Our People

Staff, Policy Associates, members of the Board and the Policy Advisory Group, all listed alphabetically.
Policy Advisory Group members participate in a personal capacity.

Staff

Hamida Ali

Head of Learning and Partnerships

Hamida Ali

Head of Learning and Partnerships

Hamida has over 20 years experience of addressing equality and diversity in public sector organisations including local and regional government, the criminal justice system, public service broadcasting and the trade union movement. Hamida served as a councillor for Woodside ward in the London Borough of Croydon from 2014-2022. In October 2020, Hamida was elected as Leader of the Council and responsible for steering the council through a period of significant turbulence prompted by serious financial and governance problems. Prior to that, Hamida served as a cabinet member for Safer Croydon and Communities from 2016-2020 leading on community safety, community and voluntary sector relations and equality and diversity. Hamida led a public health approach to tackling serious violence, including domestic violence and knife crime. Since standing down as a councillor, Hamida has joined the team who deliver some of the leadership development programmes for councillors in leading roles for the Local Government Association.

Email:[email protected]

Alex Bevan

Research Fellow

Alex Bevan

Research Fellow

Alex has extensive experience in government and previously held policy and campaigning roles at the Labour Party and the TUC. He is a former Chief of Staff to the First Minister of Wales and has worked as a special adviser across finance and economy departments. Alex has led on budget responses to the Covid pandemic and long term industrial policy, developing innovative regional economic policies within government including the Young Person's Guarantee, Wales' first Digital Strategy, devolved taxes and a new Economic Mission. During his time in government, Alex introduced reforms to budget making processes and led on prioritisation for delivery across departments with experience of negotiating across political parties on legislation and policy. He was responsible for Shadow Cabinet engagement, including the 2024 Labour manifesto talks. Alex has also run successful trade union campaigns securing change on jobs investment and legislation as well as playing a leading role on Welsh and UK elections.

Tom Collinge

Head of Policy and Research

Tom Collinge

Head of Policy and Research

Tom Collinge was formerly head of Policy and Communications at Progressive Britain where led their work on the renewal of the centre-left in the UK and around Europe. Before Progressive Britain he worked in policy in the Charity Sector, as a journalist and writer, and in public affairs.

Dan Corry

Chief Economist

Dan Corry

Chief Economist

Dan started as Chief Economist in March 2025 having served on FGF's Policy Advisory Group since its launch. Dan recently served as Chief Executive of New Philanthropy Capital (NPC), a think tank and consultancy for the social sector. Previous to this he held a variety of posts in public policy and economics. He was Head of the Number 10 Policy Unit and Senior Adviser to the Prime Minister on the Economy from 2007 to 2010; Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers in the Treasury; a special adviser to the Secretary of State in the Education Department as well as at DTI and DCLG; a Director in the Economics segment of FTI Consulting; ran the New Local Government Network think tank (now called New Local) between 2002 and 2005; was Senior Economist at the IPPR in the 1990s and was a government economist in the civil service before that. Dan is Chair of the charity the Carers Trust and a non-executive director at Defra. He was formerly a trustee of homelessness charity St Mungo’s and of the What Works Centre for Wellbeing, and is a former member of the Research Committee of the ESRC and of the Greater Manchester Economic Advisory Panel.

Email:[email protected]

Bruno Dent

Researcher

Bruno Dent

Researcher

Bruno joined The Future Governance Forum from the urban economics think tank Centre for Cities. Before that, he worked on several national political campaigns and parliamentary selections. He is a Young Fabian Policy Fellow and writes a Substack called 'Statecraft' on state capacity and public service reform. As a Researcher, he conducts research and analysis in support of FGF projects.

Email:[email protected]

Joe Derrett

Media Manager

Joe Derrett

Media Manager

Joe started as FGF’s Media Manager in March 2025 after working in communication roles in local government, regional government and the voluntary sector. These roles include working as Regional Press Officer for the Labour Party in London before becoming the Mayor of London’s Deputy Chief Press Officer in 2007, Media and External Relations Manager for Waltham Forest Council in 2009 and Head of Media for Lambeth Council in 2012. Between 2013 to 2015 Joe was Political Advisor for Rachel Reeves during her time as Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions. Joe also worked as Head of External Communications for Haringey Council, Head of Communications for Lewisham Council and Media Manager for London South Bank University, between 2015 to 2024.

