Meet the Team
Blaze is powered by a collaborative team of creatives and leaders who believe in the impact of youth‑led culture. At the heart of the organisation are our two co‑directors, who guide our vision and ensure young people’s voices shape everything we do. They work alongside a committed Board of Directors, with over half aged 30 or under upon their time of joining the board, who provide strategic leadership rooted in lived experience.
Our work is brought to life by our Young Producers, the driving force behind our projects, events and decision‑making - and by the brilliant artists and collaborators who support them to experiment, create and lead.
Together, we’re building a space where young people shape culture, not just take part in it.
Blaze Leadership
Sophie Mahon
STRATEGIC directorSophie is a multidisciplinary creative practitioner and artist with over a decade of experience working in socially engaged practice.
Their previous roles include serving as Head of Social Practice at Open Eye Gallery in Liverpool, working alongside The Forest Of Bowland Team to deliver a four year Arts and Ecology Programme with communities, and leading a range of Programmes with In‑Situ Pendle as well as managing a range large‑scale cultural events and festivals across the UK and beyond.
As an artist, Sophie has collaborated with organisations including the Whitworth, HOME, and Battersea Arts Centre, and continues to develop their freelance practice alongside their role as Co‑Director at Blaze.
Holly Ball
Engagement Director Holly started her journey into the creative and cultural industries in 2007, beginning with leading drama workshops and creative youth leadership projects before they found their passion for working in creative careers.
This started by delivering the Future Jobs Fund for PANDA across the North, developed into coordinating somewhereto_ in North and West Yorkshire, before joining Curious Minds to build their careers and skills work from the ground up. Holly is Co-Director for Blaze Arts alongside having a freelance portfolio as a Creative Careers Coach and Specialist.
Tierney Smith
Lead PRODUCER Tierney started out with Blaze as a young producer on In Focus Festival, working alongside other emerging creatives and getting paid hands‑on experience in the industry and the opportunity to programme and lead on the type of events they wanted to run, which included anything from stand up comedy workshops to music events. Now a core member of the Blaze team, they’ve been leading on our current music programme Next Up - bringing professional musicians and Burnley College students together to make new music and build confidence on stage. They also run Blaze’s Open Mic Nights at Burnley Mechanics.
Based in Burnley and fresh out of uni, Tierney is an actor and all‑round creative who’s passionate about helping young people find their voice and discover what they love.
Blaze Board of Directors
Jasleen Kaur
Chair Jasleen Kaur is a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion specialist, facilitator, and advocate for youth voice. With a career dedicated to centering lived experience and equity in all she delivers, she is driven by a passion for challenging the status quo and innovating how things are done to create more equitable systems.
As Blaze Chair Jasleen brings extensive grant-making experience to her work, having been part of the 2027 Programme, an initiative established to support working-class people into the grant sector. She is passionate about facilitating spaces for change and ensuring that equity remains at the heart of her work, a commitment she continues to bring to her role as Chair of the Board, all while based in Cardiff.
Board member Joe Clegg Prada is a Manc-based actor, producer, writer and marketer. A champion of new writing in the North he’s produced short plays from 2018-present. He’s appeared in various productions here and there, having trained as an actor over the years with Carol Godby's Theatre Workshop, the Royal Exchange, Contact, National Youth Theatre and Mindful Acting.
He’s also over 10 years into his one and only muggle job, which happens to be creative in its own right, taking care of all things marketing and comms with Manchester’s music development charity Brighter Sound. It’s through them he discovered Blaze in 2018 and has been a Trustee on their Board ever since!
Joe Clegg Prada
Board memberHamza Jahanzeb is a London-based writer, critic, and editorial consultant specialising in authenticity reading for major international clients including Hachette, Harper Collins, Pan Macmillan, Bloomsbury, and Penguin Random.
He is the author of The Rise and Rise of Chappell Roan (Hachette UK / Running Press US, 2025) and a theatre aficionado with a sustained focus on British South Asian stories on the stage. Named a Bookseller Rising Star, Hamza has worked across publishing hubs in Beijing, New York, and London. Through his consultancy, H A J & Associates Limited, he offers editorial, PR, and marketing services to the Creative sectors and industries.
Originally from Accrington, Lancashire, he now operates from Richmond, London, combining his publishing expertise with cultural event consultancy work across theatre and media. He sits as a Trustee of the Postal Museum’s Board and is Chair of Queer Beyond Belief.
