Support our Leadership Transition: Join the Steering Group
Co-Director Jess sharing Rising’s financial break down to a group of community members on her laptop
Rising Arts Agency is by and for young people and so we have committed to transitioning our leadership every 5 years to ensure we remain genuinely youth-led.
In the lead up to our second transition next year we’re looking to form a steering group of 6-8 people to help design this transition and recruitment process with us so that it is fair, transparent and care-full for everyone involved.
Jess and Euella (the current Co-Directors) were invited to be Rising’s leaders by Kamina whilst already part of the Rising team.
This time we are looking to design an open recruitment process so that this opportunity to lead is open to the Rising team, community and other young people who might not even currently be engaging with our work.
INFO
Fee: £175
Time Commitment: Roughly 12 hours of meetings over 11 months from July 2025 to May 2026
Deadline: 11:59pm Sunday 6 July 2025
WHO YOU ARE
We’re looking for people who feel excited and energised by the prospect of Rising handing over its leadership to new young leaders.
Where you come from is less important than what you bring to the table.
You might be someone who enjoys unpacking how things work, the person in your friendship group who is good at linking people up and making people and at ease.
You might be someone who has led organisations or recruitment processes before, or someone who has been on the receiving end of a recruitment process that hasn't felt good and wants to make it better for others.
You’re not expected to have the answers right away, what matters is that you’re excited about this work and working it out with us.
The expertise or interests we’re looking for:
Holding tension and having difficult conversations
Community organising and/or activism
Thinking differently about recruitment processes
Leadership in all its various forms
About this role
We expect the steering group to be a mixture of Rising community members, local community activists and others engaged in this changemaking work across the cultural sector (whether that’s leadership, or young people focused).
Some of the questions we will be exploring:
How to hold the tensions of the team and community who want to be Rising’s Directors before the decision is finalised and after if unsuccessful
How to design an open recruitment process for Co-Directors (eg do we ask people to apply together, matchmake etc.)
Who makes the recruitment decision of the new Directors
How to transition in a way that is sustainable for the people involved and the finances available
How Rising’s current board, non-exec Directors and Co-Directors are involved in the transition process
Timeline:
July 2025 - steering group finalised and first meeting
August 2025 - process planning session together
September 2025 - finalise process
November 2025 - finalise recruitment materials
January 2026 - recruitment launched
March 2026 - steering group potentially involved in interviews and shortlisting of candidates
May 2026 - steering group sense check transition plan and confirm ongoing role in the transition
How to Apply: TRANSITION STEERING GROUP
You can apply by EITHER:
Fill out the typeform here
Download a copy of the application form and type in your answers and emailing a pdf version of it to hello@rising.org.uk with the subject line ‘Transition Steering Group’
Record video or audio of your answers to the questions in the application form and explainer video above either via audio or video in spoken english or BSL, uploading this to a platform such as youtube, soundcloud or GDrive and sending the url of the audio or video file(s) to hello@rising.org.uk with the subject line ‘Transition Steering Group’
Book a live session with Jess or Euella to say your answers to the questions in the application form over zoom or phone by booking a slot here
Something else that works for you that answers all the questions in the application form and reaches us before the deadline
Whichever way works best for you, all applications will be considered with equal merit.
Deadline
11:59 PM Sunday 6 July 2025
FAQs
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Yes, you can still apply and be part of designing the recruitment process but we will ask you to step out of the steering group once recruitment is launched in January to avoid any conflicts of interest
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No, we expect the steering group to be a mixture of Rising community members, local community activists and others engaged in this type of change-making work across the cultural sector (whether that’s leadership, or young people focused)
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We will invite anyone who we have not worked with before who is shortlisted to an informal conversation between the 14th and 17th July so we can get a feel for each other and how you might work within the wider steering group
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That will be decided in discussion with the newly recruited Co-Directors and the steering group and dependent on need, capacity and resourcing
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We are aiming to make the final decision by Thursday 17 July with the first meeting planned for Wednesday 30 July.
We may contact you sooner if you have been shortlisted and are not currently engaged in our work to have a conversation w/c 14 July before making our final decision
If you have any other questions about the steering group or application process contact jess@rising.org.uk and/or euella@rising.org.uk
