Elizabeth Honer CB becomes the new Chief Executive of the Royal Academy of Dance

The Royal Academy of Dance (RAD) has announced the appointment of its new Chief Executive, Elizabeth Honer CB, who will take up the position from 21 January 2025. Elizabeth succeeds Tim Arthur who stood down from the role at the end of 2024. 

Elizabeth has had a lifelong love of dance, starting her career at Sadler’s Wells and most recently through classes at RAD headquarters, membership of the London Ballet Circle, as a supporter of the Acosta Dance Centre and, most pertinently, as a member of the RAD’s Finance Committee, which has given her a deep insight into the role and workings of the charity and its members.

Elizabeth has had an illustrious career in the public service, latterly as CEO of an HM Treasury commercial agency where she led 500 people across over 40 locations with a diverse range of stakeholders, successfully developing a compelling vision that led to business growth with significant increases in both staff engagement and customer satisfaction. Before that, she was a director at the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office, engaging at senior levels around the globe. Throughout her career, she has been involved in setting strategy, organisational transformation, stakeholder and employee engagement and improvements in financial performance.

Elizabeth has also served on the global board of a professional institute so has a good understanding of an international membership body and her expertise in strategy, governance and improving organisational performance led to her appointment as a visiting fellow at the Cranfield School of Management.  Her roles in the charity sector include trusteeships at the Vision Foundation and the Dartington International Summer School Foundation and her early career also involved fundraising for the Academy of St Martin in the Fields. Elizabeth was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath in the 2024 King’s Birthday Honours.  The opportunity to serve as Chief Executive of the RAD perfectly combines her love of dance with her wide-ranging and international leadership experience.

Stephen Moss, Chairman commented: “We are looking forward to working with Elizabeth Honer as our new Chief Executive.  After a comprehensive search, we saw that Elizabeth’s blend of experience, her love of dance and her strong financial and strategic skills, made her the standout candidate. Elizabeth is excited to be taking forward the development of our new strategy that was initiated by her predecessor Tim Arthur.”

Elizabeth Honer said: “I am thrilled to take up the role as Chief Executive of the Royal Academy of Dance. The RAD is dear to my heart, having taken RAD exams as a child and continuing to participate to this day. The Academy has an exciting future ahead and I look forward to leading the organisation’s new strategy and build on our incredible history.”