Values-led: Leadership for change

Clore Leadership presents a panel discussion providing experiences and insights on leading through change in heritage organisations.

This event is now a written resource – introduction here.

Related case studies on the Youth Hostels Association, how Bristol Beacon gained its new name and Building Trust around African Collections.

This webinar, the last in our Rebuilding Heritage programme, brings together a number of threads from across the series and looks at the leadership lessons learned through times of flux and change.

There are many challenges that leaders need to face and it takes courage and skill to be able to able to lean into your values, distinguish the moments for transformation from those to hold fast, and work effectively with others to achieve productive and useful change.

This dynamic session will bring together an expert panel of leaders who have worked through changes in their own organisations. They will discuss their own experiences as leaders navigating changes within their organisation and share personal reflections on how they assessed a need for change and acted on decisions. Through this discussion you will gain tips, strategies and valuable insights to inspire you on your own journey towards change for your heritage organisation or practice.

We’re delighted to confirm our speakers for this event:

JC Niala, Acting Keeper of Anthropology, Horniman Museum and Gardens

Sarah Robertson, Communications and Special Projects Director, Bristol Beacon

James Blake, Chief Executive, Youth Hostel Association

The session will be facilitated by Clore Leadership Associate Amanda Smethurst, an independent consultant, coach and facilitator with a particular focus on organisational development and strategic planning within the cultural sector.

You will have the opportunity for you to pose questions and comments in advance for the speakers when you sign up to the event and also submit them live on the day.

Meet the Speakers

JC Niala

Acting Keeper of Anthropology, Horniman Museum and Gardens

JC Niala is Acting Keeper of Anthropology at the Horniman Museum and Gardens. She led on ‘Rethinking Relationships and building trust around African Collections’ from 2019-2021 which collaborated with community members in Kenya and Nigeria and the diaspora to work with and think about the futures of the African collections at the Horniman Museum and Gardens, Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology in Cambridge, Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford and World Museum, Liverpool. Following the award of a Digital and Innovation grant from the Museum Association, she is currently working on the launch of an African Collections Research Hub which will continue to open up African collections at the Horniman & other institutions.

Sarah Robertson

Communications and Special Projects Director. Bristol Beacon

Sarah is Communications and Special Projects Director at Bristol Music Trust, the organisation that runs Bristol Beacon, the largest concert hall in the South West. She spearheaded the concert hall’s recent name change away from the slave trader Edward Colston. Sarah is on the strategic board at Turner Sims concert hall.

James Blake

Chief Executive, Youth Hostel Association

James Blake joined YHA in 2017 as Chief Executive, following a senior level career in central and local government, most recently as Chief Executive of St Albans City and District Council. Before joining St Albans City and District Council, James was a senior civil servant in the Department for Communities and Local Government where he specialised in policy on local government, regeneration and social inclusion. He is a geographer by background and, before joining government, completed a PhD in sustainable development in the countryside. James has held various non-executive roles and is currently a Governor of the University of Hertfordshire