SHM PRODUCTIONS - Key Persons
Erica Toth is Managing Director of SHM, overseeing SHM's portfolio of projects and running our project team. Erica is also leading SHM's expansion to the Americas with the establishment of our New York office in March 2013.
Since joining SHM in 2006, Erica has designed and led large transformation, consumer-insight, and capability-building programmes for some of the world's top multi-national organisations. Erica has a passion for solving complex human-centred problems and has a keen understanding of how to drive sustainable change. Much of Erica's work is focused on helping organisations and the people within them adapt to, and succeed in, an increasingly global world.
Along with SHM's CEO Maurice Biriotti, Erica has developed SHM's operational relationship-management capability and grown it into a successful and unique practice area for SHM. In addition to her work with SHM's clients, Erica is leading a pro-bono project that seeks to transfer SHM's skills in mediating conflicts between organisations to conflict or post-conflict areas of the world.
Prior to joining SHM, Erica worked in media and politics. She was a booking producer for MSNBC News in the US and also worked as a legislative assistant to two US congressmen. Erica graduated magna cum laude from Columbia University in 2002 with a Bachelor's degree in History. She then earned a Master's degree in History (Hons) at Oxford University (St. Catherine's College) in 2003 and a Master's degree in Global Politics (Merit) from the London School of Economics in 2005. Erica speaks fluent Hungarian, conversational French and is learning Spanish. She is an avid reader and enjoys travelling and working across the world.
Job Titles:
- in 2013 As a Project Manager and Researcher
Esme joined SHM in 2013 as a project manager and researcher. Armed with a deep expertise in behavioural sciences, Esme is passionate about understanding what makes people tick - and in particular, about finding ways to bridge the gap between what people say they will do and what they actually do. She brings this lens to her insight and organisational transformation work at SHM, working with clients to develop innovative ways to drive behaviour change amongst colleagues, consumers and the wider public. She also draws on her fascination with people's decision-making processes to devise internal and external communications that have real impact on the target group.
Esme read philosophy and psychology at St John's College, Cambridge and achieved a distinction for her MSc in Cognitive and Decision Sciences at UCL. She is a keen traveller, with her sights firmly set on South America and climbing Kilimanjaro at some stage in the foreseeable future. She is also a theatre lover, tennis player and dedicated bridge player
Kriti is an academic associate at SHM, and a lecturer in Anthropology and Law at Kings India Institute.
She specialises in socio-cultural research, illuminating our work with her academic knowledge and expertise, and bringing academic rigour and analysis to her approach. For SHM, Kriti has worked on a range of projects in the health, social and higher education sectors. She led the research for a major behavioural change strategy for a government health department and also for a social study into the behavioural patterns of young people for a French Ministry department. She has also worked with international councils for business studies to develop innovative business solutions based on insights from the humanities.
Kriti studied at the Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, and did her PhD at the London School of Economics. She subsequently held the British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowship at the Department of Social Anthropology, Cambridge, and was also a Fellow at Wolfson College, Cambridge. She is also Co-Director of Herald, a project aimed at facilitating the setting up of emergency healthcare in different parts of the world.
Hannah joined SHM in 2018 as Henrietta Moore's Research Assistant, supporting our Chair's varied activities in academia, public policy and business. It's a role that combines Hannah's academic background in social development and psychology as well as her drive to understand and explore human behaviour and diversity to help make a positive social impact.
Hannah has a BSc (Hons) in Psychology (The University of Otago) and two Masters' degrees in Psychology (University of Auckland) and Social Development Practice (University College London) during which she completed research projects related to human memory and refugee integration respectively. She has also been involved in various capacities with refugee communities in Auckland, Melbourne and London and in participatory research projects with communities facing housing issues in London and Brazil.
Prior to moving to London Hannah worked as a café manager and baker in Auckland, Melbourne and Berlin. She is from New Zealand and so enjoys anything that involves being in the sea, which tends to be slightly more difficult to do in Hackney.
Job Titles:
- CEO
- Chief Executive
- Professor
- Visiting Professor in the Department of Psychiatry
Professor Maurice Biriotti is Chief Executive of SHM. Before co-founding the company in 1996, Maurice was a full-time academic, and held posts at the Universities of Cambridge, Birmingham and Zurich. His published work covers literature, philosophy, anthropology and the dynamics of cultural change. SHM was built on the insight that human motivation is at the root of all business success and is critical to business innovation and the delivery of competitive advantage.
