WILLOW is an organisational leadership programme funded by the Cultural Leadership Programme to support women working in the cultural sector in Wales. WILLOW is a partnership between the National Museum, Swansea University and Equal Measures (an Equalities consultancy). There are two elements to WILLOW - research and participation. The research element will look at the policies of cultural organisations to identify how they support women to develop into leadership positions (and where the policies may not support women how they could be made to).

The purpose of this blog entry is to tell you about the participation element of WILLOW and encourage you to apply to take part. The participation element will involve 50 women from across the cultural sector (and some other sector like engineering, community development and well we will consider interested applicants from almost any other sector although priority will be given to the cultural sector as that's where the funding comes from). WILLOW is an informal learning programme that will include action learning sets, co-mentoring, a conference (April 2011) and a tailored programme of support that could include placements and shadowing opportunities across the cultural sector.

The premise behind the project is that we need to develop a support infrastructure that enables women to progress into leadership positions in the cultural sector. Leadership is not just about being the top dog - and having been the top dog I can personally tell you it isn't all its cracked up to be! Leadership is as much about leading a project or a department in a cultural organisation or indeed being in a position locally where you are leading and influencing a company or community. WILLOW is aimed at women who have been in the sector for 3-5 years. The time when you've got to know the sector and have decided whether you want to carry on working in it (or not). You are considering where to go next and you are clear that leadership is something you would like pursue as part of your career plan.

WILLOW will give women participating the opportunity to meet women from across the sector and explore what leadership means in cultural organisations in 2009. I am the Participation Manager for WILLOW and will be managing this strand of the project. It will be my responsibility to make sure that each of the 50 women has a good experience and resolves the leadership questions they are facing.

I am Fran Medley - many of you will know me from my time at the Arts Council of Wales. If you would like to find out more email me at willowparticipation@gmail.com