Email:[email protected]

Emily Graham

Policy Associate

Emily Graham

Policy Associate

Emily joins Future Governance Forum from the refugee charity, Safe Passage International, where she led their policy and public affairs work. Having worked previously at Mind, the British Institute of Human Rights, Involve and NCVO, her interests span social inclusion, protection of human rights and participatory democracy. Emily is also currently a trustee of the charity, Care Rights UK, which supports older people using care services.

Claire Holloway

Operations Manager

Claire Holloway

Operations Manager

In December 2024, Claire retired after 40 years in local government - and joined the Future Governance Forum in January 2025. In her previous role as Head of Corporate Services at the Local Government Association (LGA), Claire was responsible for IT, HR, Property Services, Legal and Business Management and for co-ordinating the LGA’s membership offer. As company secretary, she was responsible for the LGA’s political governance arrangements and support to elected members. Over her time with the LGA, Claire oversaw the refurbishment and commercial letting of the LGA’s Westminster headquarters and the former IDeA headquarters in Farringdon and the incorporation of the LGA. She also chaired the Boards of LGA Digital Services and GeoPlace - a joint venture with Ordnance Survey. However her favourite job was as head judge of the Local Government Challenge – a national competition for aspiring Chief Executives which takes place in councils across the country from January to July each year. In previous roles in local government, Claire has worked in democratic services, performance, leisure, customer services, finance, transportation planning and the chief executive’s office. She has led community and capital projects and a number of major organisational change programmes. Outside work Claire is a keen cyclist and fitness enthusiast, a prolific reader and enthusiastic traveller.

Email:[email protected]

Priyansha Madan

Operations Officer

Priyansha Madan

Operations Officer

Priyansha Madan serves as Executive, Operations and Events Officer at The Future Governance Forum. She joined FGF after completing her Master's in Business Management from Cardiff University, where she contributed to research for business plans for non-profit organisations. Priyansha brings experience in financial operations and business analysis to her role. Her professional skills include CRM management, administration, executive support, and operations, complemented by a background in finance, event coordination, and corporate governance.

Email:[email protected]

Terrie McCann

Business Advisor

Terrie McCann

Business Advisor

Terrie has over 15 years of experience in fundraising, operations, and political consultancy. Following work at UCL, Sadler's Wells and as a fundraising consultant across multiple sectors, she became a Director of Fundraising at the Labour Party following the election of Keir Starmer as Labour leader, then became the Director of Operations and Partnerships at Labour Together in the run-up to the 2024 General Election, helping to establish it as an influential new think tank. Now working as a consultant, Terrie collaborates with organisations across the political sector, the arts, and international philanthropy, including The Future Governance Forum, the Good Growth Foundation and Unbound Philanthropy, while also working with groups such as the Labour Growth Group of MPs.

Gil Richards

Researcher

Gil Richards

Researcher

Gil is a Researcher at FGF. He joined from Public First, where he worked as a Policy Manager across their Social Policy and Money & Work practices. Prior to this, Gil worked as a Research Assistant in the Institute for Government’s public services team. In this role, he specialised in the criminal justice system, producing data-driven analyses of the police, criminal courts, and prisons. Before this, he worked as a researcher at the Constitution Unit, studying parliament’s role in the Brexit process.

Max Roche

Communications Coordinator

Max Roche

Communications Coordinator

Max joined in March 2026 as Communications Coordinator. His background spans research, communications and journalism roles for organisations at both national and local levels. He joins FGF from Unchecked UK, an organisation hosted by the New Economics Foundation, where he led research and communications work. Max studied History at the University of Bristol before completing a masters in Political Science at the University of Amsterdam.

Email:[email protected]

Chiara Ruggieri-Mitchell

Research Assistant

Chiara Ruggieri-Mitchell

Research Assistant

Chiara joined in March 2026 as a Research Assistant. Her background spans academic research, public policy and editing, with expertise in qualitative research and the environment. Whilst working at FGF, she has been finalising her PhD in Environmental Science at the University of East Anglia, where her research explored Indigenous governance, conservation and environmental policy. Chiara studied Geography at Royal Holloway University of London before completing a masters in Global Biodiversity Conservation at the University of Sussex.

