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About us Leading in Cultural Governance

Leading in Cultural Governance

In the face of uncertainty and rapid change, effective governance of arts and cultural organisations has never been more crucial.

Panel discussion, two women seated and facing an audience, one speaking into a microphone

At Clore Leadership, we have been offering board development programmes since 2007, empowering trustees and organisations to prioritise governance as a key agenda item in leading their organisations to success. 

Our board development offer has included Chair/CEO Days, workshops supporting trustee diversity, regular discussions and webinars and the annual Governance Now conference.

To offer tangible practical support to Trustees and organisations, we commissioned Clore Governance Associates Prue Skene, Tom Wilcox and Keith Arrowsmith to create “Governance in the arts and museums: a Practical Guide“, building on our experience of board development to offer a range of essential information, bespoke resources and downloadable templates that address some of the most frequently asked questions in relation to the effective governance of cultural organisations. 

In 2016, in collaboration with a consortium of Trusts and Foundations, we commissioned Achieving Good Governance: A Challenge of Our Time”, which found strong evidence of good practice, as well as issues to be addressed in governance.  As a response to this, we convened the Cultural Governance Alliance in 2018 – a grouping of sector agencies collaborating and sharing for enhanced impact.

You can discover more about our current governance support work, below.

Governance Now

Governance Now is the annual conference exploring the critical issues in cultural governance for leaders and trustees. It is presented by Clore Leadership and the Cultural Governance Alliance (CGA).

Each year, the conference addresses current challenges facing cultural governance. Delegates have the opportunity to connect with peers, hear provocations from experienced speakers and share learning. Governance Now tackles head-on the critical issues faced by our sector and provides the space to consider the role of boards in our collective response.

Sir Nick Serota delivering a speech for the Governance Now 2022/23 conference.

Other Governance Activity

Clore Leadership seeks to provide support to cultural organisations and their boards as they address long-standing challenges as well as new issues  in a volatile world.  Our governance development work has consistently provided timely responses to topical questions being faced by the sector, as well as regular support for boards and cultural sector leaders. This has included Chair/CEO daysAchieving & Retaining a Diverse Board workshops, Governance Tomorrow (supporting the inclusion of younger people as trustees), research into engagement of those with lived experience of disability in governance, and regular webinars examining topical issues.