Richard is General Manager of Dirty Clean Food, the world’s leading sales platform for planet positive, regeneratively farmed WA produce. Prior to this he was People and Culture Manager for Wide Open Agriculture. Focused on strategic, human-centered leadership, Richard enjoyed an extensive career in the creative sector in Australia and internationally, beginning as a dancer with the Royal New Zealand Ballet. Richard was General Manager of Tasdance (TAS) and Executive Director of Co3 Contemporary Dance (WA), and has held multiple roles in the community and education sector at WA Ballet, Co3, and Dancenorth (QLD).

Joined the CircusWA board: October 2022

Jake is a physical and visual artist with experience in a range of disciplines and fields. Known for his unique acrobatic style of movement, that combines elements of dance, theatre and circus. Jake has toured with the internationally successful CIRCA, Casus Circus, Dislocate, Company 2, Circus OZ and Lingua Franca. Jake founded Poncho Circus in 2012, an independent circus company that toured circus shows throughout Canberra and the surrounding areas until 2017.

Jake is passionate about physical movement, acrobatics and circus in theatre, to tell stories and create settings that inspire audiences. With the aim to push acrobatics within his own training to utilise these skills in a variety of settings. Jake’s circus specialties include floor tumbling/acrobatic movement, group acrobatics and cyr wheel, but really, he calls himself a generalist and loves to do a little bit of everything.

Joined the CircusWA board: October 2023

Vanessa is a Senior Manager in the RSM Perth Assurance and Advisory team. Vanessa has previously worked with RSM Singapore, where she worked on SGX listed public companies and private sector clients. She has over eight years of audit experience in Australia ranging from ASX listed public companies, unlisted public companies to private sector, state government entities and local government. Vanessa has extensive experience and has in-depth knowledge of the International Standards on Auditing (ISAs), International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and Corporations Act 2001.  Vanessa works across several key industry sectors, including producing miners, mining and resources, aged care and hospitality.

Joined the CircusWA board: December 2024

Scott is a Perth-based marketing and communications manager with a decade of experience in a variety of industries including arts and culture, not-for-profit, education and land development. With expertise in advertising and digital content strategy, Scott is currently Senior Manager Marketing & Community Engagement at the National Trust of WA. Previously, he was a Senior Consultant at the Department of Education, and spent five years leading West Australian Ballet’s public relations and digital content initiatives. 

As an advisor and consultant, Scott’s work has included brand and digital strategies for; Ausdance National, the West Australian International Stone Symposium’s inaugural festival and WA Premier Events concert series, and has further experience at The Brand Agency, Lotterywest and Yelp Perth. In 2021, Scott’s work received recognition as West Australian Ballet’s marketing team won Campaign Brief’s prestigious ‘Advertiser of the Year’. 

Specialty areas: PR and crisis communications, digital and content strategy, advertising, project management.

Joined the CircusWA board: October 2023

Joel is a father, poet, actor, community-focused arts programmer, teacher, and creative producer, who holds a Master’s of Education from Melbourne University. He’s been a Teaching Artist for Western Edge Youth Theatre and an Education Assistant at The Malthouse Theatre, as well as the Outreach Coordinator at Arts Centre Melbourne, and was the first Senior Arts Programmer at Bunjil Place, a new arts centre in south-eastern Melbourne. After moving west Joel worked for the City of Fremantle as the Community Programs Officer, before moving into the role of Program & Engagement Manager at The Blue Room Theatre. He is currently the Manager, Arts & Culture at Minderoo Foundation.

Joined the CircusWA Board: December 2024

Jo Smith is an Arts Manager with 20+ years of experience and has worked for CircusWA since 2017. Throughout the 90’s and early 2000’s she studied and worked in sociology and linguistics while developing a practice as a performance installation artist. As an arts leader she has produced and directed festivals, always maintaining a focus on community arts. In Australia she has worked in WA and the NT, and overseas in China and the UAE.

Jo joined the CircusWA board in 2017 before taking on the role of Artistic Director in the same year.

Sarah is Fremantle local, joining CircusWA with extensive experience in entrepreneurship, community workshops and event management. She is the first point of contact for the circus working across Admin, classes and workshop planning.

Charlotte’s operations and people management experience has been developed through working in Melbourne’s visual and performing arts industries, including the not-for-profit space.

She previously spent six years with a global theatre consultancy, leading the operation of its international studios and overseeing administrative systems and employee-support processes. 

Jess arrived at circus as a student of CircusWA and was a member of our first every Youth Troupe. Her professional circus career has seen her tour with YUCK Circus and Just Gal Pals, and as a lead Trainer at CircusWA for many years. Her role in as Training Program Manager combines her work as a high school teacher and in-depth circus experience to oversee our training programs and team.

Mel brings over a decade of experience in the not-for-profit sector to CircusWA, with a strong background in marketing, communications, event management, and advocacy. She is passionate about using storytelling and strategic marketing to foster connection, amplify awareness, and drive meaningful impact.

We are honoured to have Dr. Brad Pettitt MLC as our inaugural Patron of Circus and cherish the past support he has extended to us during his time as Mayor of Fremantle.