Meli Hatzihrysidis
Meli Hatzihrysidis is currently Senior Officer, Engagement and Participation at Arts Council England working in areas of audience development, increasing participation, engagement and involvement in the arts. Before that Meli came to Arts Council England on secondment from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) to write the Arts Council's first national arts and health strategy. The Arts, health and wellbeing was published in 2007. At the DCMS, Meli advised and supported Ministers on a range of arts policy issues, including the arts and social inclusion and the arts in health, latterly completing an internal paper for DCMS on the arts and mental health. In Australia, Meli’s first degree was in the performing arts and social anthropology where he taught drama there and after coming to London he completed an MA in Arts Policy and Management at City University.