Inclusive Cultures

APPLICATIONS ARE NOW OPEN | Applications close 12pm Monday 17 April 2023

A disabled-led programme for cultural leaders wanting to challenge themselves to do better around inclusion and access in their organisations or practice. Inclusive Cultures was originally designed by Diverse City, Sarah Pickthall and a team of professional disabled coaches and commissioned by Clore Leadership.

The aim is to create a safe and galvanising space for leaders to challenge themselves and take risks, build confidence, capacity and clarity, and make abstract inclusivity concepts real; to support participants to demonstrably lead - and succeed more coherently - in inclusive practice; and to cascade this learning through their organisations and projects going forwards.

Over 6 months, the participants and coaches will work together to explore some of the common questions:

• What we actually mean by inclusive cultures and what are our visions for creating them?
• What intrinsic value do D/deaf, disabled and neurodivergent perspectives bring to defining our future cultural landscape?
• What skills, knowledge and tools do we need to continue our work while practising inclusive culture-making?
• How do our individual and collective acts to challenge ableism relate to the transformation of the cultural sector’s current dominant values and systems as a whole

The commitment required is 10-4.00pm on the following Fridays:

June 16th 
July 21st
Sept 29th
Oct 20th 

The morning session is a group seminar from 10-12.30pm and the afternoon session is smaller group coaching conversations from 2-4.30pm

Participants will also be encouraged to allocate time to research, reflect and take action.

The final session in October will be designed to showcase participants’ thinking.

This programme is for leaders who are:

• Working in an organisation or are freelance
• Trying to achieve inclusive change in and through their projects, organisation or the cultural sector
• Working with people and communities that experience, or identify as someone experiencing, exclusion, bias or discrimination (e.g. D/deaf/disabled/neurodivergent/Black, Asian, Ethnically Diverse/queer/trans or socially/economically excluded people). We are keen to ensure that our chosen cohort reflects a diversity of intersectional lived experiences to ensure our collaborative working is inclusive and representative
• Wanting to work with peers to ask better questions and achieve personal, organisational and sector transformation for D/deaf, disabled and neurodivergent people and for the benefit of all excluded people and communities
• Ready to learn from disabled leaders and a group of peers with diverse professional and lived experience
• Ready to commit fully to the programme

There are 30 places available on this programme.

For 2023, the following programme fee bands will apply.

• Large organisations 250+ employees £175
• Organisations up to 250 employees £125
• Freelancers £75

We do not wish for the cost to be prohibitive so if this is a barrier for you please get in touch with us before making your application.

Each participant is invited to come with a particular focus shared as part of their application process.  Individually and within a group, participants will focus on finding new solutions for this work in a supported coaching environment, challenging systemic bias, discrimination and ableism as they go, and leading on shaping a new inclusive cultural landscape for all.  

“Inclusive Cultures is about being the change we want to see but ensuring that everyone is involved in that process, sharing the labour and learning together.”  - Sarah Pickthall - Clore Leadership Diversity Associate & Inclusive Cultures Coach

“Time with the Inclusive Cultures crew and Programme Leads from Diverse City has helped me focus my thinking on what it looks and feels like to build in inclusion from the very start” - Roseanna Dias, Studio Susegad.

"The programme gave me a lot of food for thought….from how to create comfort around one’s own needs in the workplace to coming together with some excellent practitioners to discuss our individual battles for equality and diversity in our workplaces." - Amy Zamarripa Solis

Read the blogs from our previous cohort who reflect on the programme and share their insights, refreshed perspectives and ways forward to inform the wider conversation about culture change.

How to apply

• Applications NOW OPEN
• Applications close 12pm Monday 17 April 2023
• You can also apply in writing, in BSL / video, or via an audio file

Application Questions:

1. How would you describe the work you are currently doing to achieve inclusive cultures for yourself, your project(s), organisation or community?
2. What barriers or challenges have you discovered in this work and what have you tried so far?
3. What would you like to think about and work on during your time on the programme?

Selection criteria - what are we looking for?

• Evidence of your commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion
• Willingness to share your insights, ideas and visions and to learn from others about ending ableism
• Ability to commit to the full programme. We believe in the importance and potential of peer working and everyone having an equal chance to benefit from this. Being part of the programme is about being responsible to the group. Attendance will be facilitated for disabled people through meeting access requirements and we will maintain a relaxed way of working and being together.

We will let you know if your application has been successful beginning of June 2023

If you require any of this information in a different format, please contact programmes@cloreleadership.org 

A British Sign Language translation and captioned video of the Inclusive Cultures Programme webpage: