Clare Connor has been Chief Executive of The Place and London Contemporary Dance School since 2017 and has taken the organisation through its ambitious 50th Anniversary creating a new transformative vision for the future. In 2018, she was named 'one of the most influential people in dance in London' in the Evening Standard’s Progress 1000.
Her leadership career in the performing arts and education sectors spans over 20 years and includes Director of Business Development at the Southbank Centre where she was responsible for large scale capital fundraising and international partnerships and Director of Stratford Circus Arts Centre where she co-founded the national network, Future Arts Centres.
An alumna of London Contemporary Dance School herself, Clare looks back at a successful performing career with Phoenix Dance, before working as a teacher-artist in both further and higher education and collaboratively producing performing arts programmes for the University of East London, as well as supporting the validation of new arts programmes in several universities.
Clare champions young people and is committed to strong leadership, mentoring and talent development through dance and the arts. She is currently a trustee for Sadler’s Wells, Dance Umbrella, an advisor for the Sir Robert Cohan Legacy Community Interest Company and a member of the Climate Action Working Group on behalf of GuildHE and Universities UK.