Scottish Ballet Makes Two New Female Appointments to Board of Directors

Scottish Ballet is pleased to announce the appointment of Scottish solicitor Nadhia Ahmad-Ali, and Ballet Black Founder & Artistic Director Cassa Pancho MBE as new Non-Executive Directors to the Board.

Nadhia Ahmad-Ali has recently been appointed as Head of Legal for Europe at UnitedHealthcare, part of the UnitedHealth Group, a Fortune 500 company. Prior to this she worked at The Weir Group PLC and Cigna, where she focused on strategy and partnerships, together with a leading role on their international Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Council.

She said, “I’m delighted to be joining the Board of Scottish Ballet, a company at the forefront of bold performances and pushing boundaries in dance. I am excited to further explore their well-being, community engagement and diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. I look forward to supporting the company’s visionary work, both at home, and globally.”

Cassa Pancho MBE founded Ballet Black upon graduating in 2001, to provide role models to young, aspiring black and Asian dancers. To date, she has commissioned forty-eight choreographers, to create over sixty new ballets for the Company. In 2015, Cassa was appointed a Patron of Central School of Ballet and in 2016 became a vice president of The London Ballet Circle. In 2017, along with Senior Artist Cira Robinson, she collaborated with British ballet shoe manufacturer, Freed of London, to create two brand new pointe shoe colours to enable dancers of Black and Asian descent to buy skin-tone pointe shoes ready-made. In 2018, Cassa was awarded the Freedom of the City of London.

She said, “Scottish Ballet and Ballet Black have enjoyed a long association and it has been my pleasure to watch Christopher and the entire company fully embrace a commitment to real change in classical ballet. I’m thrilled to be joining as a Board member and to be part of the company’s continued commitment towards equity and inclusivity, as well as their outstanding artistic work.”

The two women will join current Board members Jim Pettigrew (Chair), Barbara Allison, Anna Bateson, Eleanor Bentley, Ted Brandsen, Christopher Hampson (CEO/Artistic Director), Giles Hedger, James Mackenzie-Blackman, Catherine Muirden, Steven Roth (Executive Director) and Kirsty Wark.

Irene Brown