[ Summary ]
I’m Jamie Hale, a disabled and neurodivergent creative coach, trainer, and access consultant working to build cultures rooted in access, equity, and disability justice. My work sits at the intersection of lived experience and professional practice. I am the Artistic Director at CRIPtic Arts, leading strategic development, commissioning, talent development, and organisational growth.
I have nearly a decade of experience across training, facilitation, mentoring, strategic development, and access consultancy. I support organisations, leaders, and disabled people to make meaningful structural change, embedding accessibility into everyday practice rather than seeing it as compliance alone.
I’m also an award-winning multidisciplinary creative, and my artistic practice informs everything I do — keeping me attentive to language, power, and nuance.
Artistic and Executive Director
- In five years, turnover grew from £0-£500,000 and the team grew from 0 to 7
- Secured funding from Arts Council England, City Bridge Foundation, Fore Trust, and multiple other funders.
- Recognised as Runner-Up, Best Small Employer for Disabled People (Shaw Trust, 2024).
- Produce five development strands for approx 15 creatives with up to three major theatre productions annually
- Work with new writers and direct work on major stages
- Deliver at least one sector impact report annually
- Produced Liberty Festival for the Mayor of London (2025).
Arts-Based Researcher – Cripping Breath
- Conducting co-produced arts-based research with other ventilator users on the sociopolitical meanings of breath.
- Directing a large-scale Romeo and Juliet (Barbican Centre, 2027) exploring breath, embodiment, and disability.
Chief Executive Officer
- Led a charity of around 10 employees, increasing reserves and strengthening long-term financial stability.
- Oversaw organisational transformation, introducing structured HR and payroll systems, CRM, and shared management processes.
- Secured core and project funding from major funders
Chair – Lewisham Disabled People’s Commission
- Managing a team of 18 volunteers researching the barriers experienced by deaf and disabled people in Lewisham
- Carrying out all research and analysis, presenting Nothing About Us as a final report to Lewisham Council
- Working with Lewisham Council to enact the findings of our research
Education
- Level 7 – Strategic People Management (CIPD) – 2026
- Level 1 – British Sign Language – 2025
- Level 3 – Adult Safeguarding – 2024
- MA in Philosophy, Politics and Economics of Health (distinction), University College London – 2023
- BA in English and Spanish (1st), Royal Holloway – 2015
Broadcast and Media
- Access and the Arts post-COVID – BBC Front Row
- Nothing Concrete, with Hannah Gadsby – Barbican Podcast
- Researcher, Writers’ Room, KAOS by Charlie Covell
- Assisted Suicide coverage including ITN News, BBC News, Sky News (Kay Burley)
Talks, Panels and Keynotes
- The Politics of Visibility, Durham Book Festival
- Reading AIDS Literature at a time of pandemic – Disability Arts Online
- Panel Chair – The Future of Theatre
- Assisted Suicide – Oxford University
- Telepresence – DARCI Conference
- Creativity and Activism Panel – Eff-Able
- Inclusivity and Audiences, Arts Marketing Association panel
- Access and the Arts post-COVID – BBC Front Row
Representation
- All-In Advisory Group for Arts Council England
- Liberty Festival Steering Group for Mayor of London
- BFI Disability Advisory Group (We Crip Film)
Projects and Reports
- Theatre and simultaneous English and BSL integration with DL Williams, Mayking Space, Bristol
- Accessible Arts Initiative for Paul Hamlyn
- Access to Literature with London Writers’ Centre for CRIPtic Arts and Arts Council England
- Always the Audience with Jessi Parrott for CRIPtic Arts and Arts Council England
- Accessible Rehearsal Practices with Jessi Parrott – in progress
Peer Reviewed Journal Articles
- Ellis, J., Atkinson, L., Glover, S., Kettle, J., Joseph, G., Hale, J., Jones, A., Coles, M., Bligh, L., Bridgens, R., O’Kane, C., Negus, J., Ali, H., Thompson, C., Waters, S., Coats, C., Gibson, B.J., Weiner, K., Lawson, R. and Liddiard, K. (2025). Cripping inquiry: breathing life into co-produced disability methodologies. Frontiers in Sociology, 10, 1600693. DOI: 10.3389/fsoc.2025.1600693.
- Earle, S., Blackburn, M., Chambers, L., Downing, J., Flemming, K., Hale, J., Marston, H.R., O’Dell, L. and Sinason, V. (2024). It’s bittersweet, it’s uncomfortable, yes, but it’s necessary: methodological reflections on the experiences of young adults with life-shortening conditions on being involved in inclusive qualitative research. Progress in Palliative Care, 32(6), 438–445. DOI: 10.1080/09699260.2024.2375823.
- Liddiard, K., Atkinson, L., Evans, K., Gibson, B., Goodley, D., Hale, J., Lawson, R., Runswick-Cole, K., Spurr, R., Vogelmann, E., Watts, L., Weiner, K. and Whitney-Mitchell, S. (2024). ‘No-one’s contribution is more valid than another’s’: committing to inclusive democratic methodologies. Research in Education, 121(2), 158–174. DOI: 10.1177/00345237241249376.
- Earle, S., Blackburn, M., Chambers, L., Downing, J., Flemming, K., Hale, J., Marston, H.R., O’Dell, L., Sinason, V., Watts, L. and Whitney, S. (2022). ‘Whose life are they going to save? It’s probably not going to be mine!’ Living with a life-shortening condition during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic: a grounded theory study of embodied precarity. Qualitative Health Research, 32(14), 2055–2065. DOI: 10.1177/10497323221131692.
Book Chapters
- Joseph, G., Hale, J., Atkinson, L. and Liddiard, K. (2026). Instruction manuals for breathing: measuring respiration through text and image. In: Górska, M. and Skof, L. (eds.) Handbook of Critical Respiratory Studies (Handbooks in Philosophy). Cham: Springer, pp. 1–19. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-75780-8_17-1.
- Hale, J. (2024). Reasons to shag a cripple. In: Earle, S. and Blackburn, M. (eds.) Sex, Intimacy and Living with Life-Shortening Conditions (Routledge Studies in the Sociology of Health and Illness). Abingdon: Routledge, ch. 7.
- Earle, S., Blackburn, M., Chambers, L., Downing, J., Flemming, K., Hale, J., Marston, H.R., O’Dell, L., Sinason, V. and Whitney, S. (2024). Disruptions, relationships and intimate futures: the unintended consequences of pandemic control. In: Earle, S. and Blackburn, M. (eds.) Sex, Intimacy and Living with Life-Shortening Conditions (Routledge Studies in the Sociology of Health and Illness). Abingdon: Routledge, ch. 8.
- Earle, S., Blackburn, M., Chambers, L., Downing, J., Flemming, K., Hale, J., Marston, H.R., O’Dell, L., Sinason, V. and Whitney, S. (2024). ‘I could cry all day, every day, about my losses’: caring for young adults with life-shortening conditions, families’ experiences of disruption and loss. In: Jones, K. and Horne, J. (eds.) Understanding the Grief and Loss Experiences of Carers: Research, Practitioner and Personal Perspectives (Routledge Key Themes in Health and Safety). London: Routledge, pp. 27–40. DOI: 10.4324/9781003435365.