| About Us |
 WE ARE ALL SOCIAL LEADERSVisionA society enriched by a social sector led with skill, efficiency, and ethical values. MissionProviding social leaders with appropriate, affordable, and quality leadership development. Who we work with Calling all social leaders!If you are working for a social purpose, you are a social leader! Leadership is not restricted to those with a manager title, it’s for formal and informal leaders alike. The truth about leadership is that we're all doing it, but we're not all doing it to our full potential. Find out moreWhat we do Develop leaders with a social purposeWe develop leaders with a social purpose so that they can transform their communities, organisations and the world around them. We help make social change happen by supporting and investing in people and enabling them to become leaders with the resilience, self-awareness and capabilities to tackle the social challenges of the 21st century. Find out moreWhat we offer Skills, development & networksWe engage world class practitioners to deliver high quality programmes, courses, events and research, empowering individuals to deliver real social change and transform the sector through positive and successful leadership and networks. Find out moreOur historyLeadership is constantly evolving and so are we! Here’s a look back at the history of our organisation and the steps that we’ve taken to build a stronger sector led by skilled, empowered, and generous social leaders. 
InceptionWhat kind of provision for leadership development is there in the social sector?
This was the question asked by the Clore Duffield Foundation in 2007. They commissioned a piece of research asking what training opportunities there were for aspiring leaders in large and small charities, social enterprises,
social housing and community groups.
The answer? Very little. They found limited evidence of leadership development programmes and, where investment in leadership did exist, it focused on those already in very senior positions.
The Clore Duffield Foundation has always been committed to developing leaders as agents for change. In 2004 they created our sister programme The Clore Leadership Programme for aspiring leaders in the cultural sector. Based
on the success and impact of this, and the Foundation's commitment to the social sector and social change, they decided to take action.
FoundingIn October 2008, Clore Social Leadership was founded as an independent initiative, and later became a registered charity. It was a challenging economic climate for any new organisation, and particularly for a social sector
organisation. However, this context made the need for strong, courageous leadership was never more critical.
Our Founding Director Dame Mary Marsh was recruited to turn the idea into reality, with the aim of offering personalised learning and development for individuals from across the social sector. Consulting with a range of people
from across the social sector, and based on her own leadership experiences including Chief Executive of NSPCC and headteacher of two big comprehensive schools, we created our framework for social leadership.
First Fellowship CohortThe first cohort of Clore Social Fellows began their Fellowship journeys. Since then, over 1,000 Social Leaders have participated in Clore Social Leadership programmes. 
Shaks Ghosh CBEShaks Ghosh CBE joined Clore Social Leadership as Chief Executive in 2015 to build on our success and to forge new ways to build the leadership capability of tomorrow's world changers. 
Democratising LeadershipSince 2017, we have made a shift towards providing more accessible guided programmes with larger cohorts to touch as many social leaders as possible. Our expanded programmes include the Emerging and Experienced Leader programmes. Place-BasedIn 2018, we trialed our first place-based programme, with HEY100. The initiative provided free leadership and management training to the voluntary, cultural and community enterprise sectors in Hull and East Yorkshire. It marked another shift for the organisation, this time towards collaborative, place-based programmes.
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29/09/2025 » 21/11/2025
Management Fundamentals September 2025
10/11/2025 » 05/12/2025
Discover Programme November 2025
