Madani Younis builds ambitious, high-impact work and the institutions that make it possible, bringing artists and audiences into real encounter and changing the conversation.

Over the past two decades he has worked with some of the most influential artists working today, while building organisations that support internationally recognised work and connect deeply with the communities they serve.

He served as Chief Executive Producer at The Shed in New York, where he produced, secured and led landmark productions including Here We Are, the final musical by Stephen Sondheim and David Ives; Straight Line Crazy starring Ralph Fiennes; The Effect directed by Jamie Lloyd; and The Brothers Size by Tarell Alvin McCraney.

Previously he served as Artistic Director and Chief Executive of the Bush Theatre in London, where he led the organisation through a period of transformation, delivering a record breaking fundraising campaign, relocating the theatre to a new home, and establishing it as one of the UK’s leading spaces for bold new writing.

Alongside his institutional leadership, Madani works internationally with artists, cultural organisations and governments on questions of cultural policy. Most recently, he has advised on cultural strategy and institutional development across North America and the United Kingdom. He is also a regular writer and speaker on the role of cultural institutions in public life.

At the heart of his work is a belief that cultural institutions do more than reflect society, they shape it. They define who is seen, who is heard, and who is allowed to matter.

At a time when freedom of expression is increasingly constrained by fear, and access to culture is unevenly distributed, the stakes could not be higher. The right to self determination, to see yourself, to be heard, to participate in cultural life, is not guaranteed.

Madani’s work is driven by the conviction that our cultural and civic spaces must speak to the many, not the few. These are the spaces where difficult truths are faced, and where the terms of who we are, and who we might become, are fought for.