Leah Bell

Meet Leah – the newest addition to the Creative Development team! As a regional activator at Creative Waikato, she is beyond excited to be heading out into the region to connect with all our creative peoples on the RE:ACT Tour 2024.

Proudly born and raised in rural Waikato, Leah hails from the small but mighty community of Waitomo where she spent her childhood singing in carols in the caves, and prancing across any stage she could find – including woolshed stands.

As an overly exuberant fangirl and fierce advocate from day dot, Leah delights in championing our creativity communities, and particularly celebrates the talent and creative resilience of rangatahi that she meets on tour. Her passion for working with youth has lead her to her current role as the Assistant Artistic Director at National Youth Drama School in 2024.

With experience in research, publishing, high-level justice-based investigation, event management, public speaking, historical conscientisation, social justice advocacy, and as a central government advisor – there’s a core motivation in everything that she does: our stories deserve to be heard.

Leah has dabbled in theatre, creative writing, and dance, but these days Leah spends most of her candlelight hours writing songs. Her ongoing creative practice includes big feeds, and fireside jams with her buddies. But on a Friday night you might find her tripping over her feet at a salsa social as well.

Leah can’t wait to meet you!