Unpacking our leadership transition
Photo of three women laughing in front of the WhoseFuture billboard campaign. The billboards say WE ARE RISING. YOUNG PEOPLE ARE LEADERS NOW.
Rising's Founder Kamina Walton and our new Co-Directors, Euella Jackson & Jess Bunyan dig into what this leadership transition means, and what's next.
You’re going from one Director to two Co-Directors. What does co-direction mean and how does it work?
Euella: Co-direction is a direct challenge to traditional, and often masculine, ideas of leadership - this idea that leadership comes from one person, one dictator. Leadership, to us, is a community effort - it’s bigger than an individual. It’s the sharing of power, resources, responsibility and accountability. That’s what Jess and I are here to model.
Jess: It’s a clear challenge to traditional hierarchies and acknowledges the different dimensions needed in good leadership. People often think of leadership as lonely but it doesn’t have to be! The idea that we can co-lead, co-direct and collaborate on everything reflects exactly how we already work day to day where everyone in the team at Rising takes more or less of a lead depending on the project and their own interests and skills. We are a collective and this allows us to bring our full selves to work when we can and rest when we need to.
Kamina: Co-direction is recognising that no individual has all the answers. It’s understanding the value of collective thinking, conversation and collaboration. There’s huge benefit from two people sharing ideas and experience, debating, unpicking and reflecting on issues and challenges and working things out together. From what I’ve learnt through building Rising this would always be my choice of leadership in the future.
So does this change anything for Rising, our partners and the community?
Euella: (Laughs) Hopefully nothing, and everything.
Kamina: (Laughs too) What Euella said!
Jess: Basically yes!
Rising's new Co-Director Euella Jackson
Why is it important for the agency to be led by young people?
Euella: Kamina has held Rising with such grace and honesty from the beginning of the agency’s existence. She has always carved out space for young people to lead the agency - that’s what makes Rising such a special place. Don’t get it twisted - we’ve always been youth-led, this is just a continuation of that vision.
Jess: Rising has always been youth led - this is just the continuation of Kamina’s vision for the agency. We have always been radical but balancing what the sector needs with what it’s actually ready for and doing that with clarity, knowledge and authenticity means we will always be looking for allies - no matter their age.
Kamina: I believe there has been huge value in the agency developing as a co-created space built collectively by me, a 58 year old white woman, and a diverse team (and community) of young people. I know I have brought three decades of sector experience into the agency but what has made Rising unique is the genuine sharing of the space with young people and practicing a form of leadership that is non-dictatorial, open to challenge and thirsty for learning. Age shouldn’t matter but the reality is that young people are often not given the respect they deserve or recognised for the value they bring. If we take a truly inclusive approach then each individual has something precious to contribute regardless of age. If the work is for young people then young people should be empowered to lead that work.
Rising's new Co-Director Jess Bunyan
What has been surprising about the conversations you’ve had around the transition?
Euella: The amount of people who have thought that we’re joking when we’ve told them about the transition. I know about 60% of them think Kamina’s a mad woman, 25% are inspired and the rest don’t know what we’re on about (laughs).
Jess: I guess partly that people are surprised at all! Because it feels like something we’ve been thinking about and planning for a while (even if we did think Kamina was joking at first!). And then also how excited people are genuinely that something like this is happening. I think people are tired of traditional models of leadership and are excited to see what Rising specifically do with that.
Kamina: The number of people who have asked me if I’m stepping back because I’m retiring! Maybe I haven’t told the story clearly enough but the narrative was written from the agency’s start - after 5 years I would hand over the baton to young people. I am modelling and advocating for a new form of diversified leadership. This is not to do with ownership but is about supporting and empowering new types of leaders who are currently absent within the sector - because so many people who look like me are holding on to all the power.
What has stood out to you about this leadership transition?
Euella: For me, I think it’s how held this process has been. Any kind of transition is difficult, sticky and at times uncomfortable - but more often than not, they’re rewarding as hell. I’ve really valued the time we’ve had to define what this process and co-directorship looks like for us. It’s taken a lot of reflection, listening and care.
Jess: Honestly the level of respect and trust I have for the two incredible women that I’m doing this with. The founder relationship is such a special thing that it honestly feels like Kamina is giving us her baby (!) but also seeing her start to step back and find more time for herself and her practice is an absolute honor. We also have the unique opportunity of watching Will and Roseanna Co-Lead BE IT and we have created spaces where we can explore that together so it’s like a pilot within a pilot that just creates these layers of support. From the three of us, the team, this ‘leaders corner/square’, the board, our community - there are so many areas that it’s like everyone is trusting in us and our vision for what the fuck can happen next! And to do that all together is just next level special.
