Toby bio:
Toby and his wife Jenny have lived in Highgate for the last eight years, and can be found walking their whippet Milo on the Heath most weekends.
Toby has worked in marketing and the media for the last 20 years at companies including the BBC, Channel 4 and The Guardian. He is currently working on a new business that encourages exercise to support mental health and positivity.
Toby counts himself very lucky to live in Highgate. With its proximity to Hampstead Heath, Waterlow Park and the centre of London, it is a great place to live. But it’s the true sense of community that makes Highgate so special.
He assists with the Highgate Festival website’s content and maintenance as well as developing the social media campaign.
Maria bio:
Maria, an Austrian, German and a bit of Italian has lived in Highgate for ten years. She is a proud allotment owner on Shepherd’s Hill growing artichokes, rhubarb, herbs and flowers.
You can regularly see Maria cycling up the hills of Highgate… the hills are alive.
She was a partner and co-managed a medium sized architecture practice for more than a decade before setting up her own studio www.room102.com.
Maria is a senior lecturer at the University of Westminster and aims to bridge the gap between academia and practice. She has built 1:1 pavilions with students as part of the London Festival of Architecture.
The London Festival of Architecture is the world’s largest annual architecture event and celebrates London as a global hub of architectural experimentation, practice and debate.
Maria is interested in public community space and how architecture can improve our lives and create a more sustainable way of living.
kathleen bio:
Kathleen is an American Brit who has lived and worked in New York, Washington DC, London and Europe with Highgate her preferred place to live work and dream.
She is a PR, marketing communications consultant who collaborates with clients of all shapes and sizes on projects large and small. She develops cleverly crafted and realistically budgeted campaigns that market people, places, products and communicate their messages to those that need to know.
Kathleen creates and manages events, installations whether conventional or quirky, be they “scheduled” or “unpredictable surprises”, immersive, interactive or simply and satisfyingly viewed. These include intimate soirees to huge conferences/exhibitions, annual awards dinners and banquets.
She conceived and coordinated the first live garden – the South of France Jardin in St Pancras International Railway Station’s Upper Level, across from Eurostar in situ for several weeks and designed by Clifton Nurseries.
A community enthusiast, Kathleen is on the committee of the Dartmouth Park Neighbourhood Forum and its Communication Lead, a member of the Highgate Camden Safer Neighbourhood Panel, a Trustee of the Holly Lodge Estate Community Centre and a member of the Highgate Festival team dealing with marketing communications, PR, social media and fundraising.
Connecting with her international community, Kathleen runs www.americaninengland.com for insiders and bothsiders.
