About
Barbara Bassa is Senior Consultant for Women’s Leadership, Programme Director and Executive Coach at Advance HE. She leads a portfolio of national and international leadership programmes, including Aurora, Senior Women’s Leadership Development (UK and Ireland), She Leads (International Women’s Leadership Development), Dowira (Women’s Leadership Development for the Ukrainian Higher Education Sector), and programmes focusing on academic transformation and organisational resilience.
Barbara works with leaders, institutions and sector partners to support leadership development that responds to the increasing complexity of higher education. Her work creates space for leaders to deepen self-awareness, strengthen their influence and develop the capacity to lead adaptive change with confidence, curiosity and compassion.
Prior to joining Advance HE, Barbara built an international career in business consultancy, leading projects across Europe within the IT sector before moving to the UK in 2007. She has since worked across higher education in a range of leadership and organisational development roles, including positions at Sheffield Hallam University and the University of Sheffield, before becoming an independent consultant supporting universities across the UK and Europe.
Throughout her career, Barbara has led institution-wide change and leadership development initiatives spanning student experience, widening participation, organisational development, workforce transformation and executive leadership. She has designed and facilitated leadership programmes for senior leaders and executive teams, supporting individuals and institutions to navigate change while building more collaborative and inclusive cultures.
Barbara has a particular passion for women’s leadership. She sees it not simply as supporting women’s progression, but as an opportunity to broaden our understanding of leadership itself. Her work invites leaders to integrate strategic thinking with emotional intelligence, relational leadership and systems awareness, enabling them to respond more effectively to complexity and uncertainty.
Influenced by the work of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Presencing Institute and contemporary thinking on adaptive leadership, Barbara encourages leaders to cultivate the awareness, presence and courage needed to shape the future as it emerges, rather than relying solely on solutions from the past.
At the heart of her work is a belief that meaningful organisational change begins with individual awareness. By creating spaces for reflection, honest inquiry and dialogue, she supports leaders to recognise their unique strengths, lead with greater authenticity and create environments in which others can flourish.
Barbara contributes to national and international conversations on women’s leadership, including through networks connected with the United Nations.
She is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, an accredited Fierce Conversations and 360 Feedback facilitator, and holds a Master’s degree in Business from the University of Gdańsk (Poland), an MSc in Organisational Development (Coaching and Mentoring) from Sheffield Business School, and postgraduate qualifications in Social Communication and Human Resource Management.
