Dean's Lecture Series: Rose Marley, CEO of Co-operatives UK

With innovation and technology transforming the way we live and work, the co-operative movement and co-operative businesses must be ready to lead and adapt to help create a more sustainable and fairer economy.

This guest lecture will explore how co-operative businesses and business models can harness change for the common good, creating opportunities for our communities.

About our speaker

Rose Marley joined Co-operatives UK as CEO in 2021. Here, she spearheaded the creation of a new strategy to grow the co-operative economy, with a focus on engaging younger generations and building a tech and digital infrastructure capable of co-op innovation in the 21st century.

Rose is also Chair of the International Co-operative Working Group (ICWG) and a Board member of International Co-operative Alliance. The cooperative movement in the UK has a strong history of international philanthropy.

Rose has had an eclectic career. Self-employed from a young age, she cut her teeth the music business in the era known as ‘Madchester’ before turning her hand to social enterprise, inspired by the lack of social mobility in the creative industries and in search of something more impactful. She is currently the chair of the Social Enterprise Advisory Group for the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, an RSA Fellow as well as an advisory board member for SODA (School of Digital Arts).