Ruth Daniel
Ruth Daniel is a multi-award winning CEO, Artistic Director, Curator, activist and Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Manchester. She leads In Place of War, an international NGO using music, art and creativity in communities affected by armed conflict, social injustice and climate change.
With over twenty years of experience spanning music, the arts, academia and the NGO sector, Ruth has produced critically acclaimed collaborations across the world, from jazz musicians in Soweto working with UK electronic pioneers Coldcut, to music featuring the Colombian rainforest with Brian Eno, to indigenous artists in the Arctic with BICEP. She is also the founder of EarthSonic, In Place of War's global music and climate programme.
A former co-founder of alternative music industry event Un-Convention, independent record label founder and musician (most notably with cult Manchester band, The Fall), Ruth brings deep roots in music and culture to everything she does.
She has consulted at major international festivals including Primavera Pro, Shoko Festival in Zimbabwe and DoaDoa in Uganda, and is known for convening extraordinary people across music, academia, community leadership and the arts to create projects of the highest artistic and social impact.
Image credit: Zak Norman and Charlie Miller
Peggy Dold, Navigation Partners LLC, USA
"As a senior executive in the global music industry, I have known and admired Ruth's work for 15 years. I am now privileged to work with her and her team as a Global Advisor, where I have an up-close view of Ruth's focused, brilliant leadership, including how they select and implement projects, all of which are to raise awareness and make real-life-positive changes in lives for people around the world who are living in the cross-hairs of crises: crises of violence, war, displacement, and so much more.
Ruth brings legitimate music industry players (from artists to producers to companies GLOBALLY) together. With her deft hand and powerful leadership, she facilitates the ask, engineers and receives media attention, and ultimately, deploys and activates the assets and resources necessary to positively affect change for underserved communities around the world.
Furthermore, every project Ruth and In Place of War have created (for 20 years!) has promoted inclusion, education, and truly brought more awareness of the music industry's capability to do GOOD THINGS for humankind worldwide. As a true global citizen, she absolutely walks that walk as a leader and increases the global music business's POSITIVE IMPACT on the world."
Juan Chao, Indigenous Music Archive, Uruguay (Colombia, Peru and Myanmar)
"I want to say on a personal level that she is one of those people you are grateful to have met in life. Ruth is extremely hardworking, sensitive, intuitive, and supportive. But above all, I can say that Ruth has a vision. She is convinced that creativity and art can change the world, and indeed, she is making it happen. In all the instances I have shared with Ruth, she always manages relationships with horizontality, always walks the path of understanding and empathy, and this has undoubtedly led her to the relevant and fundamental position she holds today on a global cultural level. If Ruth did not exist, we would have to invent her. She represents a light on the path and a professional and personal role model. Her way of being and her work inspire others, are contagious, and produce relevant changes. In my opinion, Ruth is a very valuable and unique person."
Marcus Ross, Senior Licensing & Partnerships Manager, FUGA, Netherlands
“I have had the pleasure of knowing Ruth in her capacity as the CEO of In Place of War (IPOW). I currently serve on the Global Music Industry Advisory Board for this organization and it is inspiring to see Ruth lead IPOW with a strong dedication to using creativity as a tool for positive change in places of conflict.
Her leadership has been pivotal in enabling grassroots change-makers in music, theatre, and across the arts to transform cultures of violence into hope and opportunity.
I joined Ruth and a group of Global Change Makers on a trip to South Africa to witness first hand the impact IPOW's efforts are having on communities in Soweto and Cape Town.
Her latest project, EarthSonic which aims to leverage music to inspire increased action around climate change is a truly unique and ambitious project. Watching Ruth rally support from a multitude of industries to bring this to life is proof that under her guidance almost anything is possible!”