Maurice has applied this insight successfully across both the public and private sectors and it remains at the heart of all of the work the company carries out. In the private sector, Maurice works with global corporations both in the UK and internationally, to guide and manage major change initiatives, build capabilities and manage the operational health of relationships. In the public sector, Maurice has worked with government departments across the health, education and transport sectors, using research into the motivations of members of these organisations to improve their cultures, processes, structures and ways of working. In both sectors, he is looked upon as a peer or partner to the senior management boards he works with, and is valued for his unusual insights, clarity of thinking, and ability to cut through to the real issues.
Maurice is a Visiting Professor in the department of Psychiatry, Yale University; a member of the advisory board for the Faculty of Arts, Aarhus University; and holds a Chair of Medical Humanities at University College London. Maurice is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and holds a number of non-executive positions in both the commercial and not-for-profit sectors. Maurice attended the University of Cambridge, achieving an MA in Classics from Clare College and an MPhil in Latin American Studies from Emmanuel College. He is fluent in French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian and Arabic.
Job Titles:
- Fellow of the
- in 2013 As Our Finance Manager
Natasha joined SHM in 2013 as our finance manager. She is passionate about adding value through her work and bringing about improvements in rigour and efficiency by looking at things with a fresh perspective.
Prior to working at SHM, Natasha successfully progressed from accounts assistant through to financial controller for Randstad Interim Executive, where she honed her strong analytical skills and developed excellent commercial awareness.
Natasha is a Fellow of the ACCA and holds an MBA in Global Strategy from Oxford Brookes University, during which she studied a leadership module in Kenya.
Steve brings a strong creative background to his work as a company Director. He has over 25 years of professional experience in both the design and consulting industries including: designing and leading organisational change and transformation programmes, developing new capabilities inside organisations, improving the effectiveness and impact of senior leaders, generating insights into consumer and user communities, and leading complex communication and design projects. Steve has strong leadership skills and has a proven track record in building and running highly effective inter-disciplinary teams.
Since joining SHM in 2003, Steve has been responsible for leading a diverse series of high profile innovation and change projects for major global brands and public sector organisations. Because of his wide-ranging experience and strong facilitation skills, many of his projects involve compelling stakeholder engagement events and liaising at a senior level within organisations to design and enlist buy-in for planned changes. Back to People
Job Titles:
- Freelance Consultant and Researcher
Tatiana is a freelance consultant and researcher, working across the private sector and the arts.
She dedicated the early part of her career to managing her brother, Alexander Romanovsky, one of the world's foremost concert pianists. This gave Tatiana extraordinary access to a number of international cultural institutions, and she quickly established herself as a very effective organiser of events, festivals and cultural activities. Her skills came to the attention of a number of prestigious organisations, including the Kraniev Competition in Moscow and the Chigiana Academy in Siena. She has acted as a consultant, a manager and an organiser of a number of major events around the world.
In 2016, Tatiana decided to concentrate on developing other aspects of her career. In addition to continuing to hold roles with a number of cultural institutions, she has dedicated much of her time to business-related activities. She is now studying for a degree at Milan University and is running a number of freelance projects in the private sector.
Since 2016, Tatiana has worked with SHM, delivering advisory and training work around the world. She has especially concentrated on supporting training initiatives, bringing her organisational capabilities and her knowledge of how teams work to the insights and analysis she provides to the firm.
Tatiana is fluent in Italian, Russian and English, and has a conversational knowledge of French.
Job Titles:
- Consultant
- Project Manager
Tula joined SHM as a Consultant and Project Manager in 2018. A devotee to English literature and philosophy, Tula's work at SHM utilises her passion for analysing complex situations much as one would a text, and understanding what it takes to turn insight into action. Having come from a family of illustrators, sculptors, painters and photographers, Tula has a deep grounding in the world of visual arts and strives to always pair rigorous thinking with multi-disciplinary creativity.
Tula is an advocate for mental health rights and played a pivotal role in establishing a support system for disabled students whilst reading English Literature at the University of Cambridge. Her other passions include weightlifting, running, writing poetry and discovering.