Arts Council England
Arts Council England
Shaping equality, diversity and inclusion policy for 2025–30
Client: Arts Council England
Year: 2025
Location: England, UK
Services: Cultural policy, research, theory of change and executive coaching
Arts Council England commissioned Cultural Transitions to help shape its approach to equality, diversity and inclusion for 2025–30.
We combined horizon scanning and evidence review with six in-depth sessions involving disabled and diverse leaders from across the arts. This gave us a clearer picture of the barriers affecting leadership progression—from inequitable funding and informal career pathways to burnout, weak succession planning and a lack of trust in diverse-led organisations.
Our Role
Working with Arts Council England’s Diversity and Policy teams, we translated the findings into practical recommendations covering leadership development, peer support, inclusive governance, organisational culture and accountability.
The work produced:
A theory of change for EDI policy development
A horizon-scanning report and SWOT analysis
The report Supporting Diverse Leaders in the Arts
A framework for a peer-learning network
Recommendations for measuring and reporting progress
Executive coaching for senior members of the National Diversity team
The coaching also had an immediate internal impact, with members of the team reporting improvements in their day-to-day working practices and work-life balance.
