Strength 2 Strength
Re-imagining Leadership
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Tuesday 26th November
Zoom, FREE
1:30-3pm
BSL Interpreted
We will be joined by Leadership Consultant Munira Thobani, Co-Dicretor of SYNC Leadership, Sarah Pickthall, and Dance Artist and Choreographer Neus Gil Cortes.
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Who is the session for:
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Those in senior leadership positions or HR who are interested in learning more about improving EDI within your organisation.
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Those with an interest in leadership but may be experiencing barriers to get there and would benefit from a new perspective
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Those who are interested in learning more about what makes a good leader and the skills to develop
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We will explore the following themes:
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What does leadership look like to you?
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What are the challenges & barriers currently existing for individuals to progress into leadership positions.
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What can organisations do to make their governance and decision making more inclusive? What initiatives have you seen others do that work well?
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How can we influence those in senior leadership to make change – as artists, as youth, as disabled people?
Guest Speakers
Munira Thobani
Munira has a Masters’ degree in Public Administration (MPA) from Warwick University (2005) following a twenty-year career in public services. She has worked in senior roles on leading and managing change in a number of London local authorities. Her expertise is in equalities, social care, governance, partnership and collaborative working, policy and strategy development, performance management and community engagement.
Munira works as a leadership consultant and has created a new model and audit tool for Equality and Inclusive Leadership to support strategic and sustainable change. She works with organisations to engage senior leaders in doing their work on equality, diversity and inclusion in order to energise and support a shift in the culture, practice and systems they lead. Munira has facilitated workshops with boards, elected members and senior officers in local government, NHS and Public Health, and other sectors to build leadership capacity and capability.
From 2016 to 2022 Munira delivered leadership development workshops for learning and engagement professional in the Arts and Cultural Sector on behalf of Arts Connect in the West Midlands. This leadership programme is now part of the Leadership in Arts and Culture Masters level apprenticeship degree at Wolverhampton University.
Neus Gil Cortes
Neus Gil Cortes is a choreographer, dramaturg, and teacher, as well as the artistic director of Nua Dance, a project-based company regularly funded by Arts Council England. Her recent independent work includes NOISE, an immersive piece for deaf and hearing audiences commissioned by The Place and Dance East, which is also available as an interactive film, commissioned by One Dance UK and BBC Arts for Dance Passion.
With over 20 years of experience in the dance sector, Neus has participated in more than 60 creative processes in a range of roles. As a dramaturg, she collaborates regularly with Autin Dance Theatre, Richard Chappell, and the collective Feet Off The Ground. As a dancer, she has worked with companies such as NDC Wales, Hofesh Shechter, and Dance Works Rotterdam, as well as in various freelance projects.
Since 2022, Neus has focused on leadership training, participating in workshops such as Discover Your Leadership (Clore Leadership, 2024) and Coaching Skills for Cultural Leadership (Arts Connect/University of Wolverhampton, 2022). In 2024, she launched Lead & Create, a platform offering independent choreographers leadership tools to enhance their creative processes and collaborations. Lead & Create includes a weekly podcast, Rethinking Leadership Conversations, sector-wide consultations held twice a year, and an online leadership course tailored to independent choreographers, facilitated by guest coaches, artists, and Neus herself.
Sarah Pickthall
Sarah is a qualified executive and team coach, specialising in coaching for disabled leadership, or organisations going through change and transition. Sarah’s consultancy is all about supporting organisations to be better, fairer more equitable, representative and inclusive in all that they do. Sarah also has extensive experience in digital inclusion and has run leadership and coaching sessions for ITV, NHS and Clore Leadership
Sarah is the Co-Founder and Director of Sync Leadership. Sync is designed to combine leadership theory with one-to-one coaching and group coaching techniques to develop Deaf, disabled and neurodivergent leadership in arts, culture, heritage and media globally so they can make greater impact and fulfil their potential and their ambitions.