As part of CAN YOU HEAR US?, our six-week celebration of creativity and culture taking place across the Island, we previously announced the cohort of 12 individuals who are taking part in the fully-funded Cultural Leadership Programme. We think it’s time for an update of what they’ve been doing. The programme was designed to give a diverse group of Islanders the opportunity to grow and develop their leadership skills, through coaching, funding and a tailor-made series of gatherings and talks. The programme is facilitated by Amanda Smethurst, a coach, and arts leader with significant experience developing leadership programmes.
Kicking off in March of this year, the programme leads the cohort through a variety of different skill building sessions, brings in guest speakers with hands-on experience and provides funding for exploration and research off the Island.
Our first group gathering took place on March 27th at Department in Ryde and the day was spent exploring what it means to be a ‘leader’. Programme facilitator Amanda Smethurst took them through the morning, exploring hopes and fears for the programme, what ‘leader’ means to them, and their goals for the programme as a whole. They also took part in an exercise to define their core values, what it is that drives them to do what they do. In the afternoon they explored the Insights Discovery Model — a psychometric tool based on Carl Jung’s psychology. It uses a memorable four-colour system, to measure individual behaviour preferences, boost self-awareness, and improve workplace communication — to help each participant better understand who they are, how they work and how to best help themselves grow.
“I’ve enjoyed being in a room of passionate and creative people, having dedicated time and space to think about important things.”
We met as a group for the second time online on May 11th, with guest speaker Sarah Wilson-White, the Head of Culture and Arts for the Isle of Man. She gave an insightful talk about her experiences in her career and how that has led to where she is now. As an Islander herself, Sarah had some really useful advice around what it means to live and work from an Island, and how best to make the most of the opportunities that arise both on, and off the Island. This session was really helpful for many of the cohort to imagine where their work could take them, and how to support the Island’s culture at large. Thank you to Sarah for her time!
One from the Cultural Leadership Programme cohort said:
“I found her honesty and openness very thought provoking and her career journey really inspiring- especially about how sticking to your core values can lead you to exactly where you are meant to be.”
More recently, the second group gathering was held at Quay Arts in Newport on June 26th 2026, and was split into two halves. The first half, run by Amanda, was themed around resilience and wellbeing, giving everyone a chance to think about how to support themselves and manage across competing priorities. In the afternoon we were joined by Lucy Taylor, founder of Make Work Play, who led a session exploring how our ‘stories’ operate how we live. Where the cohort placed themselves and their ‘stories’ into a typical narrative framework as a way to gain some clarity and purpose in their goals, plans and ambitions.
“With life as busy as it is, this provides protective space to stop. To think. To slow down. To reflect. This course is carving out time and permission to do so and with that to wonder about how to action those reflections, and
move towards making those actions sustainable.”
As well as this the cohort have also received one on one coaching sessions with Amanda Smethurst, and have been given funding to ‘Go and See’ places or people who will inspire them on their journeys, to learn new skills, gain ideas and explore what’s going on outside of the Island’s sphere.
Massive thank you to Jasmine Truman for capturing this story. The programme is still ongoing and we can’t wait to share more about the cohort’s learnings and how this programme will help their ambitions.
