Carol Ann Whitehead FRSA, Managing Director

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A Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and on the Northern Power Women’s Power List, Carol Ann is Managing Director of The Zebra Partnership based in Greater Manchester. Founded in 2000, The Zebra Partnership is a boutique agency that brings together talented freelancers in the fields of campaigns, event management, marketing and publishing on a project by project basis in the UK and overseas. She has managed a plethora of campaigns and events across all sectors from Carbon capture and abatement conferences with the Department of Energy and Climate Change to several Royal visits and dignitary activities, through to creative, cultural and community engagement festivals across several days and sites.

 

An advocate for women’s rights, equality, diversity and inclusion, Carol Ann collaborated with FiLiA to bring their internationally recognised feminist conference to Manchester. The agency was also awarded the Inclusive Companies Award ‘Certificate of Excellence’ in 2019.

 

Carol Ann is also co-founder of the Pankhurst Centre-based Global Ada Lovelace “Wikieditathon” - an initiative to improve diversity on Wikipedia. An Action Partner for the United Nations’ (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Carol Ann has delivered several lectures at the UN Youth Association in Denmark and is part of the UN Global Festival of Action in Germany. She is also winner of several awards including Mentor of the Year and is a Global Goodwill Ambassador. At the 2021 World Summit of Social Media influencers, Carol Ann was named SDG Champion and ranked number 38 in the top 100 of social media influencers for the SDG's.

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Dan Whitehead FRSA, Editorial Director 

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Dan has enjoyed a long and eclectic career in publishing, starting in 1991 as a games reviewer for Amiga Computing magazine. Since then he has worked for many gaming outlets, including Official Xbox Magazine, Eurogamer and the Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition. He is the writer of the best-selling retro gaming book series, Speccy Nation.

 

He has also worked as a writer and editor in comics, ranging from children's titles such as Scooby Doo, Looney Tunes and Rugrats to indie titles Hex Loader and Midwinter. He has also written graphic novel adaptations of Jason and the Argonauts and Julius Caesar, and was both editor and contributing writer on SelfMadeHero's Edgar Allen Poe anthology Nevermore.

 

Dan has written for Guinness World Records, BAFTA and the TV show Dara O'Briain's Go 8 Bit, and is also an accomplished scriptwriter for games and comics. 

 

In the field of licensed properties, Dan has also written two official Star Wars books and edited the official poster magazine series for the Lord of the Rings movies. In 2020 he wrote 'The World of Peaky Blinders', 'The Ultimate Guide to Billie Eilish' and the 2021 Minecraft Annual. He is the creator of several comics and graphic novels from Ella Upgraded, Hex Loader and Frankenstein, Texas.

 

Dan is also a scriptwriter and narrative designer for video games, including critically acclaimed indie adventure Ether One, wartime action game Air Conflicts: Secret Wars, and historical arcade game Wulverblade.

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Sali Midjek-Conway MCIM MCIPR, Marketing & Communications Director

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Sali is The Zebra Partnership's Marketing & Communications Director supporting a range of clients with their marketing, communications and engagement strategies, web, digital and business development by helping them convert their marketing investment into bottom-line results.

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Sali started her career in marketing nearly 20 years ago in advertising before specialising in acquisition marketing; working in education as well as finance and the world of football. Prior to joining The Zebra Tribe, Sali led a large marketing communications team in one of the three faculties at the University of Manchester where she was responsible for the strategic direction of marketing, communications and student recruitment, overseeing the delivery of campaigns and events in the UK and overseas. 

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She is a Board Vice Chair on the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) North West Board and is a member of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) North West Committee.

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As a woman of Algerian heritage and the first in her family to attend university qualifying to master’s level, Sali is a proud advocate of continuing professional development and encouraging more diversity within higher education and industry. As a former school governor at a local girl’s high school and now a member of other committees in industry, she continues to promote and champion diversity.

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Aaron Hornback, Associate Director Hospitality & Entertainment

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Hailing from the United States of America, Aaron has been The Zebra Partnership's Hospitality specialist since 2018.  Given his background, Aaron's client/guest focused skills of organising and running events came to the fore at the Filia 2018 event held in Manchester. As a result, The Zebra Tribe brought him on board.  

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Aaron's varied experience ranges from being a pastor, conference centre manager to an event organising expert. He is also a noted advocate for racial and gender-based equality.

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Aside from being a devoted husband, father and a lover of food, culture and travel, Aaron is passionate about contributing to the health and wellbeing of the Universal Inclusion Network and the Vessels of Virtue. He is also the Founder and Director of the Horizon Health Network, as well as a life coach, author, and motivational speaker.