Advocating for neurodiversity, visibility and collaboration

MA Arts Administration & Cultural Policy student Kat covers several bases when it comes to increasing visibility. She has co-founded an educational platform to help remove the barriers that neurodiverse people face when progressing in the creative sector, and also passionately believes in the key role cultural centres have to play in influencing climate justice at a state level.

Tackling the barriers faced by neurodiverse people

Kat co-founded Leo, a dyslexia-friendly eReader designed to address some of the barriers neurodiverse people face when studying and progressing in the creative sector. “Leo is a free platform that turns creative books into alternative formats that are fully manipulative to the user’s needs,” she explains. “To make it more exciting than the robotic voice that assistive software often uses, the books are read by key people within the creative industries.”

The idea for Leo came about when Kat and her co-founders identified how little reading list support there was for students on creative courses. The material that students were expected to consume was often overwhelming for people with dyslexia. “I conducted research with nearly 400 people with dyslexia who had attended (or were attending) university, which showed the extent of the issue: 1 in 3 people said that the reading list had almost put them off going to university, 3 out of 4 thought that universities’ reliance on reading lists put people with dyslexia at a disadvantage, and approximately 2 out of 3 said that universities don’t do enough to help students with dyslexia with their reading lists.”

Not only is the idea behind Leo all about improving access, but the platform has also been created in such a way that there are no financial barriers for users. “We wanted to make Leo completely free and accessible, as it can be such a lengthy and costly process to get a diagnosis and funding for software through universities.” The platform is currently focused on books within the communications sector, but as it grows the team hopes to broaden the scope. “The reception so far has been great, with many prominent authors getting on board and a new, exclusive collaboration with Campaign magazine.”

Helping more people get their foot in the door

As someone who has experienced the regular “hustle” of the creative sector, Kat has seen first-hand that there’s a lot of work to be done where increasing diversity is concerned. “Despite advances, it’s still too often a place of privilege. Trying to get your foot in the door when you don’t have the connections or the financial situation to undertake an unpaid internship for ‘exposure’ should not be the reason for your success or advancement in the arts.”

A culture of freelancing and contract work frequently leads to burnout among creatives, and the lack of regularity and support means that it’s a particularly difficult sector to work in for people with long-term health conditions and disabilities. “I think there needs to be more of a conversation around supporting freelancers in this industry, especially those starting out. As someone who is neurodiverse and suffers from endometriosis, this is something I’m a strong advocate for and hope to connect with more people about.”

Seizing opportunities and getting inspired on the MA

Kat’s experience motivated her to study a Masters at Goldsmiths. “Undertaking an MA was a decision I made due to the lack of opportunities I felt I could access as an emerging creative,” she explains. “The MA was incredible for me, not only because of the course itself but because of everything surrounding it that Goldsmiths provides. I was determined to seize all the opportunities that came by that could help me widen my network and broaden my skills.”

This combination of connections and skills is something that Kat’s home department, the Institute for Creative and Cultural Entrepreneurship (ICCE), is known for. “It’s such a great place to be, and the entrepreneurial skills I have gained are invaluable. The MA has given me the inspiration to set up a creative agency after graduating, with a focus on sustainability and supporting emerging artists.”

Galvanising climate action via the creative industries

Another “huge passion” of Kat’s is environmental sustainability, and the MA has enabled her to connect this interest with her experience in the creative and cultural sectors. “These areas have a huge role to play in addressing climate change. Cultural centres are uniquely placed to connect people on a deeper level to social and environmental issues in creative and innovative ways. They already have the platform to achieve this and are key to making the genuine change we can’t find on a state level.”

Kat believes that getting audiences invested in environmental issues from the bottom-up can be a powerful means of influencing change nationally. She is looking at this in deeper detail for her dissertation, which will also explore the rise of grassroots climate creatives in London – and how they can most effectively work with cultural centres to create positive change. Kat has also recently published a report for the Culture and Commerce Taskforce on ‘Creatives for London’, which analyses the value of employing creatives in teams working on built environment projects.

Find out more about the MA Arts Administration & Cultural Policy.