Steve Mead is CEO/Artistic Director of Manchester Jazz Festival (mjf), where he has pioneered programmes for talent and audience development and commissioning new work. mjf is sole UK recipient of the Europe Jazz Network Award for Adventurous Programming, was the first UK Keychange Associate Festival, the first Founder Member of Black Lives in Music and is a lead partner in the EU-wide 'Constellations' and 'Pathways' Artist Development Programmes.

Steve is also Vice-President of EJN, Head of Talent Development for Jazz North (the jazz development agency for the north of England), and founder member of the UK/IE-wide Jazz Promotion Network (JPN). He has been advisory panelist for Serious, Paul Hamlyn Foundation and PRS Foundation, moderator at international music conferences (JPN (UK/IE), injazz (NL), IJP (PL)), and is a passionate supporter of artists and music professionals at all career stages.

He enjoys a wide range of new music, people in real life and really old things that still work.