering for community gardens, litter-picking and beach cleans. Jo is grateful to have the opportunity to work with the Estuary Festival team on such an exciting local project. 
Michelle Passfield is a Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) qualified professional. She launched her Southend-based marketing business, withMichelle in 2019, providing strategic marketing planning advice and skills training for small businesses. Michelle’s extensive marketing career spans nearly three decades. She has worked in both the public and private sectors, spending 15 years with London-based international law firms and a marketing agency. She has also worked for Anglia Ruskin University and as a senior marketing communications adviser for Southend-on-Sea City Council from 2014-2016. Michelle also has vast experience in managing and hosting events for organisations. In 2024 she launched her own with Michelle event series to provide a unique opportunity to connect with people throughout Essex. Michelle’s love for the arts started in the 1990s when she was responsible for organising corporate hospitality events, curator talks and private views at galleries and museums for a major law firm, including at the Tate, the National Point Gallery, the V&A and the Globe Theatre. When Michelle moved to Westcliff-on-Sea in 2007 she immersed herself in the local creative and cultural communities. This led to her appointment as an Advisory Panel member for the Focal Point Gallery in 2023. Michelle often advises Southend and Essex-based communities, projects, charities and non-profit organisations and regularly features as a guest speaker. In 2018 Michelle launched a support group for those suffering with mental health issues in the workplace, ‘WellbeingMatters’ and producing a mental health short film. ‘Circle of Support’, which featured in the 2019 Southend Film Festival. 
Grant Taylor has lived and worked on or near the estuary for almost his whole life, migrating from the East End and the river proper when in primary school. Jobs in door to door nuisance making, retail, and manual labour never really cut it and having taken an entry level job at his local authority, Basildon Council, he has never really looked back. One opportunity led to another, led to another and he now (somehow) finds himself the Assistant Director for Communities and Leisure with wider responsibilities for health partnerships, inclusion and diversity, environmental health and, importantly, culture. Grant is a huge advocate for culture and its role in helping tackle issues relating to the wider determinants of health. Culture reaches communities in so many ways and with such depth. It helps in creating places that people feel proud to call home, builds skills and competencies, it celebrates diversity and difference and so much more. Of limited talent himself, Grant was lucky enough to have lifelong friendships with a number of talented musicians and on their coattails got to do some pretty cool stuff in a different life time. Culture brings joy, challenge and meaning and he is keen to play his part in advancing it within the estuary through this board and beyond.
Estuary Festival Team:
Thea Behrman is Artistic Director and CEO of Estuary Festival. Thea established Estuary Festival as an independent organisation in 2023 following her work at Metal as a senior producer for Estuary 2021 and writing the first culture strategy for the region commissioned by South Essex Councils. Thea loves exploring the Thames Estuary, and is fortunate to collaborate with many inspiring people and organisations.
Michaela Freeman is Estuary Festival's Senior Producer, having previously worked on both Estuary 2016 and 2021. She's a curator and producer with over 25 years of experience in the arts. She’s worked for The National Gallery and Academy of Fine Art in Prague, Flowers Gallery in London, Metal, Kinetika and Cement Fields art charities, Southend-on-Sea Borough Council, and with the multidisciplinary artist Caroline Bergvall. She’s also written art reviews, edited State magazine and curated her own exhibitions, film screenings and events, with particular interest in live, participatory and public art, digital realm possibilities, and experimental film.
