Birmingham Hippodrome Theatre Trust (BHTT) has welcomed Elizabeth Zeddie Lawal to the Board. A firm believer in the power of innovation, culture, creativity and social good, Elizabeth joins the Board of Trustees, Chaired by Glenn Howells, at a key moment for the organisation as it continues to rebuild post Covid.

Elizabeth Zeddie Lawal is a change maker, producer, facilitator and host. A firm believer in the power of creativity, tech, innovation, doughnut economics and social good.

Since graduating from the University of Birmingham in drama and theatre arts in 2016, she has been committed to cultural inclusion, equity, innovation, transformational leadership and most importantly care. She is a strong advocate for social mobility, empowering leaders and communities to thrive whilst using creativity as a mirror to society.

She is the writer of Exhale, a play exploring faith, sexuality and forgiveness. Raptured and performed at the Global Amnesty International human rights forum in South Africa and co-wrote and performed at the UBUMUNTU festival in Rwanda.

Elizabeth led TEDxYouth@Brum from 2019 to 2021 and was formerly, Head of Community at Beatfreeks Collective and Associate Producer at Coventry City of Culture. She was the Founder of More Than a Moment Group and Director of Personal Development and WM lead at Code Your Future. Elizabeth is recognised in Birmingham Mail’s 30 under 30, The Stage 100 list of the most influential people working in theatre for the More Than A Moment: Action With & For Black Creatives and is currently a finalist for the Woman of the Year award.

Elizabeth will bring her skills and experience to the Board of Trustees actively supporting the Leadership Team to deliver on their vision of creating a world class Birmingham cultural scene with the Hippodrome centre stage.

Ann Tonks, Deputy Chair of BHTT and Chair of the BHTT Nominations Committee, said: “I am delighted that Elizabeth has joined our BHTT Board. She has demonstrated time and again her ability to create, galvanise and deliver programmes of depth and importance to the community such as TEDxYouth and the More than a Moment pledge for the creative arts. Her thoughts on how the Hippodrome can harness digital platforms are exciting and we are looking forward to her energy and enthusiasm!”

Elizabeth added: “As the Hippodrome rebuilds itself after the pandemic, I want to make sure that it plays a major role in ensuring that it’s a creative and civic space where young people, artists and audiences can not only feel welcome, but thrive here.” 

Elizabeth officially joined the Birmingham Hippodrome Board in Autumn 2021.