Thursday 15 July saw 60 NELFT staff and EMN (Ethnic Minority Network) members graduate from their six month leadership development programme.

Two cohorts of 20 Band 3&4 staff and 20 Band 5&6 staff completed the LEAP (Leaders Empowered to Achieve their Potential) Programme and 20 Band 7&8 staff completed the Finding your Mojo Programme.

The programme involved a number of taught sessions covering transferable skills including: change management, cultural intelligence, effective leadership, job applications and interviews, raising your profile. Participants also completed a Quality Improvement (QI) project within their teams. These projects have already started making a difference in teams\services, and opportunities will be provided for staff to share their projects with the Trust.

The participants spoke of the transformative effects of the programme on their confidence and self-belief. This is borne out by data - 11 (18%) of the 60 participants have already achieved promotion before the programme finished!

The EMN Leadership would like to thank our facilitators Sneha Khilay, Bola Oginni and Dr Joan Myers OBE as well as all of the colleagues who supported the programme by presenting guest slots and mentoring participants.

We will be running these programmes again in 2022. To register your interest email ethnicminoritynetwork@nelft.nhs.uk.