Helen Boaden joins York Theatre Royal as Chair of the Board of Trustees

Helen Boaden is thrilled to join York Theatre Royal as the new Chair of the Board of Trustees.

Helen has extensive leadership experience in creative organisations including over 30 years at the BBC where, among a range of roles, she was Controller of Radio 4 and the first woman to run BBC News. More recently she sat on the Council of the Royal Academy of Arts and is about to step down as Chair of Scarborough’s Stephen Joseph Theatre after nine years as a Trustee.

Quote from Helen Boaden: “I am delighted and honoured to have been asked to be the Chair of the Board of Trustees at York Theatre Royal. I have seen first-hand the impact that York Theatre Royal has both locally and nationally and I am looking forward to working with Trustees and staff as we embark on the next chapter in the life of this important and historic theatre.”

Quote from Paul Crewes, Chief Executive: “We are excited to welcome Helen Boaden this month to York Theatre Royal as Chair of the Board of Trustees. The wealth of experience that Helen brings is invaluable to us and will bring fresh perspective as we explore and redefine our work for the future – reimagining ourselves artistically and financially as a producing theatre at the heart of our community”

Helen spent most of her career at the BBC, starting as a reporter and producer in BBC local and commercial radio in Leeds, before ending on the BBC Executive Board as the first female Director of BBC News, and then Director of BBC Radio.

After leaving full time employment, Helen sat as a non-executive on several boards including Royal Academy of Arts (2017 – 2023); UK Statistics Authority (2019 – 2022); Richard Dimbleby Cancer Fund (2017 – 2023) and Stockroom Theatre Company (2018 – 2021). Helen was also Chair of the funding panel for the Audio Content Fund (2019 – 2022).

From 2015 to 2024, Helen was on the board for Scarborough’s Stephen Joseph Theatre, with six of those years as chair. Alongside her new role as Chair of the Board of Trustees at York Theatre Royal, Helen will be continuing her roles as Chair at both Windsor Leadership Trust, and National Statistician’s Advisory Group on Data Ethics; an Advisory Board Member at Shorenstein Centre on Media, Politics and Public Policy, Harvard Kennedy School, Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism and the University of Coventry, Scarborough campus; Patron of Books by the Beach in Scarborough, and President of HF Holidays.