Jazpa was one of the first Big Teamers in 2021, connecting on a festival tour and later joining the team to help create pathways into the industry.  His passion lies in finding new and undiscovered talent in Bristol. You can catch him hosting outreach sessions around the city, and helping inform young people about different careers available within the live event sector. Jazpa also has a background in performing arts and is currently working on the delivery of projects exploring the synergy and transferable skills between festival and theatre spaces.

Lucy joined Big Team in 2021 as a placement, where she created and delivered the organisation’s first networking event series. With a longstanding passion for music and social impact, and experience across youth organisations and community radio, the placement marked her entry into the festival industry. Lucy now focuses on expanding opportunities, building meaningful connections, and driving engagement with the network, industry partners and mentors. She also leads on marketing and content, alongside delivering Big Team’s Creative Development projects.

Javeon leads on the Festival Pathways strand of Big Team’s work, collaborating closely with our cohort of festival partners to identify employment opportunities and develop toolkits and resources that can be shared across the sector. His long-term goal is to help create more inclusive workplaces within live events. From a mentorship perspective, he supports Big Team participants with advice, guidance, and on-site support. An accomplished musician in his own right, and with a background as a Youth Worker, Javeon brings a first-hand understanding of the music and events industry. This combination of lived experience and professional insight enables him to offer steady, practical advice to those starting out in their careers.

Issy is a Bristol-based creative, producer and facilitator passionate about making spaces more equitable, inclusive and representative. With experience producing music and corporate videos, community building, and event production, Issy now works across all Big Team’s projects.

Starting with Big Team as part of the Festival Pathways Programme in 2024, Issy brings personal experience to support and coordinate Big Team’s network of young people.

Tom, Dave & Penny are the Directors of Team Love Productions and original co-founders of Big Team with a wealth of knowledge and many years of festival production, curation and promotion under their belts. 

Sophia is the newly appointed Chair of the Board for Big Team and leads the education programme at Saffron. Saffron is a non-profit organisation dedicated to advancing gender equality in music technology, creating safer spaces for marginalised communities to learn, create and grow with confidence across DJing, music production, sound engineering and radio broadcasting.

With a professional background rooted in youth and community work, Sophia brings over a decade of experience designing and delivering projects that build meaningful connections and support the development of personal and vocational skills. Her current expertise lies in project management, with a particular focus on funding generation and impact measurement.

Leigh is a neurodivergent youth and community worker in Bristol East-Central. He received an Economics and Mathematics Bsc. from the University of Bristol in 2009; working at the Centre for Markets and Public Organisation upon graduating; before entering a career in trading. After evaluating his priorities during the pandemic, Leigh committed himself to mentoring and youth development in his local community’

Sid is a socially engaged artist and consultant who uses clay, paint and words to invite institutions and community groups into conversation about access, decolonisation and equity. Sid’s work challenges harmful narratives and practices that institutions uphold and perpetuate so that repair can begin with the community groups experiencing the most barriers to galleries, museums and public space in the UK. Their background is in youth work and mental health.

Claire is a charity leader and freelance event manager, having worked full time in festivals for 15 years before taking on her main current role as a Co-Director at homelessness charity Caring in Bristol. My career spans both the events industry and social justice work - I hope to bring these two passions to Big Team and the young people it supports, contributing my skills in organisational governance, event production and delivering person-centred services.

Alex Rodrigues is a Bristol based Filmmaker, Producer and Director currently in-house at Channel 4. He cut his teeth in the music industry, running VRBL Records, an independent UK Rap label, before moving onto working with Warner Music Group.

His work now spans across TV, Digital and Film, as well as being the creator and author of the critically acclaimed newsletter 'The Audience Sucks.

Shawn Fleming is a senior people professional with a strong commitment to fairness, inclusion, and public service. Originally from Northern Ireland, Shawn moved to Bristol and has built both his life and career in the city. Now working as Head of HR, Shawn brings a valuable dual perspective shaped by experience in both trade union activism and senior leadership. He has led complex Employee Relation issues, organisational change, and inclusive policy development that promotes wellbeing, engagement, and trust.