About

Fiona Allan is a cultural leader with deep experience as both a chief executive and a non-executive director. Over the past two decades she has led large-scale, complex public facing organisations in the UK and Australia as CEO of Opera Australia, Birmingham Hippodrome, Curve Theatre and Sydney Film Festival. 

Alongside her executive leadership career, Fiona has served on over fifteen boards and advisory bodies across creative industries, regional development, tourism, funding and awards, and cultural organisations, including five board chair roles.  This gives her a deep perspective on how boards and executive teams work together in practice. She has also held senior artistic leadership positions, shaping cultural strategy from the inside by curating annual programmes and festivals, plus commissioning and producing new work. Fiona is an experienced public speaker, regularly invited to chair panels, deliver workshops and webinars, and host major industry gatherings.

This combined experience — leading, governing and creating — gives her an unusual vantage point. She knows how decisions get made, where they meet resistance, and what is required to see them through — not just in theory, but in the messy reality of organisations.