
Sabeena Akhtar
Head of Projects & Programmes, WOW – Women of the World
Sabeena is an award-winning festival programmer, curator, writer, and cultural leader with over a decade of experience delivering pioneering events across the UK and internationally. As Head of Projects and Programmes at WOW, she develops and curates world-class festivals and participatory programmes, working with global partners to platform diverse voices and urgent ideas.
A co-founder of the award-winning Primadonna Festival and Prize, Sabeena is passionate about equity in the arts and championing working-class creativity, drawing deeply from her own background and lived experience. Alongside her programming work, she is the editor of Cut From the Same Cloth? and the author of Talking About Islamophobia. A mum of four, Sabeena balances creativity, care and community within her work.
“Arts and culture don’t just reflect society, they shape it. Policy can shift structures, but art shifts imagination. If we want to change systems, we must also change the stories and narratives that sustain them”






















