New Deal of the Mind

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New Deal of the Mind was established in 2009. During 2013 it closed down its website and became a dormant, non-trading, company.[1]

NDotM developed from an article[2] written in the New Statesman in January 2009 by Martin Bright, the magazine’s former political editor. In this piece, Martin suggested that cultural elements of the Works Progress Administration (WPA), part of US President Franklin D Roosevelt’s post-Great Depression New Deal, be adapted for the UK today. Martin listed the achievements of the WPA: 3,500 branch libraries created, 4,400 musical performances every month by the Federal Music Project, a collection of oral histories collated which featured the narratives of the last living slaves. He also cited some of WPA’s beneficiaries: Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko and Willem de Kooning and writers such as Saul Bellow, John Cheever and Ralph Ellison.

In an effort to devise plans for job creation in the creative sector, NDotM borrows and adapts elements from Roosevelt’s original New Deal. NDotM are pushing for government policy that encourages self-employment and freelance opportunities -- the lifeblood of the creative industries -- such as the reintroduction of something similar to the Enterprise Allowance Scheme. Under Margaret Thatcher’s government, long term unemployed people were offered £40 a week and free business advice while they set up a business. The EAS famously helped figures including Creation Records founder Alan McGee, Superdry’s creator Julian Dunkerton and artists Tracey Emin and Jane and Louise Wilson.

New Deal of the Mind has successfully lobbied for the return of the Enterprise Allowance Scheme, and borrows and adapts from both the EAS and WPA to push for government policy that encourages self-employment and freelance opportunities – the lifeblood of the creative industries. We’re working with the Government to help put unemployed people into creative placements in arts and culture and we’re finding spaces across the UK which will become "incubator centres" providing space, support and advice for people setting up on their own.

NDotM are also working to create Future Jobs Fund Hubs and NDotM Pop-Up Centres across the UK. The Hubs offer paid employment opportunities in arts and heritage institutions. The NDotM Pop-Up Centres will be entrepreneurship incubators for creative people, providing space as well as career and business advice.

Launch

New Deal of the Mind was launched at Number 11 Downing Street. The event, hosted by Chancellor Alistair Darling and Maggie Darling, attracted an array of cultural leaders, artists, designers, journalists, ministers and politicians. It was described by Lord Puttnam as a "remarkable moment in history".

Martin Bright said he was delighted by the support from entrepreneurs, people in the arts and politicians from all parties. "I think this just shows that in extraordinary times, we need to do extraordinary things. We couldn’t do that without the support of such people, all of whom care about and understand the immense part that arts and culture play in our economic, financial and social well being."

Speakers included

Areas of Activity

Research and Advocacy

If Government policy hopes to address the needs of the creative sector and create jobs, it must consider the needs of the self-employed. It is estimated that 41% of people working in the creative sector are self-employed and Arts Council research shows that more than 70% of those working in its regularly funded organisations (RFOs) are employed on a freelance basis.

NDotM is pushing for government policy that encourages entrepreneurship in the creative industries such as the reintroduction of the Enterprise Allowance Scheme.

Additionally, NDotM is lobbying policy makers and arts institutions nationally and locally to raise awareness of the significant role creativity can play in economic recovery.

Pop-Up Centres

NDotM proposes re-opening some of the UK’s thousands of abandoned commercial properties as cultural and artistic spaces. NDotM Pop-Up Centres that will contain studio, rehearsal and gallery spaces for young artists and musicians and drop-in centres for designers. Uniquely, they will also provide employment and business advice for innovators and creative people in partnership with Jobcentre Plus and University Career Services

Future Jobs Fund Hubs

NDotM Future Jobs Fund Hubs create internships, apprenticeships and jobs targeted at creative graduates and long-term unemployed young people (18–24 years) in larger arts and heritage institutions that act as "hubs." These placements are paid for by the recently created Future Jobs Fund, a fund of around £1 billion to support the creation of jobs for long term unemployed young people and others who face significant disadvantage in the labour market.

