Before taking up post as Director of Arts and Creativity for the British Council, 8 weeks ago, Venu was leading the development of a new Creative Innovation Unit at the South Bank Centre, Europe’s largest cultural centre.  Former posts include:  Fellowship Director at The UK’s National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts; Chief Executive at the Nottingham Playhouse; and Producer (Mobile Touring) at the Royal National Theatre.  In 1999 she was appointed as the inaugural Chair of the East Midlands Cultural Consortium by the Secretary of State at the Department of Culture, Media and Sport a role she held until 2002.  She has been awarded the prestigious Asian Woman of Achievement Award for her contribution to the Arts and Culture. 

She is or has been a: Trustee of the Theatres Trust; a Governor of Guildford Conservatoire; a Council Member of Loughborough University; a Member of the Academy of Ideas; a member of Chatham House; a member of the London 2012 Culture and Education Committee and the European Cultural Parliament.  She is a patron of the Asha Foundation and the Minorities of Europe.