The CHEAD Creative Leadership Programme is a professional development initiative designed to meet the urgent need for more equitable, imaginative, and context-responsive leadership and training in Art & Design, Creative Media and Related Disciplines in Higher Education (HE) in the UK.
It is a programme Crafted Exclusively for Leaders in Art, Design, Creative Media and Related Disciplines
Rooted in creative disciplines and a values-driven approach to institutional leadership, this programme offers a unique space for academic colleagues—engaged in teaching and/or research across art, design, creative media, and related disciplines—to explore new models of leadership, grounded in care, craft, community and cyclical wisdom.
The programme intends to support the current and next generation of creative academic leaders in our sector, from Programme Leader, Associate Deans to Heads of Department.
At a time when the higher education landscape is undergoing significant transformation, this four-month hybrid programme provides a safe and dynamic learning environment to equip you to lead with confidence and authenticity.
The Creative Leadership Programme for 2026-27 will open for registration in September 2026.
CHEAD’s Creative Leadership Programme is delivered online and in-person via key note presentations, discussions, small group work, fireside chats and peer-learning constellations.
The course consists of five days learning delivered over four themed weeks from January – April 2027 and offers a structured progression through key areas.
Week 1 Identity – Breaking Open Leadership
Dates and Times
Day 1: Tuesday 26 January 2027 12:00 – 17:00 (with optional evening social activity)
Day 2 Wednesday 27 January 2027 09:00 – 17:00
Location: York St John University
Led by
Sandra Booth, CHEAD
Michelle Leeder (MNCPS Acc.) and Mel Wiggins (MBE), Embodied Leadership
Over two immersive days, the tone is set for the Creative Leadership Programme. Designed as both a soft landing and an introduction to your cohort, this in-person gathering invites participants to step outside institutional roles and routine and into a shared space of reflection, embodiment, and creative discovery of your leadership identity.
Webinar 1 – A Fireside on Creative Rebellion & Leadership Integrity, with Professor Susan Orr
Date: Wednesday 10 February 2027
Location: Online via Teams
Week 2 Expertise – Reclaiming how we speak, how we lead, and who we speak for
Date: Wednesday 24 February, 2027
Time: 09:00 – 17:00
Location: Manchester Metropolitan University
Led by
Professor Shelley McNulty
Week Two (one day, in-person) invites participants to reconnect with the insights and questions surfaced in Week One, deepening their exploration of purpose, identity, and leadership practice. Through reflection, constellation dialogue, and embodied inquiry, participants begin to articulate their “golden thread”, the personal values, creative instincts, and lived experiences that inform their leadership approach.
Webinar 2 – A Fireside on Designing Change in Times of Complexity, with Jenny Garrett
Date: Wednesday 3 March 2027
Time: 11:00 – 12:00
Location: Online via Teams
Week 3 (1 day) Support – Leading from the inside out: care as institutional strategy
Date: Monday 15 March 2027
Time: 09:00 – 17:00
Location: Arts University Bournemouth
Led by Joanne Jørgensen, Founder of teamGlue and former Director of Nike’s Materials Innovation Studio
Week Three shifts the focus from self to system, exploring how leadership can shape, disrupt, or reinforce institutional culture. Through critical reflection, dialogue, and creative interventions, participants unpack how dominant norms, unspoken power dynamics, and systemic bias operate within their organisations — and begin prototyping strategies for shifting culture from within.
Webinar 3 – A fireside on leading from the inside out. Care as an inclusive strategy with Angie Bual, Creative Director & Joint CEO of Trigger
Date: Monday 5 April 2027
Time: 09:00 – 17:00
Location: Online via Teams
Week 4 (1 day): Advocacy – What we offer now shapes what comes next
Date: Wednesday 28 April, 2027
Time: 13:00 – 14:00
Location: University of Westminster
Led by Sandra Booth, CHEAD
Week Four concludes the programme with a focus on legacy, regeneration, and future-making. This session supports participants in articulating long-term leadership visions grounded in creative, cyclical, and collaborative values. Through curation, presentations, conversations, and creative critical reflection, the cohort explores what it means to lead with purpose across systems, stakeholders and sectors, and beyond roles, titles, or institutions.
Sandra Booth, FRSA, Director of Policy and External Relations, Council for Higher Education in Art and Design.
Sandra Booth, FRSA, a former Chartered Marketer, is Director of Policy and External Relations at the Council for Higher Education Art and Design and is responsible for strategic planning, government relations, partnership leadership and development. Sandra is responsible for providing strategic advice to the Executive Board and Trustees whilst managing public affairs, advocacy and the interfaces with key stakeholders including British Council, Design Council, Arts Council, Crafts Council, Creative UK and Creative Industries Council.
In addition, Sandra is an Executive Coach at Lancaster University Management School where she teaches a module on Compassionate and Inclusive Leadership and coaches on the Senior Leaders and Executive MBAs.
With over 30 years’ experience in Higher Education leadership, Sandra has held previous roles as Education Development Director at the Chartered Institute of Marketing, Director of Enterprise at Staffordshire University and PVC External at Cumbria University.