Kamina: Euella, Jess and I have been talking about this transition for 2 years. It’s not something that’s been thrust on anyone. We’ve been really mindful in our approach, taking things one step at a time - questioning, reflecting, regrouping and learning. Care has been at the heart of this process and I think that if we hadn’t all been women the process might have looked and felt quite different. On a practical level I have gradually reduced my working days since April so that more and more responsibility has been handed over to Jess, Euella and the rest of the team. I took all my unused holiday in August so they had a month with me not being around, to see how that felt and recognise any potential hurdles or gaps that might arise. Although the transition was always planned after 5 years we wouldn’t have forced it if it didn’t feel right. But it definitely does feel that now is the right time for all of us to make this change.
Kamina Walton at the launch of BE IT in 2019
What have you learned / what could you teach others about this process?
Euella: I want to quote the title of an album by Sinead Harnett that I’ve been banging recently “Ready is always too late”. If you wait until you’re ‘ready’ to start something like this, then the moment has already passed.
Jess: If you do good work genuinely you’ll end up surrounded by good people and by trusting them amazing things can happen, but you do have to actually let go!
Kamina: I’ve honestly learnt more in the last 5 years than in the rest of my working life. About deep listening, trust, the power of reflection, the value of a healthy working environment, and learning when to step back or stop altogether.
What doesn’t get talked about? What do you wish organisations would change in leadership?
Euella: I don’t know how we got to this point where organisational risk-aversion is considered the norm. Generally, managers maintain the status quo, whereas leaders guide social change. Based on that, how many leaders do we really have in the cultural sector?
Jess: I think mostly what doesn’t get talked about is power - who has it inherently and uses it to progress, who has to bargain and beg for it and always ends up unlistened to and overworked. I think a big first step is naming these power dynamics and then people actually stepping aside and giving up power to those who haven’t had it before, otherwise so many sectors remain an elite echo chamber and wider progress stalls.
Kamina:
Power dynamics.
Genuine equality of opportunity.
Fair pay.
Assumptions around who is the best person to lead something.
Institutional racism and ageism - those elephants that have so often been sitting quietly in the room at sector meetings that no one wants to mention.
What’s next Kamina. I hear you’re retiring...?
Kamina: OK, you asked so here goes!
It’s funny, although it really winds me up when people ask if I’m retiring, I've actually taken more time off work in the past couple of months than I ever remember taking off before and I’m loving every minute of it! But October marks a significant moment of change for me.
I’m chuffed to have been awarded Developing Your Creative Practice funding from the Arts Council that kicks in at the beginning of October. I have 6 months of support to reflect on the last 5 years, see what I can offer the sector moving forward and spend time exploring my own photography and installation practice again with an emphasis on arts activism.
I’ve also just heard that I’ve been awarded a scholarship to take part in a creative programme called Press Play! This isa one-year course developed by Spike Print Studio designed to help you understand your art practice and develop strategies for sustained research. I see it as a rich site for conversation, an opportunity to explore new mediums and to push boundaries within my practice.
At the same time I’m working with my friend and colleague Dawn Cameron to establish a new social alliance, co-created with and for womxn - culturally diverse, intergenerational, cross-sector - using creative approaches to amplify our voices and radically rethink the way we are valued and represented in society.
So I’ve got a few things in the pipeline :)
A photo of the whole Rising staff team. They are stood in front of a #WhoseFuture billboard that reads "DEMAND JOY", and they are all laughing and smiling at each other.
Have you got your power suits ready Jess and Euella? How are you going to celebrate this change?
Euella: This change coincides with my birthday month, so I’m celebrating by giving myself the gift of unconditional self-trust and permission to f*ck up. This is definitely the beginning of an exciting new chapter in Rising’s story (but yes I might have to definitely treat myself to a power suit too, for the days when self-trust isn’t enough)
Jess: I thought you’d NEVER ask!! Blue or red? But yeah, I’m going to celebrate with a break and slowing down (maybe sometimes in a suit). Pace is something that’s come up a lot recently and I guess now we have to set even more of an example! But seriously, giving myself permission to stop, switch off and not need to have all the answers immediately - even though the responsibility is real - that feels like party vibes right there.
Kamina: One of the first pieces of professional advice I was offered by a mentor was to invest in a suit. I listened, bought one at great expense and always felt self-conscious when I wore it. I’ve grown to learn that power comes from internal conversation rather than how you dress.
Anything else you'd wish we'd talked about?
Kamina: I didn’t get a chance to talk about swimming! For anyone who didn’t know already from me banging on about it, swimming outdoors - whether in a pool, a river, a lake, the sea... is my go-to, my place to meditate, rethink and recharge. It’s helped guide me through the last 5 years and hopefully will guide me through many, many more.
Jess: There’s one thing I don’t think any of us touched on which is that me and Euella very much see this as the first transition and don’t intend to replicate what you see across the sector - where people stay in positions of power for decades! We’re already actively thinking about who in our existing network could be the future young Director/Co-Director/Director Collective who we can pass the agency onto in a maximum of 5 years.