Exploring the new Rozsa Horizons program

by Lisa Mackay

After a year of research, interviews, and community consultation, the Rozsa Foundation recently launched our latest professional development training program: Rozsa Horizons of Arts Leadership. Because this program is so new to the community, I asked Rozsa's Director of Training, Samantha MacDonald, to describe it in a bit more detail for newsletter readers. The following is a short interview to dig a little deeper into the program and the thinking behind it.

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Lisa: Samantha, what can you tell us about Rozsa Horizons of Arts Leadership? 

Samantha: Horizons is the newest member of the Rozsa Foundation professional development offerings. Like our other formal training programs, it’s a cohort-based intensive format, but Horizons focuses specifically on experienced, senior leadership within arts organizations in Alberta.

Lisa: I know that our shorter foundational program, previously called Rozsa Admin Fundamentals Training or RAFT, is now the Essentials of Arts Leadership program. Likewise, the Rozsa Art Management Program, or RAMP, is now called Foundations of Arts Management.  Is Horizons of Arts Management the same as the previous Rozsa Executive Arts Leadership (REAL) program? 

Samantha: Actually, none of the programs are just about renaming. Both Essentials and Foundations have been redesigned, updated, and changed quite a lot, and Horizons is completely new. We started from scratch and did a lot of consultation for this program. We wanted to find out exactly what experienced, senior arts leaders are looking for in their professional development, and what issues they are facing that training could help them address.We really wanted to meet arts leaders where they are in 2025 – which is a time of complexity and ever-changing landscapes in terms of funding, audiences, programming, and community relevance. The program is focused on readiness for change, and the goal is for the participants to come away knowing what changes may be necessary within their organization and how they might think about implementing those changes. As well, post program, we plan to create a supported environment for them to test some change models they might have come away with, and to actively engage with transformation.

Lisa: What does a “supported environment” look like? 

Samantha: Great question! After they have finished the program, we will ask graduates to identify a small change-based experiment that has potential future implications for their organization and offer them an opportunity to test it out without risking their budgets. It will be set up in a similar way to the funding we offer Foundations (previously RAMP) participants to bring their Capstone project to life, if that comparison helps. Horizons graduates can apply for funding to undertake their experiment and access one-to-one coaching with our Organizational Strategy Advisor, Jennifer DeDominicis, to help them work through it with professional support. 

Lisa: Wow, that sounds exciting! Can I ask why the new program focuses so much on change and readiness for change?

Samantha: In all of the community consultations and conversations that went into the planning of Horizons, it became clear that arts managers and leaders feel they are standing in a unique and pivotal moment. Arts organizations are being buffeted by the winds of dramatically tightening financial realities, shifting cultural values and relevance, and the deep, cumulative impact of burnout. We are all aware that existing systems and structures are no longer suitable. As a sector, we need to explore how we can shift, innovate, and find renewal. We hope to offer arts leaders new horizons to aim for. 

Lisa: Can you tell me a little more about the program and how it will catalyze this conversation about change? 

Samantha: Absolutely, I will take you through from beginning to end, because we were deliberate in how we built each session on the previous one. Beginning in November, the Horizons cohort will meet in person four times over seven months, and each convening will be a two-day session.We start with Cultural Awareness in Leadership led by the extraordinary Nikki Shaffeeullah. We will spend both days of this session exploring how to balance sustainability with flexibility to ensure healthy, just communities, how to welcome generative conflict, and how to build leaderful, creative, and resilient teams.For the next gathering, on the first day, Jeanne LeSage will bring us Leading through Change: The People Side. Here, participants will have an opportunity to focus specifically on the people in the organizational ecology and how to balance strategic and operational goals while holding space for the needs of the team. We couldn’t build a program about change in 2025 without discussing AI and the ethical issues, risks, and opportunities associated with it, so on the second day, we will have Katrina Ingram lead Ethical AI and walk participants through the dilemmas around AI, as well as how to build policies and protocols around appropriate AI use in the arts.At the third gathering, Annalise Klingbeil and Alex Middleton of Champion Communications will spend a day unpacking how to navigate communications with board, staff, and community in the current socio-political climate and particularly in moments of uncertainty or controversy with Strategic Communications. The second day will be all about using embodied practice to explore leadership models and examine our patterns, as well as discovering how to navigate complexity by deepening connections versus tightening control in Relational Leadership in Action, led by Shannon Litzenberger.Finally, we will spend the last gathering of the program with Jennifer DeDominicis, Brian Loevner and our own Simon Mallett in a two-day session titled Shaping the Shift: Designing Change in the Arts. It will synthesize key learnings from the broader program, and participants will leave with frameworks and insights around leading change with confidence. We hope this final session will help leaders chart realistic, actionable paths forward. 

Lisa: It sounds pretty killer. How do people apply? And what’s the deadline? 

Samantha: They can apply through the Rozsa Foundation website: rozsafoundation.com/horizons, and they have until 3 October. Oh – and in Edmonton and Calgary, participants will have half of their tuition covered through the generosity of the Edmonton Arts Council and Calgary Arts Development. And people are welcome to contact me with any questions!

Thanks to Samantha for taking the time to walk me through it so I know what I am talking about! And for those with great enthusiasm and little time to read, the TL;DR is:

• Horizons is a completely new program for experienced senior arts leaders,

• It begins in November 2025,

• It comprises 4 two-day gatherings, covering 6 different sessions, 

• Centres on high-level discussions around managing change in the arts,

• Culminates in a post-program funding opportunity with one-on-one coaching,

• Applications close on October 3, 2025.

As well, if you are applying in Edmonton or Calgary, the wonderful Edmonton Arts Council and Calgary Arts Development have both offered to fund HALF of your tuition. A big thank you to them for believing in our programs and supporting arts leaders!

If you have more questions, please check the website at rozsafoundation.com/horizons or send Samantha an email.

Check out Horizons!