Create Leaders
Catalyst
Growing a New Generation of Collaborative Leaders in Gloucestershire
Catalyst was our first Create Leaders programme, created to grow a new generation of collaborative leaders in Gloucestershire: people with the skills to bring others together and make change in their communities. In 2019 we were one of 18 projects chosen nationally by Arts Council England's Transforming Leadership programme to test a different kind of leadership development: rooted in community, open to people who would never call themselves leaders, and focused on how we lead together.
What Catalyst set out to do
We believe the hardest challenges are met when groups work well together. Catalyst grew the subtle skills of collaborative leadership: finding your own voice, holding space for others, and leading change alongside your community. We designed and ran it with nowhere over two cohorts, built around radical inclusion, bringing together the most diverse group of people we could across sector, background and experience.
Project at a glance
What we achieved
Connections
Participants made new connections, most between five and fifteen, and went on to step onto boards, move into new roles and start new ventures.
Reach
More than 30 people took part across two cohorts, a group far more diverse than arts leadership development usually reaches: around a third from ethnically diverse backgrounds, four in five women, and many who had never thought of themselves as leaders.
Inclusion
Around 80% got better at including others and bringing people with them.
Leadership
Members of the first cohort helped design and deliver the next, and some have since joined our own team and board.
Confidence
Almost everyone came away more confident and authentic in their own voice and vision.
I think there are silent leaders in most places. They are in the background, getting people together and doing things, but they don't identify themselves as a leader. We need to invest in these people.
Aysha Randera, Sewing Studio, Friendship Café, Gloucester
What came next
Catalyst was just the start. It grew into Meeting Life as a Creative Adventure for young leaders, the HCT Co-Lab exploring collaboration for fairer health, and our new Catalyst Foundation, running from autumn 2026.
In partnership with nowhere. Catalyst was created with nowhere, and it draws on their collaborative leadership approach. Find out more about nowhere and their wider work.
Watch and read
Hear from people who took part, and explore The Leadership Conversations: our series of blogs, films and live conversations with change-makers who live and work across Gloucestershire.
What attracted you to Catalyst?
Would you recommend Catalyst to someone else?
Catalyst: the power of microskills
Why did you apply for Catalyst?
What did you learn on the Catalyst programme?
Get involved
If you are interested in joining our next cohort please get in touch to register your interest by emailing tracey@creategloucestershire.co.uk