Action Learning Associates

Katie Venner

With an extensive background in community arts development, Katie has held senior posts in voluntary and public sector organisations as well as providing organisation development consultancy with local authorities, public sector bodies and creative businesses.

A creative and original thinker, Katie has contributed to the start-up of many successful and sustainable initiatives in the cultural sector. For the past five years she has been working as a coach, action learning facilitator and change agent.

Action Learning facilitation and training

Katie facilitates cross-sector action learning sets for directors and senior managers in a large number of organisations from leading charities and arts or cultural agencies to local authorities.

Katie has recently facilitated action learning programmes as part of a wider learning programme for Audiences London and is currently running sets and providing action learning facilitator training, for Creative Partnerships. Katie also delivers experiential workshops introducing action learning at conferences and seminars, most recently for the for the nalgao and CreativePeople national conferences.

Katie's group facilitation includes planning, visioning, reflection, team building and problem-solving with voluntary sector boards, senior management and project teams in the public and private sectors.

Current and recent customers

For Arts Council England’s Organisational Development Unit Katie is researching and writing a case history of organisational learning with Nottingham Playhouse. Organisational development clients include Artspace a community arts organisation in the Forest of Dean and Holton Lee, an environmental and disability arts centre in Poole.

Since 2003 she have been a Creative Change Associate with Creative Partnerships in the South West, (now RiO a Community Interest Company) an initiative developing models of partnership working between young people, schools and the creative sector.

"Katie was amazing. I found her approach comforting and yet challenging. She was an inspirational facilitator and has made me want to learn more about action learning and facilitating."
Lindsey Gregory, Operations Manager, Creative Partnerships

Qualifications

• Katie is currently completing an action research project on action learning and inter-organisation collaboration in the arts, for her Masters in Change at the University of Surrey
• FACET5 accredited
• BA Hons University of East Anglia, History of Art & Film Studies
• Reiki – level 2