By Invitation Only: Millie Jason Foster on Forbes 30U30, championing women artists, and shaping a more equitable future for contemporary art

Meet the Director at the helm of Gillian Jason Gallery

Welcome to by invitation only, a series of Q&As that gives readers a rare, behind-the-curtain look into the lives, interests, and perspectives of creative professionals shaping the art world today.

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Introducing our next guest: Millie Jason Foster

bio:

Millie Jason Foster is the Director and third-generation leader of the Gillian Jason Gallery, the UK’s first commercial space dedicated solely to championing art by women. Millie has exhibited work by over 100 female-identifying artists and taken the gallery to major international fairs in New York, Basel, and Istanbul.

With a background in investment banking and tech start-ups, she brings a strategic and forward-thinking approach to the art world, merging operational rigour with a keen curatorial eye. Millie also serves on the Studio Voltaire Council and founded New Vanguard, a young patrons group designed to open doors for emerging collectors and artists.

Her work builds on four decades of her family’s legacy, advancing a bold, feminist curatorial vision rooted in intergenerational support and artistic equity. Under her leadership, Gillian Jason Gallery continues to expand its cultural relevance, most notably by sponsoring Tate Britain’s first all-female exhibition in 2024, and in recognition of her impact, Millie was recently named in the 2025 Forbes 30 Under 30 list.

You can find Millie in all of the following places:

• Follow Millie on Instagram @milliejasonfoster

• and Gillian Jason Gallery @gillianjasongallery

• Find out more about Gillian Jason Gallery’s programme on their website

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Thank you so much to Millie for taking the time to answer our questions!

Here we go…

Congratulations on your inclusion in this year’s Forbes 30 under 30. The list is known for celebrating disruptors in their field—what does disruption look like in the art world today, and how are you contributing to that shift?

I am honoured to be included in this year’s Forbes 30 Under 30 List. GJG was founded on the premise that female artists have been historically under-represented in the art industry. In 2019, the gallery became the first commercial space in the UK to solely champion art by women. Although pleased to hold this title, I am a firm believer that a disruptor should have entered this space long ago.

To live up to our mission, we have a heavy focus on curation: every exhibited artist has an in-depth curatorial text written about their work, which grounds the intellectual nature of their practice and lends weight to what we present and why. These catalogues are now digitally archived at the MET’s Watson Library in New York. In the past few years, we have been of instrumental support to institutional shows such as Women in Revolt!, Tate Britain’s first all-female group retrospective, and Linder: Danger Came Smiling, the British artist’s first UK institutional show at 71 years old.

All of this is to say that there is a lot of curatorial work to be done to solidify the careers of emerging female artists. And at the other end of the spectrum, a lot of research, archiving, and lobbying is needed to support overlooked women of the 20th century. I hope that my selection in Forbes will solidify GJG’s platform for our artists and mission alike.

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What advice would you give to other young people looking to break into the art world, not just artists, but also curators, directors, or change makers?