Eve leads on Culture and Economic Development at Leeds City Council. Her portfolio is wide ranging spanning everything from oversight of Leeds Museums and Galleries through to destination marketing, international relations, economic policy and business support. Her team provided extensive support to businesses across the city during Covid-19 and delivered the Leeds Economic Recovery Framework published in October 2020.
Prior to joining Leeds City Council in July 2018, Eve worked at NHS Digital for 15 years on the delivery of a range of programmes including the first Prison Health IT system in England and the delivery of the Child Protection Information Sharing Project across the NHS and Local Authorities.
Eve is a member of the Leadership Group of the Chamber of Commerce, a Director of North Invest and a Board member of WILD (formerly known as Women in Leeds Digital) and the Leeds Digital Ball.
Katherine is dedicated to supporting the growth of digital and tech startups, scale-ups, and established SMEs. She achieves this by delivering a program of activities, including working with Bruntwood SciTech's partners to facilitate conversations, introductions, and networking across tech ecosystems regionally (particularly in Leeds), sectorally, and nationally.
In 2022, Katherine successfully delivered Bruntwood SciTech's first Female Founders Incubator cohort in Leeds, launched the second cohort and expanded it to Manchester in 2023. Additionally, a larger incubator is planned for Alderley Park in autumn 2024.
Katherine's contributions were recognised when she was awarded Facilitator of the Year at the Leeds Digital Awards 2023.
Katherine is a board member of recently launched The Lifted Project Regional Advisory Board and is also a committee member of One For The City.
Jess Sewter is Chief Partnerships Officer for Generation UK&I, a leading skills bootcamp charity that trains, supports and places people from diverse and disadvantaged backgrounds into life-changing tech and data roles otherwise inaccessible. Jess has worked in education, employment and skills for over 20 years and is passionate about closing the digital gap through widening access and challenging the status quo. Jess partners with businesses looking to grow their digital teams while making social impact.
Having spent years across tech innovation (pre-Seed to Series B) and creative industries, Alina joined Innovate UK, to expand support for untapped innovative businesses and increase investment in creative talent. She leads Creative Catalyst, their £30 million R&D grant programme, funding hundreds of businesses a year. Ensuring this strategically & operationally compliments UKRI’s activities across the sector. She oversees Investor Partnerships and Smart grants within the sector. Bringing deep regional & national ecosystem knowledge and a commercial perspective to the challenges of portfolio companies. A champion for supporting diverse founders and collaborating to remove barriers to innovation.