How do you design for culture change using a coaching and leadership programme — including enabling leadership presence for Women of Colour? How do you do set up that L&D culture change programme in a friendly, values-driven organisation?
How do you facilitate L&D and OD programmes for teams where staff care deeply about their work but sometimes find accountability, difficult conversations, and stress hard to navigate?
In this episode of 1AM Talks, Andry McFarlane and Miranda Gay speak with Luna Ali and Aurora Arista from Spiral Learning, an inclusive charity supporting younger adults from underrepresented backgrounds.
Together they share how a truly inclusive programme was shaped to help staff build calm, strengthen accountability, and support their work with clients — all within a workplace culture that aimed to keep client focus and professionalism at its core, while developing leadership, including leadership by Women of Colour.
A behind-the-scenes look at how thoughtful design and delivery — grounded in EDIB, safeguarding, and partnership — lays the foundation for meaningful transforming workplace-culture.
We’d love to know your thoughts:
💭 And when you’re working with teams who are friendly — even friends — but sometimes lack clear boundaries, how do you design learning that helps them stay supportive and professional?
💭 How do you lead learning programmes for youth-focused teams that build safeguarding and wellbeing into the design, set-up and communication — not just the workshops?
#LearningAndDevelopment #ProgrammeDesign #CultureChange #Accountability #OrganisationalDevelopment #WorkplaceWellbeing #YouthDevelopment #EDIB
#InclusiveDesign
#YouthEmpowerment #YoungAdults
Contact 1AM talks:
📧 E: andrymcfarlane@gmail.com
📱 Insta: @pod1amtalks
Guest details:
Aurora Arista and Luna Ali at Spiral Learning: https://www.linkedin.com/company/spiralskills/posts/?feedView=all
https://www.spiralskills.co.uk/
00:11 – Welcome to 1AM Talks — Andry McFarlane and Miranda Gay introduce the series and their experience in learning and development.
00:59 – Introducing Spiral Learning — why the charity commissioned a post-Covid culture-change and wellbeing programme.
01:33 – Meet Aurora Arista and Luna Ali — how Spiral supports young people from under-represented backgrounds.
02:27 – The organisational challenge — communication, trust, accountability and managing conflict in a friendly culture.
04:13 – Designing the programme — six-session coaching cycles, workshops, and senior-leadership consultancy. Luna being a Woman of Colour in leadership.
07:28 – Building psychological safety — confidentiality, coaching boundaries and reassurance for staff.
09:23 – Embedding inclusivity and Safeguarding into learning design.
10:19 – Reflections from Luna — cultural background, slowing down, stress, and learning to support young people calmly.
13:55 – Closing thoughts — wellbeing, culture change and partnership.
14:48 – Outro — connecting with 1AM Talks and The Learning Moment.
