Family Arts Leadership
Symposium 2026

Registration will open at 10.00 am for a 10.30am start and the event will finish at 5.30pm. Delegates are invited to join the Family Arts Campaign at MAC Bar after the event, for informal networking. Lunch and refreshments will be provided during the day.

As Arts Council England’s new strategic framework places renewed emphasis on excellence, public value, and community voice, cultural leaders are being asked to make increasingly complex decisions. Whether you’re preparing for future investment opportunities, looking to diversify income, strengthening relationships with communities, or simply trying to create a more resilient organisation, this year’s programme has been designed to provide the time, space and practical ideas to support your next steps. 

Keynote:
Resilient Futures

Speaker:
Emma Stenning, Chief Executive, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra

In this opening keynote, Emma Stenning will reflect on what resilience means for cultural organisations navigating a period of significant change. Drawing on her experience leading organisational transformation and major cultural institutions, she will explore the interconnected challenges of financial, personal and organisational resilience, and consider how leaders can sustain ambition, purpose and impact in uncertain times. Reflecting on the resilience of Birmingham’s cultural sector and the strength that comes from collaboration, creativity and community, Emma will offer an optimistic perspective on the opportunities ahead. This keynote will invite delegates to think not only about how organisations withstand change, but how they can adapt, grow and build stronger futures through it. 

Building Sustainable Support:
Fundraising, Storytelling and Organisational Strategy

Speaker:
Analiese Doctrove, Fundraising and Strategy Consultant

This session will explore how leaders can build stronger, more sustainable support by bringing teams together around fundraising and income generation. It will focus on storytelling as a way of building long-term relationships with audiences, funders and partners—communicating purpose, value and impact in ways that strengthen trust over time, rather than relying on repeated ‘asks’. Participants will also consider how to look beyond traditional funding sources, diversify income, and develop a more joined-up organisational approach to generating support. The session will explore practical ways for leaders to build confidence, alignment and shared ownership of fundraising activity across their teams. 

Delegates will take away: 

• practical approaches for strengthening fundraising success through clearer and more compelling storytelling 
• tools for involving more of their organisation in building relationships and generating income 
• inspiration for identifying and developing more diverse funding and support opportunities 

Making the Case for Family Engagement

Speaker:
Deborah Larwood, Director of Income Generation, Achates

How can leaders position family engagement within organisational strategy, business planning and funding applications?

In this session you’ll focus on how to build a clear and compelling narrative that connects purpose, evidence and impact, and how to communicate the value of family engagement to funders, partners and decision-makers.

• practical approaches for strengthening the narrative around family engagement
• clearer ways to connect storytelling, data and impact in funding and strategy contexts
• tools for positioning their work with greater confidence within investment discussions

+ more to be announced!

Find out more about each of the speakers at the Family Arts Leadership Symposium…

Buy Tickets

• Early Bird: Available until 11 August 2026 (£185/ £125*)
• Standard: Available until 9 September 2026 or until Sold Out (£200/ £140*)

*Small organisations are any classed as a “micro entity” by HMRC (e.g. has 10 or fewer employees)

**No VAT will be added to ticket prices. Please note a £3 booking fee is charged per ticket.

If you have any queries regarding tickets please contact us at hello@familyarts.co.uk.

Booking Terms & Conditions