INTERVIEW
Inspiring the workers of the future
As Director of Programmes at Learn by Design, Louise Curd is at the forefront of the ongoing conversation relating to the critical skills agenda. She spoke with Business Network Editor Nathan Fearn on what’s working well, and what still needs to be done.
Having worked within education for over 26 years, 15 of which have been spent in leadership and management roles, Louise Curd has a strong appreciation as to the link between academia and business – and how important it is that the workforce of tomorrow are well equipped to make the move into employment. While skills – specifically early years intervention –
continues to gain traction at all levels, it’s an area Louise has always been passionate about. “Very early on I was inspired by my teachers and education
was something that really touched me,” she explains. “My interest in the link between academia and business
has evolved throughout my career. My background is in the Arts but I have ended up working in the STEM industries. These two areas are actually not that far apart, because Design is prominent in both disciplines. “I’m Derby born and bred and really passionate about
the city, so the whole inspirational agenda in Derby is really close to my heart – making sure the next generation are thriving and have a firm understanding of what opportunities are out there on their doorstep.” It was at Derby College that Louise began to have more
and more interaction with the business community and with it came an entrenched understanding of the synergy between education and business. “I had a fantastic career at Derby College which opened my
eyes to a multitude of different opportunities and helped me find out about my own skills – they always say you’re educated every day of your life and it absolutely was like that. “As my portfolio of areas grew I found myself working
increasingly with business people, using them as inspirational role models as well as collaborating with them on projects and bringing the ideas of career opportunities to life. “I was really lucky in that I got exposed to so many
different projects and built up a real confidence around working with industry partners. For example the work I did as Project Director for Derby Manufacturing UTC where I started to link heavily with businesses because that's where the ideas of the UTC were born from - the idea of businesses and education collaborating for future skills.” After more than 15 years at Derby College, the majority
spent as Director of Curriculum and later Director of Enterprise and Innovation, Louise sought a new challenge – however her passion for education would ensure her next opportunity would play to her strengths and experiences within the education sector. “I had met Learn by Design through the work I was
doing in the skills agenda, such as bringing the Big Bang STEM Fair into the college and collaborating on workshops; as such we started to have regular dialogue on a professional level,” says Louise.
50 business network April 2019
STEM skills are an important area of focus for Learn by Design
“When I decided to leave the college we met and
discussed what they needed and what I was looking for and the two expectations married up really well. Learn by Design has a real focus on inspiring students - that appealed to me because it’s what really makes me tick; I could see myself having a real impact on young people.” Louise made the move to Learn by Design as Director of
Programmes in September 2015 and the scope and possibilities of the role soon opened up. “I wanted to make things happen earlier for young people
in Derby and that’s really where my excitement and interest came from. I could see Learn by Design was working in Derby, which was significant, but I hadn’t quite realised how broad-reaching its geography was,” she explains. “We work in every corner of the UK and that has been
really exciting – to be able to take what I have done in the city and develop it nationally and having a dual-focus for both national reach as well as my passion for Derby.” So what exactly does Learn by Design do and what does
it measure itself against? “Our mission statement is: ‘To help young people achieve
and sustain better lives’ and all of our varied work links to the Gatsby benchmarks - a framework of eight guidelines that define the best careers provision in schools and colleges. “We provide a whole range of services to inspire young
people within four key areas, the biggest of which is STEM, this is a hugely important area of work. Alongside this we provide enterprise and employability workshops and there’s
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