#IWD2025: Creative Women - Julie Bell

International Women's Day (IWD) is an annual global event celebrating women and their achievements. 

First initiated in 1911, IWD has since grown into a global movement encouraging us to stand up for a more diverse, equitable and inclusive world, free of discrimination and stereotypes.

According to World Economic Forum at the current rate of progress, gender parity is only expected to be achieved in 2158, five generations from now.

This year's campaign theme is #AccelerateAction, emphasising the important need for us to take swift and decisive steps to speed up the rate of action, so we can achieve gender parity sooner.

As part of our #IWD2025 "Creative Women" Series, meet Julie Bell. 

Julie is Head of Cultural Services at Lancashire County Council where she has worked as an advocate in the cultural and creative sector for over 40 years.

Julie, what is your connection to Lancashire?

I am a proud Lancastrian, I have lived here all my life and worked for Lancashire County Council for all my career. 

I feel that Lancashire has got so much to offer and is a rich and diverse county in terms of its landscapes, heritage and the people that live here.  

I have had so many opportunities in my career to showcase Lancashire at a county, regional, national and international level. This has been through my professional and volunteer roles.

The county has so much to offer and it is exciting to see what will happen over the next few years. The Arts and Creative sector has so much to offer in creating the sense of place for our communities and providing so many opportunities to engage in the creative industries.

What inspires or motivates your creative practice?

The desire to ensure that everyone - whatever your background - has access to the services we provide for the people of Lancashire and beyond through Cultural Services, as part of Lancashire County Council. 

Our vision as a service is that the people of Lancashire will lead happier, healthier, and enriched lives through culture, supporting our county to be a vibrant place to live and ensuring that innovation and creativity are at the heart of everything we do.

My personal motivation mirrors the vision I feel it is my role with my colleagues to ensure we provide a breadth of cultural and creative opportunities, and I believe in collaboration and partnership working to make that happen. 

For me it starts with the youngest child engaging with language through our rhyme times and story times, who may also experience a play or musical event in our venues. It is about opening doors for people and making everything as accessible as we can. 

As a service we are there for all stages of people's lives and we see such inspiring people doing remarkable things to make a difference every day. A library or museum can be a safe space for people and from that place of safety we help people develop their skills and confidence. 

No two days are ever the same and with each one bringing a new challenge or opportunity.  I am always looking wider to see what more I am able to make happen within our venues and online. Some of the best programmes of work I have been fortunate to have been part of have been because I just said Yes!

Within our collections, Lancashire Cultural Services has some incredible real-life stories of women (and men) over the years. It has been an honour to have responsibility for conserving and sharing those stories of incredible ordinary people from Lancashire's past.

Any advice for women starting out or making their mark in the creative industries?

My advice would be to seek out any opportunity that becomes available, even if it is not quite the area you may want to specialise in. 

I started in a temporary post managing a branch library. I wanted to be a children's librarian and within 2 months I achieved that goal. I have taken every opportunity that was given me and I have never regretted the experiences I gained. 

Throughout my employment and my voluntary work, I have made connections that have made projects and events happen. It is about taking the risk sometimes and being positive. Even if what you try to do doesn’t always hit the mark, there is always something that you take away from that experience. 

I think the way you present your ideas is absolutely key and know your audience / market. Also never be afraid to ask for advice!  

Creativity can come from all parts of our lives and I have enjoyed getting involved with a number of voluntary and uniformed organisations where creativity lies in everything we do, including problem solving. I would say, never underestimate the value that volunteering and connecting with others can bring to your experience and outlook.

As someone with a vast experience of working in the cultural sector, how do you think we can accelerate action to build momentum in addressing systemic barriers and biases?

In my experience over 40 years so much has changed, and we do need to keep that momentum going. 

The world I moved into was very male dominated, but I was fortunate to have managers who allowed me to be creative and explore new challenges, as they saw the potential in me. I am not saying there were not moments when I wanted to move faster. I have learnt though that sometimes having the long head view pays off, no matter how quickly I would want to make something happen.

There are still areas where we need to keep pressing forward as it is easy to pigeonhole people and bias does still creep in. 

For me, I have felt it is my responsibility to provide opportunities for everyone in my team. I was given the opportunity because of my knowledge and skills, and that is what I have endeavoured to do for the people I have been fortunate to work with. It is about connections and networking and those of us who are in those cultural and creative arenas need to keep opening the circle wider. We need to give confidence to people to speak out about what is important for them and find ways to make ideas and interventions work for all.

It is not easy to always make it work, but if we start at the very beginning by inspiring our children and young people giving them the tools and confidence to be anyone they want to be and to prop people up when we need to, we will have a much more inclusive world in which we all benefit.

About International Women's Day

International Women's Day (8 March) is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women.

It calls for increased momentum and urgency in addressing the systemic barriers and biases that women face, both in personal and professional spheres.

So, together, let's Accelerate Action and speed up the rate of progress worldwide

Imagine a gender equal world. A world free of bias, stereotypes, and discrimination. A world that's diverse, equitable, and inclusive. A world where difference is valued and celebrated. Together we can forge women's equality and  accelerate Action for gender equality. 

InternationalWomensDay.com