Programme update

Ahead of the start of last academic year (2024/2025), in order to meet the University's financial targets, the difficult decision was made to reduce spending on some of our external leadership development programmes, including Aurora and Elevate. It was agreed that the University would continue to sponsor annual cohorts of these programmes but on alternate years. For this academic year (2025/26), an Aurora cohort is being sponsored, but not an Elevate cohort.

The University remains committed to high quality and impactful leadership and management development and would encourage everyone to consider the range of learning opportunities available to all staff, which can be found on our Staff learning and development webpages (scroll down to Leadership & Management). We also offer The University of Bath coaching service for staff which may be a suitable approach to address your career development.

The Programme

The Elevate programme is aimed at all women* from ethnic minority backgrounds. This includes colleagues across all job families, from Grades 4 to 8. *Inclusive of cisgender women, trans women and non-binary people.

Elevate is a creative personal and professional development programme that acknowledges and celebrates the history, culture and diverse lived experiences of its participants. It will encourage participants to reflect, explore and grow through connecting and building solidarity together.

The programme creates a unique opportunity to meet, share, support and learn together. Elevate is a safe space where leadership concepts and ideas will be introduced, while exploring strategies that support the navigation of systemic practices which have tended to historically fix the professional identities of women from Global Majority backgrounds.

Elevate recognises that prospective participants are ready to embrace and take on leadership responsibilities, but face differentiated lived experiences in employment, education and in wider society from their white counterparts.

Elevate will be transformational and will centre on the lived experiences and development needs of women of colour. You will be the key focus!

'I found the Elevate leadership programme to be a transformative experience, significantly shaping my personal, professional, and societal contributions for the long term.' - Elevate 2024 participant

Who the programme is for

The Elevate programme is aimed at all women* from ethnic minority backgrounds from all job families in grades 4 to 8. *Inclusive of cisgender women, trans women and non-binary people.

The Elevate programme brings together colleagues from across six universities in the South West of England and South Wales: Bristol, Bath, Bath Spa, Cardiff, Exeter, and UWE Bristol.

Elevate will:

• create spaces for participants to explore the development of their leadership and critically evaluate their professional position in Higher Education
• introduce different leadership styles and approaches, and encourage participants to develop their own authentic leadership style and to increase their influence in institutions
• support participants to reclaim strengths and talents as well as acknowledge their development needs and commence an action plan to meet their needs
• empower using culturally informed methodologies including recapturing oral histories, storytelling, live capturing and centralised voicing
• centralise participants as women of colour in the learning context, exploring their identity

'The programme will be like nothing you have ever experienced and you will be thankful you participated. Enter the programme with an open mind and be open to be challenged. You are a co-producer of the experience and so show up. Carve out the time to be present as much as you can. Be fearless, vulnerable, and lean into the experience.' Advice from an Elevate 2023 participant

Recent participants from the University of Bath

• Bukola Adetonwa
• Karina Bradshaw
• Deblina Bhattacharjee
• Shiqi Huang
• Rebecca Intavarant
• Mekhala Laud
• QinQin Min
• Fungai Muteke
• Jessica Page
• Aleksandra Samcovic
• Aneesa Zafar