Foundations of Arts Leadership: Rozsa Foundation’s Next Step in Supporting Arts Leaders

Rozsa Foundation
Jul 25
3 min read

by Samantha MacDonald, Director of Training

For thirteen years, the Rozsa Foundation has been offering arts managers in Alberta a place to challenge their assumptions, ask questions, and learn from outstanding faculty and one another. The training was called Rozsa Arts Management Program, affectionately known as RAMP. In April of this year, the final RAMP cohort celebrated the conclusion of their training and the end of the program as it was.

There’s an old adage: “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” RAMP was definitely not broken, so when I was hired as the Director of Training, I was tasked with determining how we could make the program even better. How could we further serve the needs of arts managers and leaders?

**2024–2025 RAMP Graduation Celebration**

From the Ground Up

In the spring of 2023, Rozsa Foundation asked Rose Brow to do some community research that would inform the future delivery of our training programs. Over 40 participants from across the country, from multiple disciplines were consulted. When I arrived in October 2024, I dug into that report and spent the next several weeks having close to 70 meetings, coffee dates, and conversations digging deeper into all the possible options for the Foundation's training programs. I also connected with Banff Centre for the Arts, the National Arts Centre, MacEwan University, and the University of Calgary to understand their offerings and how we might complement those or address any identified gaps. We wanted to ensure a responsive, relevant program that would support the leaders of tomorrow. Hopefully, Foundations of Arts Leadership does just that.

Introducing Foundations of Arts Leadership

Foundations of Arts Leadership offers developing arts leaders an exploration of leadership capacities, team development, organizational relationships, and community connections – moving from the context of the individual to the collective. The program investigates theories of leadership and strategic frameworks while developing practical skills like building organizational brand, financial literacy, advocacy, governance, and more.

Program facilitation features a mix of arts industry professionals and university faculty. We are so fortunate to partner with the University of Calgary’s Haskayne School of Business Executive Education team on Foundations. They bring a wealth of experience and knowledge, and some truly wonderful facilitators. With faculty like Peggy Hedges, Scott Radford, and Terry Clark, along with arts professionals like Alexandra Hatcher, Jacquelyn Cardinal, Karen Ball and Andrea McManus, Foundations will be in excellent hands.

Building Connections

In re-visioning the program, one of the things we wanted to do was offer more opportunities for arts managers and leaders to meet, cross-pollinate, and learn from each other. So, we created Intersections- four sessions that will operate as electives for the Foundations program, but will also be accessible to our other leadership cohorts, and to the arts community at large. Each session is four hours and in-person, and we hope Intersections will foster collaborative learning, problem-solving, and knowledge exchange for the community. For the Foundations program, participants will be invited to select a minimum of two Intersections.

Foundations culminates in a Capstone Project designed by the participant (in consultation with a program advisor) that builds on program learnings with a practical application. This Capstone Project is intended to address a meaningful challenge or opportunity for the participant within their organizational or individual context. Over the years, the Capstone Projects have generated a wealth of value for arts organizations – from strategic plans, to new volunteer training programs, to a complete overhaul of a costume inventory for a large local singing organization.

The Foundations program builds on the work started in our Essentials of Arts Administration program and will scaffold up to a third, new program we will be announcing very soon. Along with other ancillary offerings, we hope to create a safety net of professional training for Alberta arts leaders.

I am so excited to be rolling out these new programs, partially because I anticipate lots of great feedback around the first iteration, and I love the opportunity to keep adjusting, reframe, and building!