FJF placements seek to tackle the issues of youth unemployment in the arts head-on, and, as a corollary help with the cultural and racial diversity that can only enrichen this country’s heritage.

People

The range of expertise and experience of NDotM's board of trustees, advisers and patrons ensures that NDotM is steered by specialists and experts who have strong track records of success in the arts, business, Government and cultural sectors.

Team

  • Martin Bright - CEO. Martin is the award-winning former Political Editor of the New Statesman. His idea for a New Deal of the Mind organisation has captured the imagination of the cultural world since its inception earlier this year and attracted the support of politicians from across the political spectrum. Martin is Founder and Chief Executive of NDotM. Since March he has been working closely with ministers, officials and arts organisations to deliver jobs in the creative industries.
  • Karen Freyer - Managing Director. Karen has experience in marketing and media, having worked both on the creative and business sides of media. Originally she was a producer and reporter. Karen worked at CBS News – 60 Minutes, Newsnight and CNN & Time. Karen then made the switch over to the corporate world. She went to Harvard Business School, got her MBA and worked at WPP where she was chosen to join their management programme. Karen is Managing Director for NDotM. She ensures that the organisation delivers on its mission by developing NDotM’s strategic direction and managing its delivery, together with the trustees, staff and all other stakeholders. Karen is also an RSA Fellow.
  • Marcus Mason - Programme Manager. Marcus completed an MA in International Studies and Diplomacy at SOAS in the summer of 2009 and holds a BA in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from Oxford University. He is interested in progressive politics, green politics and social enterprise and its role in tackling social issues. During his masters, Marcus became drawn to the role that social enterprises can play in the economic progress of developed and developing countries. While completing his dissertation on Kosovan Statehood, Marcus worked for the Learning Launchpad at the Young Foundation – a fund that invests in social enterprises that focus on positive outcomes in the field of practical learning for young people in Britain. Marcus is the Programme Manager for NDotM. He works with cultural institutions to create employment opportunities and is developing NDotM Creative Incubation Centres, locating disused space and identifying partners.
  • Mwila Mulenshi - Programme Assistant. Zambia born Mwila is a psychology graduate who works for NDotM on the ground-breaking job creation projects in the arts and creative sector. Mwila’s personal experience has proved invaluable in helping design and produce training programmes with GOALS for young people in the creative sector. Mwila is flexible and multi-skilled, runs the NDotM office at London’s Somerset House with good humour and efficiency. Her charming manner belies the steel grip she has over the Chief Executive’s diary. Mwila also plays a key role in events which range from Ministerial visits to organising recruitment programmes, Board meetings and filming interviews with Future Jobs Fund recruits.
  • Jonny Mundey - Cultural Development Officer. Jonny read History at the University of Manchester, going on to complete a Masters in the Cultural History of War there in 2009. A budding documentary filmmaker, as part of his MA he travelled to Kenya to make a documentary on the 2008 post-election violence in the rift-valley region. During his studies he became interested in the role that the writing of history plays in actively shaping the present, and in innovative ways of writing and experiencing history. After moving to London, Jonny worked as the Digital Media Researcher at Counterpoint, the think tank of the British Council, for the majority of 2010. Jonny is Cultural Development Officer for New Deal of the Mind. He is responsible for the Digital Domesday Project, a New Deal of the Mind initiative to create access to the UK’s cultural archives. He works to set up creative digital projects with arts, archive and heritage organisations across the UK.

Board of Trustees

  • Pippa Harris, one of the founders of Neal Street Productions, along with Sam Mendes and Caro Newling.

Advisory Board

  • Graham Sheffield, Artistic Director, Barbican
  • Paul Collard, Chief Executive, Creativity, Culture and Education England

Patrons

  • David Lammy MP, Minister of State for Higher Education and Intellectual Property

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links


Media coverage

Other links

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