Directors

Director Kemi Folarin studied at Birmingham University gaining a B’Phil in Youth and Community Studies and an MA in Applied Community Studies.
Kemi has over 25 years of community work experience. She worked for Redditch Borough Council as a Youth Project Officer for 5 years, then went on to work for Birmingham City Council (BCC) as part of the Central Strategic Community and Play Team for 13 years.

She was the lead for developing the Birmingham Play Strategy 2008 – 2012 which drew down 3.3 Million Big Lottery Funding. The funding refurbished parks and play areas in Birmingham and created a detached play project for children aged 4 to 14, providing free play opportunities.

Kemi has managed, developed and delivered training for many years covering a wide range of social subjects. She is currently a visiting lecturer at De Montfort University covering issues of identity, culture, race, gender and social policy. Her delivery style enables space for dialogue, analysis and reflection and therefore deconstructing labels and conditioning.

Martin Simms
Martin is a creative consultant within the media sector and specialises in developing emerging creative networks and talent programmes. He has extensive experience within the media sector, first establishing himself at the BBC and followed on by his role as Film Liaison with the councils dedicated office Film Birmingham. His most recent role has been as Head of Network Development for West Midlands Screen Bureau.
He has undertaken a number of different creative media programmes which have been community led, helping to provide opportunities for people from diverse backgrounds. Also providing support for film festivals and talent programmes combined with community outreach work helping to develop creative collaboration.

He is currently a mentor for emerging talent within the media industry, while helping to implement diverse training programmes and develop talent networks within the creative sector.

DR. Carlton Howson
Carlton is a senior lecturer at De Montfort University he has over thirty years’ experience of working with young people, families, communities and those who are said to be ‘hard to reach’. He is critical thinker and his pedagogical approach is contrived earnestly seeking to be relevant to the context, the situation. Using narratives as an important aspect of learning and teaching, inviting participants to share their own stories as a means of connecting people. His emphasis on learning and teaching is working from where people are at and challenging them to go beyond. He has worked in many contexts, but is perhaps best known for teaching – in which he challenges himself and his students to ‘speak truth to power’.

Yoga
Carlton’s yoga journey started in 2008 when he attended his first Bikram yoga class. He has practiced in various styles of yoga, Bikram, Ashtanga, Flow, Dynamic, Power yoga. Forrest Yoga proved to be a practice that combined many of his interests, a practice grounded in healing and wellbeing but providing challenges at every level. In 2014 Carlton completed the Forrest Yoga Foundation Teacher Training programme (with Ana Forrest) which enables him to embrace his passion for yoga, teaching within a context of health and wellbeing. Carlton enthusiasm for yoga has grown and he now teaches he own classes.