*News | New trustees join our board
Akademi is delighted to announce the appointment of four new trustees.
Please join us in welcoming Dr. Shopitha Sivaranjan,
Jasmine Man, Martina Ghinetti and Devashree Pande to our board.
They bring a wealth of expertise and lived experiences relevant to our work, and we warmly welcome their fresh perspectives and enthusiasm. Find out more about our them below.
Our board of trustees provide crucial strategic leadership and governance, and we look forward to their contributions in developing and implementing our strategic plan.
Trustee profile
Devashree Pande
Devashree has been an arts professional in the UK for the past 7 years. Prior to this, she worked in India with renowned dance company, the SHIAMAK Group, for 12 years in various capacities as a performing artist, teacher, programmes manager and producer. Her roles spanned multiple countries, including a year in the US as part of a small team setting up the organisation’s New York and New Jersey school.
Since moving to the UK, Devashree has worked at Tara Theatre for 4.5 years as General Manager, and is currently working for Shoreditch Town Hall as Head of Operations.
Dr Shopitha Sivaranjan
Shobi is a doctor by profession with experience in a wide range of hospital and community roles and currently works as a GP in London. She also works as a medical tribunal member for the MPTS, sitting on fitness to practice hearings.
Shobi is a Bharathanatyam dancer and has been learning under Guru Prakash Yadagudde at The Bhavan for the past 30 plus years where she has had the opportunity to perform extensively and complete her arangetram in 2007.
Shobi is passionate about reducing health inequalities and lifestyle medicine and in particular, the role of dance in improving health. This led her to being on the review panel for ‘Move Assure’ (a dance for mental wellbeing programme) created by Dr Peter Lovatt, Lindsey Lovatt and Dame Darcey Bussell.
Jasmine Man
Jasmine is a producer at Inspirate, delivering festivals, events, and projects that explore South Asian contemporary arts and culture, with a focus on heritage, roots, migration and intersecting identities in the UK.
With a background in dance, she trained at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, touring as part of Transitions Dance Company and working as a performer, teacher, and community practitioner for over 10 years before moving into producing. Her work spans multi-site festivals, outdoor arts, participation work and heritage projects. Jasmine is an organiser for kindredpacket CIC, raising joy, care and connection amongst East and Southeast Asian communities.
Martina Ghinetti
Martina is a passionate advocate for South Asian arts, and she has been learning Bharatanatyam under Guru Krishna Zivraj-Nair at Sanskruti Cambridge for over a decade. Martina’s journey includes completing her Arangetram (professional solo debut) in Cambridge and attending summer intensives in India. Martina is now an assistant teacher at Sanskruti Cambridge, and she has led classes and workshops for children and adults nationally, in addition to performing in a number of productions, including ACE-funded productions.
Martina also obtained an MPhil in Modern South Asian Studies at the University of Cambridge, with a research project on the value of Bharatanatyam as international cultural capital. Outside of the dance world, Martina has worked in the financial services industry and is now a trainee solicitor at Clifford Chance in London.
Martina is thrilled to join Akademi as a trustee and is looking forward to contributing to the growth of South Asian arts in the UK, blending her professional, artistic, and academic background.
Photograph courtesy Clifford Chance