Hamza Jahanzeb
Board member Hattie is a socially engaged and digitally curious Artist, Facilitator and Producer who creates collaborative work that challenges how we assign value to materials and objects. Using DIY methods and found materials, her practice resists systems of overconsumption by transforming the discarded into playful sculptures and interactive installations rooted in environmental care and resourcefulness.
Previously a Jerwood Arts Fellow, she has worked with the likes of Factory International, HOME, Manchester Museum, Wigan Council, and Whitworth Art Gallery.
Hattie Kongaunruan
Hannah Smith
Board member Hannah Smith is a socially engaged artist, painter and photographer based in Pendle. In 2023, she began Monuments of Society, a painting series developed during her BA Fine Art degree at UCLan, exploring her lived experiences of the cost‑of‑living crisis. The work was selected for the Made It 2023 exhibition at The Royal Standard, where she received the Paradise Works Prize.
Hannah is now undertaking postgraduate studies at Salford University, completing an MA in Socially Engaged Arts Practice. Her current work focuses on creating free, accessible activities for people in Pendle during a period of ongoing socio‑economic strain, continuing her commitment to community‑centred creative practice
Shabnam Razia
Board member Shabnam Razia is a Law graduate with a strong interest in community engagement and the arts, particularly drama, music and poetry. Based in Lancashire, she brings together her legal training, creative practice and commitment to social connection in her work within the healthcare sector.
Shabnam’s multidisciplinary interests shape a growing practice centred on supporting people, amplifying community voices and creating spaces where creativity and wellbeing intersect. Her background in Law informs her understanding of social justice and advocacy, while her passion for the arts continues to guide her involvement in cultural and community‑focused activity across the region
Ria Phatarphekar
Board member Ria is an Applied Theatre Practitioner and Community Producer dedicated to co-designing inclusive, creative spaces that amplify underrepresented voices across diverse backgrounds and abilities. With a focus on creating meaningful work that inspires hope and joy, her approach is profoundly shaped by her lived experience as an Indian immigrant navigating the creative industry, which fuels her desire to establish the supportive frameworks often missing for communities on the margins.
Ria is passionate about working on themes around racial justice, climate justice and belonging. She works part-time at Women‘s Environmental Network, delivering the Climate Sisters’, a feminist climate leadership programme for racialised women. As an Applied Theatre Practitioner, Ria facilitates workshops and training for Odd Arts, around themes of social injustice in prisons, educational institutions and communities. She is the Producer and Facilitator for her community project, Coconut, which is about food, belonging and 'othering' and recently produced South Asian Heritage Month for Manchester City Council.
Having previously worked with The Proud Trust, a LGBT+ Youth Charity, Ria is also a trained Youth Worker and often facilitates arts and theatre related projects for children and young people.
Saul Argent
Board member Saul has led a range of projects and initiatives supporting children and young people across the country to access creative opportunities. Based in Lancaster, he has worked with organisations including Curious Minds, Pop Up Projects, Escape2Make and Graft Lancaster (which he co-founded), and led major projects such as Hope Streets, a 5-year programme transforming how heritage organisations in the North West work with young people. His passion for creative education has led to him undertaking a PhD in psychology, researching the impact of artists in schools on pupil creativity and curiosity, with Goldsmiths, University of London, in partnership with Curious Minds.
He brings a broad experience to the Blaze board of strategic leadership in the third sector; managing complex projects connecting schools, community and arts organisations, and artists; grant, corporate and philanthropic fundraising; and developing methodologies for impact evaluation. Alongside this, he has a belief in the power of the arts to be transformative in people's lives, and a confidence that raising the voices of young people can only be beneficial for our communities.
Steph Brocken
Board member Steph is a Bury-based arts engagement and development specialist. Starting out in Youth Theatre and running her own organisation, Minerva Arts for 15 years, Steph has developed a portfolio of expertise spanning areas as diverse as heritage engagement, higher education and fundraising and business development. She is currently Programme Director at Peshkar, an NPO based in Oldham where she has been since 2014 as well as Programmes and Development Manager at Cause4, working on the Arts Fundraising and Philanthropy programme.
Back in 2024-16, Steph was Programme Manager for Engagement for Blaze and managed the delivery of the Art:ADDS project with the Contemporary Visual Art Network: North West. This was one of her favourite projects to work on and Blaze has always had a special place in her heart so she's delighted to be able to support the team with its next phase.
Join Our Team
Curious about joining our team or board of directors? Reach out and we’ll be in touch about current or future opportunities.