Sophie Bramley

Profile

I am the Head of Leeds Institute for Societal Futures, where I lead the strategic and operational development of the Institute. My role spans strategy, governance, organisational development, partnership building, and people leadership, with much of my work focused on developing the structures, services, relationships, and ways of working needed to enable people from different disciplines, sectors, and backgrounds to collaborate effectively. A significant part of the role also involves finding ways to create space for innovation within systems and structures that are not always designed for it, balancing institutional requirements with the flexibility, creativity, and experimentation needed to support genuinely transdisciplinary and collaborative work.

Alongside this, I also have a professional background in coaching, facilitation, personal and professional development, and leadership. Leeds Institute for Societal Futures’ core purpose is to promote, enable and enhance co-produced research activity with meaningful societal impact, shaping a more equitable approach to how we undertake research, develop partnerships, design learning opportunities, and generate impact. We champion, teach, and facilitate approaches that bring academic expertise into meaningful dialogue with lived experience, professional practice, policy perspectives, and community knowledge. The skills required to support these conversations, navigate difference, build trust, and help diverse groups work together productively reflect those I bring to the role from my wider professional background and are therefore fundamental to both my role and the wider work of the Institute. Much of what I do involves creating the conditions for these collaborations to flourish, ensuring that different forms of knowledge can contribute to understanding and addressing complex societal challenges. I also have particular expertise in mental health, disability, and neurodivergence, and deliver coaching and training across the University in these areas.

Academically, my postgraduate research explored the social, psychological, political, and philosophical dimensions of individual and collective intimacy-based trauma, with a particular focus on how French women's art and literature respond to and represent these experiences. At its heart, that work was concerned with how people make sense of difficult experiences and complex social realities. That interest continues to inform my work.