As a curator and cultural practitioner, Rachael works to reintroduce lived experiences of same sex desire and gender diversity and to centre women’s experiences within public history and heritage.

In 2020 Rachael founded the Queer Heritage and Collections Network, an award-winning UK-wide research network that provides training, guidance and support to museums and heritage organisations working with LGBTQ+ collections. She sits on the Collections Management Group for Queer Britain, the UK’s new national LGBTQ+ museum.

Rachael is a Trustee of Beamish Museum and Red Hills Miners Hall in Durham, where she supports the working class histories of Northern England to be understood and experienced.

Now based at Newcastle University, Rachael has worked for a range of independent museums and galleries across the North of England. As the National Trust’s first Senior Curator of National Public Programmes and National Specialist for Inclusive Histories, she curated ‘Prejudice and Pride’, a multi-award-winning programme of exhibitions, publications, events and activities exploring LGBTQ+ heritage in 2017. In 2018, Rachael led the National Trust’s commemoration of a centenary of women’s suffrage, curating ‘Women and Power’ exhibitions, publications and artist commissions across the UK.