Our Board Members:

Adam Azmy is a Director of Visual Effects for the film industry and has worked on a number of high profile feature films including Steven Spielberg’s War Horse, James Cameron’s Avatar, Alfonso Cuaron’s Gravity and the Matrix. He is also a bespoke furniture maker, having featured in New Designers and runs his own company AzmyAnything.  He is an active Blackhorse Member, supporting the Blackhorse team with creating short film projects such as documenting the Kit Kite project, and has extensive experience working with digital manufacturing processes.

Rob Fiehn is a freelance communications consultant, working within the built environment industry and lives in Walthamstow. Rob has worked as a book editor at Phaidon Press, an in-house comms manager at Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners and as an account director at bespoke design PR agency Caro Communications. He has also delivered projects for a number of key events and institutions, including Vision, Architect@Work, the London Festival of Architecture, New London Architecture, the World Architecture Festival and RIBA. Rob is passionate about our built environment and has developed firm roots within the architectural community, including strong relationships with key journalists, institutions and clients. For this reason, he also has advisory roles for the Museum of Architecture and Blackhorse Workshop.

Jerome Ince-Mitchell was a facilitator on The Agency youth programme we ran as part of Borough of Culture in 2019. He also led our diversity group and has previous board experience as Chair of AN (The Artists Information Network). He is a practising Artist and Senior Lecturer at Camberwell College of Art.

Stephen Mackie is a local architect who has lived in Walthamstow for 8 years. He previously ran the architecture practice Sean & Stephen and teaches on the Foundation in Architecture, Interior and Product Design course at Brighton University. His passion for architecture and teaching underlines his belief in the importance of creating opportunities for people from all different backgrounds with a space to gain new skills and knowledge. 

Ruch Pathirana has been a regular user of the Blackhorse metal workshop, building everything from cocktail cabinets to gates for a friend’s house, and joined the board to offer his financial expertise. As a chartered accountant and tax specialist, he has worked for firms such as KPMG, Rio Tinto and Octopus Investments. Ruch helps us ensure we maintain a healthy financial position and we spend wisely.

Zosia Poulter is a Content Strategist and design researcher and has always been fascinated by the wellbeing aspects of making. A short stint as a DT technician in a local school solidified her belief that working with your hands from a young age can have huge benefits beyond the four walls of the workshop. Growing up in Leytonstone she has seen the area change and grow for the better and is proud to be from Waltham Forest.  

Tessa Read is Deputy Head of the Careers and Employability department at the University of the Arts London and has worked in Widening Participation at UAL since 2004. Her interest lies in addressing inequality and under representation within the cultural industries. She is a graduate of both Manchester University and Sussex Universities. She has worked in India and South Africa, working closely with local social enterprises and has a strong interest in social entrepreneurship learning. She continues to work with Design Against Crime Research Centre supporting research in design-led social innovation and enterprise.