Sydney-based Mark St Leon holds post-graduate qualifications in accounting, management, economics and history. Mark served the Australia Council for some 11 years (1983-94) as Senior Finance Officer. During this period, he was involved in the financial rescue and recovery of many arts organisations, including some of Australia’s largest and most influential. At the Australia Council, he also developed other initiatives in the arts such as Australia’s first national conference of circus people. The Circus Summit, held in Melbourne in 1990, which proved pivotal in the re-birth of Australia’s circus industry. Seeing the need for arts managers to learn from each other’s knowledge and experience, Mark established the Sydney Arts Management Advisory Group (SAMAG). SAMAG has now been in continuous operation for two decades.

Since 1994, Mark has been active as a freelance lecturer and management consultant. Mark can assist your organisation in such areas as: strategic planning, grant submissions, design of accounting systems, budgeting, training and project management. Perhaps your organisation is old enough to warrant its history being written? Mark is also an accomplished author! His history of circus in Australia will be published by Melbourne University Publishing in the near future and he is presently writing the history of a residential college attached to a major Australian university