Kristina Glushkova, Principal Partnerships Manager in UCL’s Creative, Cultural & Social Innovation team, talks yoga, painting in nature, and her work unlocking UCL’s academic excellence and connecting it with the creative and cultural industries to make a real-world impact.
What is your role and what does it involve?
I’m Principal Partnerships Manager in UCL’s Creative, Cultural and Social Innovation (CCSI) team, part of Innovation & Enterprise. My role is about unlocking UCL’s academic excellence and connecting it with the creative and cultural industries to make a real-world impact.
I lead on strategic partnerships and programmes that bring people together, from researchers and cultural institutions to industry and community organisations and shaping how UCL engages with the sector. I’m also working with colleagues across UCL to help bring together UCL’s wider Academic Ambition for the creative industries, developing strategies in areas such as creative experience, heritage, creative ecosystems, health and wellbeing, and even misinformation and design. My job is to build partnerships, secure resources, and make sure UCL’s expertise is channelled into solving the major challenges these industries face, whether that’s developing new products, reaching new audiences, or creating more sustainable ways of working.
It’s strategic, but it’s also about people: building relationships, supporting colleagues across the university, and creating the conditions for collaboration to thrive.
How long have you been at UCL and what was your previous role?
I joined in February 2024, so compared to many colleagues, I’m still relatively new. However, my career has always sat at the intersection of innovation, creativity and social impact.
I started out at Nokia almost three decades ago, working on what were then the very first smartphones (a really fun role). From there, I moved to Ofcom, where I worked on the future of media, technology and news sectors.
I’ve also run a social enterprise in my local community, worked on open-source democracy platforms, and was part of Richard Curtis’ ProjectEveryone which helped launch the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Before UCL, I spent eight years at Royal Holloway helping build creative innovation clusters and launching a social impact accelerator. For me, it’s always been less about the institution and more about the opportunity to work on the most interesting and impactful projects.
What achievement are you most proud of?
The Creative Experience Lab London is It brought together five universities, the V&A, grassroots community groups, young people, and cutting-edge technology to co-create new ideas and real-life products and service prototypes. Watching so many different people come together to build something none of them could have created alone was genuinely magical.
The impact has already been significant. Colleagues have gained new networks, young people gained valuable skills, and entirely new products are out in the world. For me, it represents the best of humanity: collaboration, imagination and action. Longer term, we’re looking at how to scale those products so they can make a real difference in the sector.
I’m also proud of our work on the Creative IP Lab, where we’re tackling big questions like how AI is reshaping creative rights and ownership. These are challenges the industry is grappling with, and UCL is well-placed to help find new solutions.
Who would be your dream dinner guests?
Athena (the Greek Goddess), Ram Das (Hindu/American spiritual leader), Koffee (Jamaican music artist).
What is your favourite album, film and novel?
Album: Steam Down’s, I Realised It Was Me (just released, check it out!), Film: The Untouchables ; Novel: Gabriel García Márquez’s One hundred years of solitude.
What is your favourite joke?
Why did the painting go to jail? It was framed.
What advice would you give your younger self?
Trust your judgement and believe in yourself. Especially for women, it’s easy to assume others know better, but they don’t always, and you should trust your experience.
What would surprise people to know about you?
I paint nature scenes of places I visit, (such as my painting below, Resting in Ruskin Park), which I find very meditative. I also dance, particularly African dance, which I love for its energy, community and improvisation. Dance teaches you to be present and responsive, lessons that spill into every part of life. I’m also a trained yoga teacher, though I don’t teach now; yoga for me is moving meditation.
What is your favourite place?
Rishikesh in India. It’s an ancient spiritual city on the Ganges, surrounded by the foothills of the Himalayas. It’s a place of extraordinary calm and beauty, full of temples and a deep sense of peace.
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