Join likeminded people from across Leeds to discuss the opportunities to collaborate around the Leeds Ambitions Strategy .

Leeds Ambitions Strategy: Collaborating Through Culture

In October 2025, the Leeds Ambitions were launched — a shared vision for ensuring Leeds can reach its full potential for everyone who lives, works, studies, and visits here.

At the heart of the Ambitions is a commitment to working across partnerships and communities as ‘Team Leeds’, to tackle poverty and inequality and unlock the huge potential of Leeds through four interconnected priorities:

Health and Wellbeing

Inclusive Growth

Thriving Communities

A Resilient and Sustainable City

Join us for a series of panel sessions, which will bring together voices from across the city to explore how collaboration can help turn these ambitions into action. Researchers, policymakers, cultural organisations, industry leaders, charities, and community partners will share ideas, challenges, and examples of work already shaping Leeds’ future.

Our first event, Collaborating Through Culture, will explore the role of arts, culture, heritage, and creative practice in building a more inclusive, connected, and resilient city. The session will consider how cultural collaboration can support social change, strengthen communities, and contribute to the wider ambitions for Leeds – and how we can harness this potential in the future.

Join us at The Knowledge Exchange, Leeds Beckett University, from 12:00 – 1:30pm on Monday 21st September for discussions, insights, and opportunities for cross-sector discussion and collaboration.

The panel session will last approximately 1 hour, with 30 minutes for networking/lunch afterwards.

Panel speakers will include:

Hannah Farley, Principal Officer Culture Programmes, Leeds City Council

Hannah leads on the development of the new Leeds Culture Strategy. After living and working in Ghana she undertook an MA in Theatre and International Development at University of Leeds. This led to many years as a community and education-focused creative practitioner and trainer working across West Yorkshire, and nationally. She began working for Leeds City Council on a national pathfinder engaging children and young people with culture. She worked in Libraries across the city, developing strategy around arts programming before moving to her current policy and projects focus. Hannah has established, led and been engaged in several creative networks in Leeds.

Catherine Hayward, Learning and Engagement Manager, Leeds Heritage Theatres

Catherine has over 16 years experience in arts education and is committed to using arts and culture to improve communities and empower young people. She currently works as Learning and Engagement Manager at Leeds Heritage Theatres, with a focus on building long-term partnerships with schools, colleges and universities, supporting young people to make connections with our venues, develop their understanding of the industry and build skills for life.

Sam Nicolls, Senior Lecturer in Music, Leeds Beckett University

Sam Nicholls, a Senior Lecturer in Music, teaching music industry and partnering with industry. Before joining University in 2012, Sam worked in the music industry for over ten years in roles as a live music promoter, record label director and A and R, musician, songwriter and producer. Alongside his work for the University, Sam is the Director of Music:Leeds / Music Local, supporting the music sector throughout Yorkshire.

Description supplied by the event organiser.