After ten game-changing years in the theatre industry, Artistic Directors of the Future (ADF), will be closing in autumn 2023.  ADF was founded in 2014 by the visionary Simeilia Hodge-Dallaway.   

ADF’s mission is to demystify the role of artistic director and senior executive, thereby increasing leadership representation and progressing the careers of theatre practitioners who are Black, Asian or ethnically diverse (Global Majority).

ADF wishes to celebrate the impact it has made on the theatre industry by offering bursaries between £1,000 and £5,000 to support Global Majority theatre practitioners to support their leadership development.  The bursary must be spent in the UK only and could be used for:

• Researching new models of leadership and ways of working in the arts
• Starting a round table
• Creating sustainable leadership resources (e.g. podcast, website)
• Creating and running a leadership training workshop or short programme
• Working with a mentor to support your leadership development (the bursary will cover mentor fees and travel for mentor and mentee)
• Cover living costs whilst interning with a performing arts company or theatre for on-the-job leadership development (applicant will need to include a letter from the organisation or theatre to confirm when the internship will take place)
• Attending a leadership course

If you have another idea for how you would like to use the bursary to develop leadership skills for yourself or other Global Majority theatre practitioners, please tell us in your personal statement.

Who can apply for a bursary

You can apply for a bursary if you:

• are a global majority arts practitioner currently working in the UK

• are eligible to work in the UK
• are 18 years old or above
• have a UK bank account

How to apply

Please forward the following to admin@adofthefuture.com:

• your CV (including your address and a contact number)  
• a personal statement of no more than 500-words outlining what you want the bursary for and how you would use it

Schedule

Applications for bursary open: Monday, 23 October 2023

Applications close: Friday, 3 November 2023

Beneficiaries notified: w/c 6 November 2023

Press release announcing bursary awards: w/c 6 November 2023

Recipients listed in the final Annual Report and Accounts