Kate Wafer

Kate Wafer is a Director at Wafer Hadley, a cultural insight consultancy in the UK. She is a highly experienced consultant, researcher, evaluator and coach with nearly 30 years in the cultural sector, working with museums, galleries and heritage organisations. Her approach is people-centred and collaborative. She is most interested in bridging the gap between the sector and the understanding of visitor experience.

Prior to setting up her own business, Kate was Executive Director of Audiences Yorkshire, the audience development agency for the region, where she spent 10 years, during which time she took a sabbatical studying audience engagement practice in the US and Canada. Her first role was Community Arts and Projects Officer for Leeds City Council, overseeing funding programmes and managing events for targeted communities around the city.

Recent achievements include helping organisations meet the challenges of the pandemic, creating responsive programmes and restructuring their businesses. Working closely with Art Fund, she has led UK-wide research on the impact of Covid on the sector. She is also an author of the soon-to-be published ‘Going Places’ report for Art Fund, exploring the current and evolving landscape for touring exhibitions in the UK.

Kate is a member of the Market Research Society and the Association for Qualitative Research and a qualified coach and mentor.