Our Team

Together, we bring complimentary perspectives and are united by a passion for curiosity, impactful work and relationship & capacity building.

A woman with shoulder-length brown hair holds a papier-mâché mask of a woman's face, looking at it closely, against a wooden background. This is Léna Pangalo, Founder and Director of Conservatory Residency.

Léna is a multilingual Philosopher, Playwright, Cultural Anthropologist and Teacher. Léna’s childhood across Egypt, Greece, Malta and Belgium shaped her life-long love of travel, languages and different cultures. She attended university in London, majoring in Philosophy before teaching at the Athens Centre for the Creative Arts in Greece and then Oregon State University in the United States. Léna then settled in Australia where she obtained a MA Cultural Anthropology from Sydney University, specialising in Human Action (Movement). Léna’s interest in the actor and improvisation in heritage and cultural spaces led her to oversee the restoration of this heritage building and to envision the realization of Conservatory Residency.

Léna Pangalo

Founder & Director

A woman with long brown hair smiles at the camera against a wooden background. This is Eliza Dawson, Advisor of Conservatory Residency and international arts residencies expert.

Eliza Dawson

Advisor

Eliza is a leader in international, cross-cultural and transdisciplinary creative exchange. She currently heads up Asialink Arts and Culture and runs her own independent consultancy business. Eliza is one of few global authorities on the international arts residencies field, having worked in the sector for 15+ years as Executive Director of Res Artis from 2016 - 2025 and Asialink Arts Residencies Manager from 2010 - 2016. Her MA Art Curatorship from the University of Melbourne and extensive curatorial experience at the Potter Museum of Art and Artbank bring creative thinking and critical discourse to any role. Eliza is currently the Creative Connections with Asia Fellow for the Asialink Leaders Program, Advisory Board Member of Transcultural Exchange and City of Boroondara Arts Advisory Committee Member.