Women to Watch

The Women to Watch Development Programme was a CLP initiative to support female leaders and advocate for women in the cultural and creative industries.  Its most high profile activity was the ‘Women to Watch’ list, which was launched to coincide with International Womens’ Day in March 2010.

With 189 nominations having been submitted from all parts of the sector, the judging panel chose 50 female leaders as ‘Women to Watch’ - women who were already making a huge contribution to the rich cultural life of the UK, and showed the potential to rise to the very top.

Through engaging in a nine month programme of events and development opportunities, the ‘Women to Watch’ have become a strong network who, in the coming years, will be leading the way in design, libraries, literature, museums, heritage, music, performing and visual arts, and creative businesses; redressing the gender balance at senior leadership levels in the cultural and creative sector.

This film profiles Maria Oshodi, Pim Baxter and Melanie Abrahams, who talk about their experiences of being a ‘Woman to Watch’ and the development programme, and we also hear from two of the judges, Sarah Weir, Head of Arts and Cultural Strategy for the Olympic Delivery Authority and Kwame Kwei Armah, actor, playwright and broadcaster, who describe their approach to the selection process, and why they think supporting female leaders is important.