Programme Design | Creative Direction | Delivery Management
WE, THE LEADERS was the official legacy programme for WOMEX 24 – the Worldwide Music Expo – hosted in Manchester in October 2024. Produced by Brighter Sound in partnership with Manchester Music City, the programme was designed to support and champion new and emerging trailblazers in the music industry, both across Greater Manchester and the wider UK and Ireland. With its overarching theme of ‘New Voices, New Work, Next Steps’, WE, THE LEADERS animated the city during WOMEX 24 and was built to leave a long-lasting impact well beyond the event itself – benefiting thousands of emerging music creators and professionals, with a particular focus on those currently underrepresented within the industry.
The programme spanned three phases: a pre-WOMEX programme, activity in and around the event itself across 23–27 October 2024, and a post-WOMEX programme running through into 2025. Activity included opening show plus other showcases, international leadership programme, commissions, industry roundtables, TED-style leadership lectures, a supplementary schools programme for Manchester’s young diaspora communities, and a youth-led music conference for 16–30s. Made possible with investment from Arts Council England, Greater Manchester Combined Authority and British Council, the programme reached thousands of participants across the city region.
Yaw was engaged as the key creative and strategic lead on the programme – heading up the design, direction and artistic delivery – bringing his expertise in talent development, engagement, partnerships and music industry programming to one of the most significant global music events to land in the UK in 2025.