Alison Jones, Erdem Moralioglu MBE and Meneesha Kellay are appointed as Trustees to the British Museum Board
The Prime Minister has appointed Alison Jones, Erdem Moralioglu MBE and Meneesha Kellay as Trustees to the British Museum for a term of 4 years.
Alison Jones
Born and raised in Liverpool, Alison is a leading lawyer in the charity and not-for-profit sector. She graduated with a first-class honours degree in law from the University of Manchester and a distinction in the Legal Practice Course at BPP Law School. Alison built her career at two global law firms Hill Dickinson LLP and Womble Bond Dickinson LLP, the magic circle firm Slaughter and May, and the multinational technology company Sage. She now leads her current firm Muckle LLP’s arts, culture and heritage practice.
Alison has actively contributed to a number of working parties of the Charity Law Association, established to help shape regulatory guidance for the benefit of the charity sector. She has also served on several not-for-profit boards, including the board of Newcastle Theatre Royal, and is on the Charity Commission’s panel of interim managers.
A passionate advocate for arts and culture being accessible to all, Alison is committed to advancing initiatives that do just that.
Erdem Moralioglu MBE
Born in Montreal to a Turkish father and British mother, Erdem Moralioglu is the Creative Director and founder of ERDEM, a renowned British fashion house. Graduating with an M.A from London’s Royal College of Art in 2003, his first womenswear collection debuted in 2005 and quickly gained recognition with its language of poetic and modern femininity.
ERDEM has received global recognition and industry accolades, including the 2010 inaugural British Fashion Council / Vogue Designer Fashion Fund Award and the 2014 BFC Womenswear Designer of the Year Award. The house opened its flagship store in Mayfair in 2015. In 2020, Erdem was honoured with an MBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List for his contribution to the fashion industry.
A passionate supporter of the arts, Erdem has shown his collections in a series of historically and culturally significant London locations, including the British Museum, the National Portrait Gallery, Sadler’s Wells, White Cube and the V&A Museum. In 2024, Erdem opened ‘Imaginary Conversations’ at Chatsworth, an exhibition dedicated to the process of creating the Spring Summer 24 collection and its muse, Duchess Deborah.
Pieces from Erdem’s collections have been exhibited globally, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the V&A Museum in London, and the Palais Galliera and the Louvre Museum in Paris.
Meneesha Kellay
Meneesha Kellay is a curator and cultural leader working across art, architecture, design, and performance. Fulfilling roles as Senior Curator and Lead Curator of an upcoming major exhibition at the V&A Museum, her curatorial practice supports emerging and experimental work through commissions, exhibitions, installations, and live programmes.
Meneesha was co-curator of the award-winning British Pavilion at the 2023 Venice Architecture Biennale. Previously she led Open House London, and public programmes at the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) and Architectural Association School of Architecture. Meneesha has also played leading roles in cultural festivals including the London Design Festival and London Festival of Architecture.
She is a 2024 Clore Leadership Fellow, recognised for her commitment to building platforms that amplify diverse voices within and beyond institutions. Meneesha is an advocate for shifting museum practice with an interest in the transformative potential of the arts. She has extensive experience in broadening participation and champions methodologies that foster inclusive cultural environments.
Remuneration and Governance Code
The Trustees of the British Museum are not remunerated. These appointments have been made in accordance with the Governance Code on Public Appointments. The appointments process is regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments.
Under the Code, any significant political activity undertaken by an appointee in the last five years must be declared. This is defined as including holding office, public speaking, making a recordable donation, or candidature for election. Alison Jones, Erdem Moralioglu and Meneesha Kellay have not declared any significant political activity.
DCMS has around 400 regulated Public Appointment roles across 42 Public Bodies including Arts Council England, Theatres Trust, the National Gallery, UK Sport and the Gambling Commission. We encourage applications from talented individuals from all backgrounds and across the whole of the United Kingdom. To find out more about Public Appointments or to apply visit the HM Government Public Appointments Website or follow us on LinkedIn.