Jane Walton
Jane is the director of Creative Minds a micro-enterprise which aims to
promote and develop an enterprise culture amongst young people and to
support those who work in and for the cultural and voluntary sectors. She
currently works for clients including YES – Youth Enterprise Services and
Girls Out Loud, Yorkshire Mentoring Forum as a non-executive director and
consultant, Selby AVS providing trustee development and business support
and provides business mentoring for young people for the Princes Trust and
Mid Yorkshire Chamber.
Jane was formerly Head of Enterprise UK for the Yorkshire and Humber
region. The campaign aimed to give people in the UK the confidence, skills
and ambition to be enterprising - to have ideas and make them happen and
ran the Make Your Mark campaign, the Enterprising Britain competition and
Global Entrepreneurship Week. Prior to this role Jane ran the Make Your
Mark campaign in the Wakefield district.
Jane’s background is in the public sector. She is a chartered librarian having
started her career in Further Education at Bretton College before moving to
Wakefield Council to establish a members’ research and information service.
Jane then moved to the Yorkshire Museums Council where she developed a
training and information service for the heritage sector which included
establishing vocational qualifications for the sector and developing a national
mentoring scheme. In 2002 the museums council became the Museums,
Libraries and Archives Council and Jane became Head of Regional
Development. During this time Jane qualified as a trainer and member of the
Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development eventually becoming a
Fellow and vice-chair of the West Yorkshire committee. Jane’s key
achievement for MLA Yorkshire was bidding for and managing a £4.2 million
Yorkshire Forward funded initiative to develop the impact of museums science
and technology teaching in the region.
Jane is a previous chair of Adult Learners in the region, has represented the
cultural sector on the Regional Education and Skills Commission and was
recognised for her achievements by the Queen in 1998.
In her spare time Jane is a primary school and college governor, a Fellow of
the RSA serving on the regional committee and a trustee of the Thackray
Museum.