The LVW keynote speaker has received recognition for a lifetime of incredible work
BY ELLA GAUCI, IMAGE BY EMMA CATTELL
Dawn Airey, Chair of Trustees of the National Youth Theatre of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, has been awarded a CBE in the King’s Birthday Honours for her services to theatre and charity. At Lesbian Visibility Week 2024, Dawn gave a keynote speech about the importance of representation and visibility in the workplace. She also was awarded a Lifetime Achievement honour at the European Diversity Awards 2022.
During her time as the Chair of Trustees of the National Youth Theatre, Dawn has seen the £4m RIBA award-winning redevelopment of the NYT’s north London home and new partnerships with Netflix, Digital Theatre, English Heritage and TikTok.
Dawn told DIVA: “I am thrilled to receive this honour, especially as it is for services to theatre, and charity, where I am committed to elevating young people’s talent, on and off the stage. I will use this honour to continue championing LGBTQIA stories and performances in the theatre. It is imperative that queer women, like myself, see ourselves on all the world’s stages.”
Paul Roseby OBE, CEO & Artistic Director of the National Youth Theatre, said: “Dawn is a champion of equality, a role model to NYT members and a truly inspirational industry leader. Supporting under-resourced, under-represented and under-valued people is at the core of her belief system. There is no-one who will not take a call from Dawn Airey and no-one who won’t accept a request to engage in our mission to help secure the future for young creative talent who need our support the most.”
“Despite a gruelling professional schedule in three different time zones, that has never been at the expense of her commitment and time for the National Youth Theatre, demonstrating her huge personal investment in the opportunities we offer day in day out. We are delighted her enormous contribution to our creative community has been rightly recognised in this way.”
Dawn was also the CEO of Getty Images between 2015-2018, and she is on the Boards of Channel 4, Grosvenor Estates and Blackbird. She is Chair of the FA Women’s Super League and FA Women’s Championship Board.
You can read more about Dawn’s remarkable career in our exclusive interview here.
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