News

As her four year term has come to an end, our current Chair Hana Loftus is handing over to a new Chair, Joanne Ooi! Joanne is Founder and Director of EA Festival and we are excited to have her energy and drive taking Creative Colchester forward.

During her four years as Chair, Hana has led Creative Colchester’s development from an unincorporated group into a Community Interest Company. Taking over mid-pandemic, she has helped to win over £300,000 in funding to support creative businesses and practitioners, helping the sector build back stronger and ensuring culture is central to local placemaking and economic development plans.

Hana commented “It has been great fun and a privilege to lead Creative Colchester through this period of transformation. Our work over the last four years has demonstrated why a partnership approach is needed, and delivers real benefits, for our grassroots sector as well as our anchor cultural organisations. Joanne is going to be a fantastic new Chair and takes over at another critical moment – I know her advocacy and passion will keep the creative sector at the top of the agenda”

Everyone at Creative Colchester would like to express our deepest gratitude to Hana for her excellent leadership these past few years. Her unwavering commitment to growing Colchester as a creative hub has been inspirational, and we have achieved so much as a company thanks to her guidance and passion.
Thank you, Hana!

Our new chair may be a familiar face to some of you. Joanne Ooi is a creative entrepreneur and marketing strategist, and founder of EA Festival and EA Sustain, two acclaimed East of England events uniting art, ideas, and environmentalism. Formerly Creative Director of Shanghai Tang and CEO of Hong Kong’s Clean Air Network, she has led ventures spanning luxury branding, sustainability, and digital innovation. A graduate of Columbia University and University of Pennsylvania Law School, Joanne curates and produces projects bridging culture, business, and social change.

Joanne Ooi says ‘I’m an ardent, long-time believer and booster of Colchester, with a demonstrated commitment to cooperation and coordination. I look forward to bringing that philosophy to bear in my leadership of Creative Colchester. Ecosystem coordination and reciprocity are key to vouchsafing the future of the creative industry in the city.’

Joanne would love to meet members of our network and will be present our next Creative Colchester Social, taking place on Wednesday 12th November 6:30pm-9pm at Dice and a Slice, Queen Street (below SPACE Studios). Please come along and meet Joanne and let us know what you need from Creative Colchester as we move into this next chapter.