Above: Anna Birkett (L) and Jeanetta Laurence (R).
The Frederick Ashton Foundation is delighted to announce the appointment of The Hon Anna Birkett as its new Chair of Trustees. Anna succeeds Jeanetta Laurence OBE, who, having served as Chair since June 2022, will take on the title of Founder in recognition of her pivotal role in establishing and shaping the Foundation.
Anna brings considerable experience in leadership, management and governance across the legal and education sectors. Her professional career spanned more than 30 years, principally as a solicitor in the City, where she was a partner in a large firm and held senior practice and management roles. She also stepped away from the law for a few years to obtain an MBA and work as a management consultant. Since retiring from full-time legal practice in 2014, she has held a number of leadership roles in education, including Chair of Benenden School (2016–2024) and Deputy Chair of Chelsea Academy (2019–2023).
A lifelong lover of ballet, Anna has been involved with The Royal Ballet School since 2010, initially as a supporter and member of its Development Committee. She has served on the School’s Board since 2018 and is currently its Deputy Chair and Chair of the Development Committee. She became a Trustee of The Frederick Ashton Foundation in June 2026.
Anna said:
I am honoured to take on the role of Chair, in which Jeanetta Laurence has served with such distinction. I have been a particular admirer of Frederick Ashton’s ballets over the last five decades, and I look forward to helping shape the Foundation’s future as custodian of his legacy, and to deepening my understanding of his work.
Jeanetta Laurence was one of the Foundation’s founding Trustees in 2011, alongside Tony Dyson and Christopher Nourse, and became Chair in June 2022. Following a distinguished career as a dancer with Sadler’s Wells Royal Ballet and in senior administrative roles at The Royal Ballet, she was appointed Associate Director of The Royal Ballet in 2009, retiring in 2015. She was awarded an OBE for services to dance in the 2016 New Year Honours.
Jeanetta’s considerable knowledge, insight and imagination have been a driving force behind the Foundation’s work over the past 15 years. Instrumental in securing its stewardship of Ashton’s ballets and artistic legacy, she has also inspired a range of key projects—from the revival of lost Ashton ballets to education programmes and the flourishing Ashton Rediscovered masterclass series. Extending the Foundation’s activities beyond the preservation of Ashton’s repertory, these initiatives have created valuable opportunities for new generations of dancers and audiences to engage with his choreography, and provide momentum for the Foundation’s work in the years ahead.
Jeanetta said:
Looking back over the first 15 years of the Foundation, I am so proud of all that has been achieved in the relatively short time of its existence. The extraordinary talents of everyone who has been, and those who still are, involved in its work have been united in their determination to future-proof Frederick Ashton’s choreographic legacy.
I’m delighted that Anna has agreed to succeed me as Chair of the Foundation. Her background in law and roles in governance, together with her great love of ballet and close involvement with The Royal Ballet School, make her ideally suited to the role. I’m very much looking forward to what the next chapter has in store.
Sarah Eliot-Cohen, Executive Director of the Foundation, said:
I would like to pay tribute to Jeanetta for her extraordinary contribution to The Frederick Ashton Foundation. Her vision, commitment and deep love and knowledge of Ashton’s work have been central to the Foundation’s development and its achievements to date. I am enormously grateful for all she has given, and delighted she will continue to be involved as our Founder.
I am also very pleased to welcome Anna as our new Chair. She brings a wealth of experience, enthusiasm and a genuine passion for ballet and, in particular, Ashton. I look forward to working with her as we build on the Foundation’s achievements and take its work forward.
November 2026