Sandra is committed to access to an art’s education for all and is a co-founder of the Creative Education Coalition Group who co-authored the Creative Education Manifesto
Embodied Leadership helps leaders, teams and organisations build the capacity to lead and work sustainably. Founded by Mel Wiggins MBE and Michelle Leeder, our work connects self-leadership, relational leadership and cultural leadership, bringing together psychology, embodiment, nervous system awareness and practical leadership development to create healthier people, stronger relationships and more sustainable cultures.
Mel Wiggins MBE is a coach, restorative practitioner and leadership consultant with over 20 years’ experience working across community, charity and leadership settings. She brings expertise in courageous leadership, conflict, restorative practice and personal transformation, helping leaders navigate complexity while staying connected to their values and purpose.
Michelle Leeder is a psychotherapist, embodiment practitioner and leadership consultant with over 20 years’ experience supporting people through personal and professional change. She brings expertise in psychology, nervous system regulation, relational practice and wellbeing, helping leaders develop greater self-awareness, resilience and capacity to lead sustainably.
Professor Susan Orr is an Emeritus Professor at De Montfort University. Prior to this appointment she was the Deputy Vice-Chancellor Education and Equalities. Susan has also held leadership roles at York St John University, Sheffield Hallam University and University of the Arts London. At DMU, Susan led Learning for Life pillar of the university’s Empowering University Strategy. She led the cross-university change programme which is delivering a distinctive block education system to DMU students. She was the DMU executive lead for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion. Susan was a panel member in the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) 2 Panel and chaired the Arts Subject Review TEF Pilot Panel. She was also on the recent TEF panel in 2023. She led the OFS review of Blended Learning in 2021. Susan is an Associate Director at Higher Futures consultancy.
Jenny Garrett OBE is an empowering Coach & Leadership Development Consultant dedicated to helping women cultivate the confidence and voice needed to lead effectively. One client aptly described her impact as providing 'a yoga stretch for your career'.
Her extensive experience includes nine years facilitating the Advance HE Aurora Programme, Adaptive Leadership day, directly contributing to the development of countless women in Higher Education, and coaching senior leaders within the sector.
With over two decades of experience running a successful global consultancy focused on leadership, talent, and EDI, and as the author of Equality vs Equity and Rocking Your Role: A Guide to Success for Female Breadwinners, Jenny offers practical, real-world strategies to unlock potential and ensure women are heard.
Her specialisms in diversity, inclusion, and leadership coaching are recognised by her OBE for services to Entrepreneurship and Women in Business.
Jenny's newest book, AI for Equity: Creating a More Equitable Society for All written by Jenny and her daughter (Leah-Sunshine Garrett) is coming out 27 October 2026.
Joanne Jørgensen is Founder of Teamglue and former Director of Nike's Materials Innovation Studio. With 25+ years in global design leadership, she now supports leaders and organisations to build emotionally intelligent, values-led teams. Her work focuses on creative culture, care-based performance, and sustainable innovation through people-first leadership.
Angie Bual, Creative Director & Joint CEO of Trigger. Angie leads on all of Trigger’s work and concepts. Recently she directed The Big One Hundred - Winnie the Pooh’s Centenary. She was the creative lead for multi-million project PoliNations (Unboxed/ Birmingham) and for the flying dragon, The Hatchling featured on Queens Platinum Jubilee. She leads Trigger, an arts council NPO who have a local training and refugee and asylum seeker programmes which they run from a small post office, and a chapel in a rural village in North Somerset. Angie is a trustee for Theatre Royal Plymouth.
- Critically examine dominant leadership paradigms: Through reflective dialogue and systems-focused training, explore how power, voice, and exclusion shape institutional cultures and personal leadership experiences in HE and the creative sector.
- Develop and express a personal leadership identity: Build confidence through relational and embodied leadership training, rooted in creative practice, lived experience, and values-led decision making.
- Apply learning from the programme to a self-defined Golden Thread project: Use practical tools and strategies developed through the programme’s training components to integrate learning into real-world leadership challenges.
- Design and sustain ecosystems of support: Practise designing relational, resilient leadership environments through training in collaborative methods, care-based design, and peer learning structures.
- Lead advocacy and systems change work: Apply strategic training in influence, systems thinking, and creative leadership voice to effect institutional and sector-level change.
- Contribute to a distributed leadership community: Strengthen your role in a cross-sector leadership network through ongoing commitment to reflective practice, mentoring, and critical collaboration.
CHEAD is committed to building an inclusive and representative cohort for this leadership course and welcome participants from all backgrounds and career stages, and we particularly encourage applications from individuals who are underrepresented in leadership roles across higher education — including people of the Global Majority (Black, Asian and ethnically diverse backgrounds), disabled people, neurodivergent, LGBTQ+ individuals, and those from lower socio-economic backgrounds.
We are committed to creating an inclusive, accessible learning environment. If you have any access needs or require adjustments to take part, we’ll work with you to make sure the course fully supports your participation.