AHRC Council member
Anita Bhalla is a member of the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) Council.
Anita is currently Chair of Birmingham City University and Chair of B:Music, the charity that runs Birmingham Symphony Hall and Town Hall. She is also Chair of Iniva, an evolving visual arts organisation dedicated to nurturing and disseminating emergent contemporary artistic practice centring around Global Majorities. She is a Governor of the Royal Shakespeare Company.
Until the closure of Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEP), she chaired the Greater Birmingham and Solihull LEP. Before taking up the Chair role she was the non-executive on the board championing the Creative industries.
Anita’s extensive media career, including over 25 years at the BBC, has included:
- setting up the BBC Asian Network
- news correspondent
- documentary maker
- Head of Political and Community Affairs in England
- UK Editor of the BBC’s Public Space Broadcasting
- President of Circom (a European-wide group of public service broadcasters)
Anita has a strong commitment to public services, and her portfolio in this area includes:
- Trustee of the Children’s University
- Vice Chair of Council The University of Warwick
- Chair of the Creative City Partnership
- member of Birmingham’s Social Inclusion Commission
- Chair of MAC (Midlands Arts Centre), overseeing a multi-million pound redevelopment of the centre
- non-Executive Director of Birmingham Women’s and Children’s Hospitals NHS Trust
- Chair of a junior and infant school
Last updated: 11 April 2025