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The Care Leaders Summit: a national day with care-experienced leaders at the front

On 26 February 2026 we brought people from councils, virtual schools, charities and businesses together for a day of talks and workshops, many led by Fellows of The Care Leaders Fellowship, followed by an evening meal and live performance.

Who ran it
The Care Leaders (our own event)
When
26 February 2026
Where
The Milner
Who came
Councils, virtual schools, charities, a bank and training providers
The Care Leaders Summit: a national day with care-experienced leaders at the front

The day: agenda and speakers

26 February 2026 at The Milner, York. Choose a speaker, or open any session to see what it covered.

  1. 09:30Registration and refreshments

    Welcome packs and coffee from 9:30, with the day starting at 10:15.

  2. 10:15HostingWelcomeLuke Rodgers BEMThe Care Leaders

    The opening of the day, and what it was for: a national space led by people with lived and professional experience of care.

  3. 10:30KeynoteKeynote: Care Leaver to Care LeaderLuke Rodgers BEMThe Care Leaders

    A practical framework to support care-experienced people into leadership, taking them beyond storytelling and into strategic influence. Four steps: story, skills, strategy and succession.

  4. 11:15KeynoteKeynote: ministerial updateJosh MacAlister OBEMinister for Children and Families

    Innovation, courage, and bringing lived and professional knowledge together through co-design, with an update on his work at the Department for Education.

  5. 11:30Break
  6. 11:45Live podcastLive podcast: The Care Leaders Fellowship x The Relational Social Work PodcastHannah Bedford and Matt ClaytonHosts, The Relational Social Work Podcast

    Recorded live in the room. Fellows of The Care Leaders Fellowship talked about the projects they lead on the issues that affect care-experienced people.

  7. 12:45PerformanceLunch, then live performanceRic FloArtist

    After lunch Ric Flo performed. He also wrote the Summit’s own song, Doing Good Things.

  8. 13:30KeynoteKeynote: Stories, Theory and ActionSharzad GemmellThe Care Leaders

    A new way to engage care-experienced people in training. Story alone is not enough: paired with theory and action, lived experience is shared safely and changes practice. The session launched The Care Leaders Learning.

  9. 14:15WorkshopsWorkshops, twice throughThree workshopsRun at 14:15 and again at 15:05

    Delegates chose two of three workshops. See the workshops below.

  10. 15:50Break
  11. 16:05KeynoteClosing keynote: From Surviving to Thriving: Rewriting NarrativesJade BarnettPower2Prevail

    Care, empathy and belief as behaviours, not buzzwords. A ’whose comfort?’ reflection, and a call to action for everyone in the room.

  12. 16:50HostingSummit close and reflectionsLuke Rodgers BEM and Sharzad GemmellThe Care Leaders

    Thank you, and what to take back to work on Monday.

The workshops

Each workshop ran twice, at 14:15 and 15:05, so delegates could take part in two.

Ebor RoomWhy Care: a new way to recruit foster carersWhy Care

From the first enquiry through assessment and panel to the first 100 days of support.

Oak RoomTokenistic participation vs transformative participationBethany BradshawHouse of Participation

How participation and co-production slip into tokenism, and what it takes to make them change decisions.

Minster RoomThe quiet influence we all haveGiammarco Di GregorioSTEMeUP

How the Pygmalion effect shapes children in care, with a limiting-beliefs exercise and a positive-future visualisation.

Sponsored by Become and Madlug, with The Relational Social Work Podcast.

120ticket holders from councils, virtual schools, charities and businesses
10Fellows of The Care Leaders Fellowship in the room
3workshops, each run twice so delegates could join two
1ministerial keynote, from Josh MacAlister OBE

The starting point

The Summit is our own national event. It brings together the people we work with in councils, virtual schools and charities, alongside Fellows of The Care Leaders Fellowship, for a day of learning and an evening together. The 2026 Summit was a day conference followed by an evening meal, supported by sponsors Become and Madlug CIC.

What we heard

After the day, every delegate received a thank you, a feedback form and an invitation to register interest in the next Summit. Delegates got in touch about The Care Leaders Fellowship.

“I thought the quality of both content and production values was head and shoulders above many I’ve been to. I really liked your clear model.”
Delegate, director of a community interest company, March 2026

What we did

  1. Plan120+ tasksSpeakers, delegate packs, seating, workshop allocation and photography
  2. Programme26 February 2026Josh MacAlister OBE’s ministerial update, Fellow-led workshops and the closing keynote, From Surviving to Thriving
  3. EveningTogetherAn evening meal with a bespoke song and live performance
  4. Follow-upKeep it goingFilmed sessions, highlights, a feedback form and first notice of the next Summit

How we worked

Fellows lead

Care-experienced Fellows of The Care Leaders Fellowship ran sessions and closed the day, rather than appearing on one panel.

Policy and practice together

A ministerial update sat in the same programme as practice-led workshops.

Made to share

Sessions were filmed so the learning could travel beyond the room.

The mix was deliberate for us: our work rests on lived and professional experience leading together, and the Summit put that on one stage.

What changed

A national stage for care-experienced leaders, now every year.

The Summit is now part of our plans each year, and work on the next one began in March 2026. Delegates who came have since asked about The Care Leaders Fellowship.

See the work

Open any piece to look through it page by page.

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