Shirley Coen BA (Hons) FRSA
Principal and Chief Executive

Shirley Coen is the Principal and Chief Executive of Bird College and a Trustee of the Doreen Bird Foundation, a registered charity.  She joined the College in 1998 aw as appointed an Executive Director by Doreen Bird, Founder, in 2002.  In her former roles as Director of Finance, she has been responsible for all funding-related and commercial activities and has been pro active in the development of the Dance and Drama Award Scheme. She spent her early career gaining experience in business and finance, before working with different public sector and charitable institutions for 16 years. During this time, she became an expert in managing, motivating and leading teams whilst successfully facing difficult commercial and financial challenges. Since joining Bird College, she has worked to support our artistic and educational vision, whilst developing the College’s financial affairs so that the College has a sound basis for further development.