An illustrated portrait of Creative Wakefield Board Chair, Steven Michael - by Abbey Withington. Steven is a white man with a shaved head, wearing black rimmed glasses and a blue polo shirt. He is looking at the viewer smiling. The portrait is fun and playful in style, on a dark brown background.

Steven Michael OBE

R Hollis

Steven Michael OBE

Creative Wakefield Chair

Current role: Chair, Spectrum People

Quirky fact: Steven completed the 2011 London Marathon tied to another 46 people.

Steven started his career as a registered mental health nurse working in the North East.

His career progressed through work in the NHS and charitable sector, occupying clinical leadership and managerial roles, culminating in being CEO of South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust. In 2014 he was awarded an OBE for services to healthcare.

In more recent years Steven has been an Independent Chair of health and care partnerships in Greater Manchester and East Cheshire, aswell as chairing Spectrum People, a local charity and ImROC, an international mental health recovery organisation.

Steven is passionate about creativity and the arts in general. He is a fellow of the RSA and his doctoral research concerned sustaining creative innovation in complex human systems.

Steven has lived in Wakefield for the past 22 years.