Ballet company welcomes new board members

Birmingham Royal Ballet has announces the appointment of three new board members.

The new members are Marverine Cole, Shireenah Ingram and Christine Ondimu.

A radio and television presenter and news reporter from Birmingham, Marverine Cole (pictured) is currently the Director of the BA (Hons) Journalism course at Birmingham City University and also part of the Sir Lenny Henry Centre for Media Diversity, an independent body working to achieve accurate representation of all sections of society across contemporary UK media.

Originally from Birmingham, Shireenah Ingram is an actor, presenter and songwriter who began her performance career in 2012.

After several years living in London, and working abroad, in 2019 she launched her video podcast 'ShireenACT 's CHAT ' on YouTube, hosting interviews and discussions with fellow actors and performers about their journeys and experiences in the industry thus far.

Shireenah founded her own company 'Red Lens ' in 2021 which offers Acting classes to increase personal performance confidence.

Shireenah 's relationship with BRB began as the youngest participant in and star of Channel 4 's Ballet Hoo, Ballet Changed My Life and now she comes full circle to take her place as the youngest member on the Board.

Christine Ondimu is an experienced banking professional who is passionate workplace inclusion.

She sits on various committees and was co-chair of the HSBC UK Compliance Diversity and Inclusion Network.

Christine is a qualified lawyer and works as a Diversity & Inclusion Manager at HSBC UK Network leading 6,000-plus colleagues on diversity and inclusion.

Her career spans the financial services sector where she has worked in four countries - United States of America, South Africa, Kenya and now United Kingdom.

Chair of the board at BRB, David Normington, said: “These brilliant new appointments complete the work we have been doing over the last two years to rebuild the skills and knowledge of the Birmingham Royal Ballet board to support the transformation of this great ballet company.

“Marverine, Christine and Shireenah further strengthen our links with business and media; increase our understanding of how the creative arts can change young lives; and bring us closer to the diverse communities of Birmingham. We are all looking forward to working with them. ”