Lou Mensah

DASH welcomes Lou Mensah (she/her) to the Board of Trustees in April 2026.

Lou is a photographer and writer whose practice spans criticism, audio, and education. As a lecturer at Central Saint Martins, she has worked to centre access within arts education, bringing disabled and Global Majority perspectives into spaces that have historically excluded them. Lou is committed to education and advocacy as foundations of a fairer arts sector. She brings to the DASH board grounded institutional knowledge, a track record in communications and partnership-building, and the lived experience of navigating the barriers DASH works to remove.

"DASH's work speaks directly to everything I care about in the arts: access, equity, and disabled artists having the conditions to build sustainable careers. I have spent three decades navigating the sector without the right conditions or infrastructure. I know what that costs, and what a difference it makes when the sector gets it right.

I bring experience from working with organisations across the arts — from charitable foundations and education spaces to major institutions and arts organisations, including Tate, the British Council, Hauser & Wirth, Frieze, and ActionSpace — alongside the ability to broker partnerships, build audiences, and make complex ideas accessible. I want to bring those skills to a board whose mission I believe in deeply, and to advocate for the artists who deserve the conditions and inspiration DASH works to create. " Lou Mensa