OUR STORY
Although the legend says that Marie, the Pony-In-Chief, encountered the Pink Pony whilst he was grazing in London fields, some underground research has proved that the Pony was born as a research project during Marie’s Masters at Central Saint Martins in London. During the 2 years of her Masters, she collaborated with friends and creatives who shared the same social mission and wanted to play and experiment. This lead to the first playgrounds organised by the Pink Pony: A video excavation of the Barbican centre, a on-site game at Hackney City Farm and a dreams factory on Regent Estate.
The Pony is now a social enterprise supported by Unlimited, the Foundation for Social Entrepreneurs, and the University of the Arts London, and he has his stables at the Impact Hub in King's Cross.
THE PONIES
The Pink Pony is family of creative people who love to do good in their ‘hood'. Every one of them has an interesting story and a specific expertise. We like to call them the 'ponies', and when they play together the results are always wonderful.
Marie James
FOUNDER & CEO
Marie is the one who grooms the Pony – or what people usually call a Business Manager. She believes that bringing others to play with her could have a positive impact on our cities and their inhabitants, and this is why she decided to create the Pink Pony. The only life worth living –Marie says- is one filled with play and meaningfulness.
Ana Laya
CREATIVE DIRECTION
Ana is the Creative Director, and she has been playing with the Pony since the very beginning. Ana’s playground is at the intersection of culture, design and technology and she works as a Creative Strategist and Branding Consultant for different organisations. She believes in meaningful procrastination, in collective intelligence and she absolutely adores maps.
AndreÃna Restrepo
ART DIRECTION
AndreÃna is an Art Director and Photographer based in Brooklyn that is in charge of giving our Pony and our playgrounds a special visual identity. She creates all the logos and graphic elements that allow our players to enjoy a delightful experience, from the first minute until the very last tweet.
Jonny Jiang
PHOTOGRAPHY
Jonny is the official Pink Pony's photographer and videographer. Thanks to him we have beautiful visual memories of all our playgrounds. When he is not taking pictures for the Pony, Jonny is working on his PHD in service design at the Royal College of Arts. Yes our ponies are great multi-taskers!
Isabelle Music
WORKSHOP FACILITATION
In real life Isabelle is in charge of recruiting talents for a big brand in London. On her spare time Isabelle is helping out our Pony on the organisation of our play activities. Isabelle loves playing and has a knack for telling hilarious stories. She is also a great zumba dancer.
Lily Maz
INTERACTION DESIGN
Lily is a Colombian Interaction Designer, based in NYC. She thinks that technology can be a beautiful thing when it is employed to generate positive impact for people. Lily started her own company when she was 21 years old, and now, even though she is working on projects across the world, she can fly wherever the Pony needs her.
Mariana Martinez B
GRAPHIC DESIGN
Mariana is a Space and Graphic Designer obsessed with objects. She likes to draw animals and to find strange and peculiar objects in the street or the dark corners of forgotten shops. She was responsible for a beautiful project called the ‘Bemerton Imaginary Square’ in London in 2014, that helped to reactivate a derelict square at the heart of the Bemerton Estate.
Molly Birrell
COMMUNITY MANAGEMENT
Molly is an Australian girl who has travelled a lot. Her many travels gave her the ability to make friends everywhere she goes. In every place she has been people keep a warm memory of her and the delicious (gluten free!) cakes she bakes. Molly is currently undertaking a Masters in Innovation and Education in Australia and developing projects to engage kids in learning through creativity. Follow Molly's travels on her instagram!
Federica Mandelli
SPACE DESIGN
Federica is a space designer who lives in one of the last rural suburbs of Milan, Italy. She is passionate about empowering people to take ownership of their lives and the places where they live. She has helped to create cultural places and events in her hometown that encourage the inhabitants to invent together a better future for their town. Federica is always ready for some pony adventures.
Do you believe in the power of play to change the world? Join the stables! Email 'I want to be a Pony' at play@thepinkpony.org