Ruth Lee Consultancy
Supporting artists, creative individuals and organisations to achieve their goals.
Business Planning & Strategy Development
Income Generation Development
Fundraising
Executive Director Coaching
Artist Mentoring
Executive Director Advice
NPO management advice
Bid writing for Trusts & Foundations
Bid writing Arts Council England Project Grants and NPO
Arts Council England DYCP
Arts Council England Access Support
About me
Hi I am Ruth. I am a highly skilled Arts consultant, coach and mentor with over 30 years experience working in a diverse range of arts and cultural settings, including educational, not-for-profit and commercial. I have a successful track record of running a National Portfolio Organisation and supporting emerging and existing NPO’s. An experienced fundraiser at local, regional, and national level and a funding commissioner, I have experience in developing and delivering both strategic and tactical business plans for financial management and income generation, business innovation and sustainability. Working with organisations, I have a proven track record of improving business performance through change management, team, and people development. I enjoy working with teams and really enjoy working 1-2-1 with small organisations and individuals. I am a highly valued mentor to experienced and emerging artists and have successfully supported many individuals to grow and develop their creative businesses through mentoring, business development planning and fundraising.
I have time served experience working with new and established boards at all levels including as Chair and Vice Chair of Leicester Dance Theatre, trustee of The Foundation for Community Dance and Spark Arts for Children.
I am currently part-time Executive Director of Bamboozle Theatre.
Clients
Previous and current clients include:
Art Reach - Nupur Arts - Maison Foo
Hubbub Theatre - Round in Circles
London Borough of Camden
Inspirate - We Are Epic - Platform31
People Dancing - Bamboozle
Fishclaw Band - AWA - Junction Arts
Dance Leaders Group (Midlands)
Mr Cleavers Monsters - Matthew J Fowler - The Mercury Creatives - Pedestrian Arts
Programme Mentor:
AWA Dance Mentoring Programme 2023
Platform31
Lean On programme 2023The Mercury Theatre
Mercury Creatives
2020-2025Curve Theatre Leadership Programme 2017-2018Performing Arts Leicester
Leadership Programme2013-2015National Association of Local Government Arts Officers 2006
Mentees:
Beth Storie-Choreographer
Hayley Lemon -Dance Artist
Seetal Kaur- Dancer/Producer
Jo Rhodes-Dance Artist
Emily Jackson-Artistic Director
Sarah Bell-Dance Artist
Hayley Arthur-Producer
Laura Dredger-Move Director
Anna Symes-Artistic Director
Nancy Kettle-Movement Director
Dimple Patel-Creative Producer
Chandni Mistry-Writer/Director
Steph Coley-Visual Artist
Indre Rimselyte-Visual Artist
Nikki Muchemwa-Dance Artist
Laura Wilkinson-Film Producer
Anna Quiney-Dance Artist
Shreya Vadnerker-Director
Alex Henwood- Director
Miriam Keye- Dance Artist
Jasmine Mann - Dance Artist
Megan Sharman - Producer
Danny Aldred - Operations Director
Debbie Longley-Brown - Producer
Testimonials
”During our series of sessions Ruth supported my personal development as a Director, and encouraged discussion in business planning for my social enterprise organisation Moving Together. She was able to assist and guide me through a stage in the company where we were starting to embed ourselves within the industry, giving confidence in my management of the organisation, staff, and decision making. Her support allowed me to reach a number of personal and professional goals, and realise mine and Moving Together's potential for future growth. “
Emily Jackson: Director-Moving Together
"Ruth's work with Round in Circles was impactful and game changing, her support was not only powerfully compassionate but also practical, and helped solve issues that have re-enforced the foundations of the company. This meant that we have been able to weather the most challenging of times throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, we're still here, and even prouder of the work we have managed to produce in adverse times. Ruth's knowledge has been of huge benefit to the company and really empowering."
Anna Symes
Artistic Director-Round in Circles
“I was deeply struck by how much you were cleverly conveying around the emotions & psychology of running a business, as well as the number crunching, and how very appealing and accessible that made the session to a group of creatives.”
Louise Katerega
Head of Professional Development
People Dancing“Friendly and human with a razor sharp instinct, wide perspective and absolutely no bollox!"
Miriam Keye
Dance Artist“My mentoring sessions with Ruth have been brilliant, she is an inspiring professional who positively challenges you to step up and own your space. Being able to talk through a variety of topics with someone who completely understands the nuances of the sector and what you’re trying to express has given me a newfound confidence. The experience reinforced the importance of taking time to invest in yourself and the benefits of having an effective external sounding board – a gamechanger!”
Alex Henwood
Director, Anjali Dance Company"We worked closely with Ruth around developing Inspirate's organisational development strategy as a newly established National Portfolio Organisation. This consisted of everything from reviewing our current staffing structure, our Investment Principles strategy, business development aims and ensuring we had a robust plan to fulfil our business objectives. Ruth's incredible knowledge of the cultural sector, her ability to work across such a broad range of arts organisations and her experience of leading several businesses makes her a fantastic and reliable consultant. Ruth was not only someone who we brought on for external support but it felt like she was part of our core team, which made it possible to collaborate in a productive and spirited manner. "
Jiten Anand, Director - Inspirate
Services
Business Planning
Income Generation Planning
Arts Council England Access Support
Fundraising
Coaching
Mentoring
Risk Management Planning
Executive Director support & advice
Critical friend
Board Development
Professional Development planning
Recruitment
