Recognising women leaders

Activate Performing Arts is a female-led arts charity in Dorset, recognised as diverse-led by Arts Council England (ACE). More than 50% of the staff leadership team and board is female and has been for more than 30 years – 18 of them led by me. 

It is telling that only now there is understanding of the importance of recognising female leadership. Recognising, supporting and developing female leadership has been a priority for the partners of the Women Leaders South West programme*.  
 
Back in 2019, ACE invited applications to its Transforming Leadership Fund. The aim was to invest in programmes to support people to ‘achieve their potential and bring on the next generation of leaders’, acknowledging that the current opportunities were limited and not fully meeting sector needs. Priorities included addressing the lack of diverse leadership in the sector and the scarcity of opportunities for leaders at the early stages of their careers.

The then Artistic Director of The Point in Eastleigh, Sasha Lee, having spent many years working with women leaders in the dance sector, grasped the mettle. She invited a group of eight female-led cultural organisations in the South West to meet and devise a programme specifically to address the barriers facing women, people identifying as female, trans, non-binary or gender non-conforming.

Addressing the barriers

We all had experiences of not being heard, of casual sexism, had faced barriers to progression and seen how women were not recognised properly for their achievements or potential. In my early days, many times my ideas were taken and credited to a male peer, or the voice in the room was predominantly male and no effort was made to ensure other voices were heard. 

I have been ignored, assumed not to be the Director in preference for a male teenager doing work experience, and I have had to work much harder to get my voice heard. Fast forward to planning the programme: we knew there were structural issues, such as inflexible working hours and unrealistic expectations on women who still fulfil most caring responsibilities.

We wanted to address these barriers and, in particular, the fact that women and trans people are under-represented in leadership across all arts disciplines. At the time of applying to ACE, only 31% of NPO artistic directors were women, and men were still paid 4.4% more than women in the arts. 

We also wanted to address the lack of diversity of backgrounds within our own leadership, and develop ourselves as leaders, so we brought in mentors and were supported by Jude Kelly and the WOW Foundation.

L to R: Associates of Women Leaders South West: Ruth Pitter, Tash Nixon and Alice Flynn who developed 'Grace the Space' which encourages diverse groups of women to grace outdoor spaces and explore their creativity through walking and workshops.

Fully supported programme for associates

The programme needed to empower women from all backgrounds to be arts leaders and to be tailored to the needs of participants. There was a lot of deliberation about how we would do this. 

The idea was to create 16 supported places for associates, two in with each partner organisation working to develop leadership skills and discover how their artistic work might benefit a community. Southampton Business School supported the programme by providing evaluation and social enterprise skills training.

To be eligible, you needed to be passionate about art and culture. Applicants just needed at least two years’ work experience, although not necessarily in the arts. They had to be over 21, from the South West, rooted in their community and interested in developing new skills. We particularly wanted to work with women who were most under-represented in leadership: women who are ethnically-minoritised and women who are disabled.

We recognised that racism, ableism, homophobia, transphobia, classism and economic constraints, along with caring responsibilities – all create barriers to leadership opportunities and career development.

Although the programme was disrupted by Covid – with a delayed start – we were overwhelmed by the interest, with nearly 400 applicants for 16 places. It was clear we couldn’t meet the extensive demand. The shortlisting was rigorous with international WOW mentors supporting the final decision making. 

Importance of strong female and non-binary networks

A key to the programme’s accessibility was that associates were awarded a bursary of £12,000 enabling them to invest time properly into their leadership, developing invaluable projects that benefitted communities. Without the bursary, or access costs such as childcare provision, many of the 16 associates would not have been able to afford the time or develop the ideas that flourished.  

Due to Covid, we could only meet online – which was challenging. However, we were able to introduce the associates to inspiring women who had overcome challenges. Towards the end of the programme, the associates showed how inspirational they were themselves as they took to the stage at the Southbank Centre as part of the WOW festival in 2021.

If we were to run the programme again, we would do some things differently. But the one thing we would keep the same is the eligibility. Creating strong female and non-binary networks and support was essential as was hearing from and seeing examples of creating meaningful change from other women and non-binary people. 

As a result of Women Leaders South West, Activate has changed the way it approaches recruitment and we have developed a network of women and non-binary people who want to effect change. It has been a privilege to meet and work with so many inspiring people.

Kate Wood is Executive and Artistic Director at Activate Performing Arts
@ActivatePArts 
Activate Performing Arts
@activate_parts

*Women Leaders South West was a partnership of eight female-led cultural organisations based in the South West, led by The Point in Eastleigh. Other partners included, Activate Performing Arts, Art Asia, The Arts Development Company, Diverse City, Kaleider, PDSW and Strike a Light, working with Southampton University Business School and the WOW Foundation.