Hannah Fromageau and Prof Elizabeth Gammie ask how often do financial decisions affect your work, even when finance isn’t your area of expertise? 

Financial pressures are now a defining feature of higher education, influencing decisions about priorities, resources, investment and sustainability. Yet for many leaders, engaging with financial information can feel outside their expertise. The good news is that effective leadership does not require you to become a finance specialist. But it does require the confidence to understand the wider financial context, ask informed questions and contribute meaningfully to decision-making. 

Financial literacy as part of everyday leadership 

Our Leading with Financial Literacy workshop, part of a series of Leadership Skills Workshops, has been designed with this challenge in mind. Rather than focusing on technical accounting knowledge, the workshop helps participants develop a practical understanding of the financial concepts, language and information that leaders encounter every day. Through discussion and higher education-focused scenarios, participants will explore how financial insight supports better leadership decisions while remaining aligned with institutional mission and values. 

Expertise grounded in higher education 

The workshop is led by Professor Elizabeth Gammie, Emeritus Professor at Robert Gordon University and an expert in higher education finance and leadership, alongside Hannah Fromageau, Senior Consultant in Leadership and Management at Advance HE. Together, they combine financial expertise with leadership development experience to help participants build confidence in applying financial insight to leadership practice. 

The programme has been developed and is delivered in partnership with BUFDG (British Universities Finance Directors Group), ensuring participants benefit from both leadership and financial expertise grounded in the realities facing higher education today. 

Building confidence for better decisions 

Whether you’re leading a team, managing a budget, contributing to strategic discussions or preparing for broader leadership responsibilities, this workshop will help you feel more confident engaging in financial conversations, interpreting key information and understanding the implications of financial decisions. 

Because in today’s higher education landscape, leaders do not need to be financial experts, but they do need to be financially informed. 

Hannah Fromageau is a Senior Consultant in Leadership and Management at Advance HE. Drawing on extensive experience designing and facilitating leadership development programmes, she supports higher education professionals to expand their impact, strengthen their practice and navigate the opportunities and challenges of leadership.  

Professor Elizabeth Gammie is Emeritus Professor at Robert Gordon University, a chartered accountant and former Dean of Aberdeen Business School.