Paula Whitehouse
Deputy Dean Enterprise and Engagement, Aston University College of Business and Social Sciences; Director, Aston Centre for Growth, Aston University College
Paula Whitehouse is Deputy Dean Enterprise and Engagement in the College of Business and Social Sciences at Aston University, and Director of the Aston Centre for Growth. Paula leads on the development of growth programmes and other business support initiatives at the Aston Centre for Growth which has provided targeted support to over 2,000 SMEs, and takes a strategic lead on Aston’s start-up support for students and graduates. Paula was awarded the Chancellor’s Medal by Aston University in 2021.
Paula is Curriculum Director with the Chartered Association of Business Schools for the UK Government’s Help to Grow: Management Course delivered to business leaders throughout the UK by over 50 accredited business schools. She was also Curriculum Director for the Small Business Leadership Programme which helped 2,800 business leaders build resilience and recovery during the Covid-19 pandemic. Paula chairs accreditation panels for the Small Business Charter and in 2018 gave evidence on behalf of the Small Business Charter to the House of Commons BEIS Committee Small Business and Productivity Inquiry. In 2021 she was awarded Fellowship of the Chartered Association of Business Schools.
As Section Lead and speaker for the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses UK programme Paula has supported hundreds of entrepreneurs through its intensive leadership and management education since 2011. She has also worked with the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women programme in India supporting their curriculum development. Paula is a board member and trustee of Ex Cathedra, a leading UK choir and early music ensemble, a Fellow of the RSA, and board facilitator for the charity Music Therapy Works.