Email:[email protected]

Adam Terry

Executive Director

Adam Terry

Executive Director

Adam became The Future Governance Forum’s Executive Director in July 2026, having served as Deputy Director since the think tank was launched in 2023. He joined FGF from the Labour Party where he was Head of Policy Development, overseeing the party’s democratic policymaking processes and their contribution to manifesto development, and setting up the party’s 2021-23 policy review. He previously worked as Head of Policy in the Shadow Treasury Team and as senior adviser to Anneliese Dodds in both Westminster and the European Parliament. He started his career in the UK civil service, helping to plan the 2012 London Olympics, managing capacity-building programmes with the Afghan government at the British Embassy in Kabul, and serving in the Prime Minister’s Office in 10 Downing Street. He has also worked in both the charity sector and the private sector.

Email:[email protected]

Board

Piali Das Gupta

Non-executive director

Piali Das Gupta

Non-executive director

Piali Das Gupta is outgoing Strategy Director, London's Future at London Councils, supporting boroughs to collaborate with each other and the Greater London Authority on a range of issues including the establishment of 6 new London missions. From August, she will be Associate Director at Roretti, a public service consultancy. Previously, Piali held senior roles in local, regional and central government. She got her professional start with the Government of Canada, where she led the team that developed Canada's national homelessness strategy.

Roger Harding

Non-executive director

Roger Harding

Non-executive director

Roger is the Director of Round Our Way, a new organisation for people in the UK paying the price for climate change. Its work is changing how this vital issue is discussed and getting more working class voices into discussions about how we best respond. Roger was previously Chief Executive of working class youth campaigning charity RECLAIM and Director of Communications, Policy and Campaigns at the housing and homelessness charity Shelter. He has also worked at the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and at a Public Affairs and PR agency. He is a past co-author of NatCen’s British Social Attitudes report, Counter Culture (a Fabian Society report on progressive responses to the so-called culture wars) and Missing Experts (a report on the lack of working class representation in think tanks and anti-poverty organisations). He is on the Board of the Economic Change Unit and Vice Chair of Victim Support.

Polly Mackenzie

Non-executive director

Polly Mackenzie

Non-executive director

Polly Mackenzie is a member of Research England’s Council and CEO of Zinc Innovation Partners, a venture builder supporting early-stage research commercialisation and academic entrepreneurship. From 2022 to 2025 Polly served as Chief Social Purpose Officer at University of the Arts London, leading environmental and social governance, civic engagement, communications and development. She was Director of Policy to the Deputy Prime Minister from 2010 to 2015, advising the coalition government on domestic policy. Polly went on to found the Money and Mental Health Policy Institute, a charity working to break the link between financial difficulties and mental health problems. Polly led the cross-party think tank Demos from 2018 to 2022, focusing on democratic health, information environments and public sector reform. She is a non-executive director of a recruitment company, Door 10, and an FGF Policy Advisory Group member. She also chairs the policy committee of Family Business UK, a trade association representing family-owned businesses.

Helen MacNamara

Chair

Helen MacNamara

Chair

Helen joined FGF as Chair in October 2024, bringing decades of experience at the highest levels of government and a dedication to public service. Helen has previously held several senior roles in the civil service, including over a decade at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. She managed the domestic Cabinet Secretariat (2013-15) and coordinated preparations across government for the 2015 general election. She moved to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government as Director General for Housing and Planning, before returning to the Cabinet Office in 2018 and serving as Deputy Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Cabinet Secretariat until her departure in February 2021.

William Perrin

Non-executive director

William Perrin

Non-executive director

William brings decades of innovative policy and practice to the FGF board. His first career was in the civil service during the Major, Blair and Brown administrations. He was variously a Private Secretary and Policy Advisor to the Prime Minister during Tony Blair's second term, worked in Cabinet Office on a range of technology, regulatory and security issues, and in DTI and DCMS where he produced the Communications White Paper which created OFCOM. His second career was running a tech start up for Channel 4 experimenting with new online forms of local journalism and consulting for some of the world’s largest tech companies. His third career is on the board of NGOs – at CarnegieUK he led the original work on regulating social media which has been copied around the world. He is also on the board of Indigo Trust.

Joanna Reynolds

Non-executive director

Joanna Reynolds

Non-executive director

Joanna has been Chief Executive of Folio Books since 2016, having had a long career in publishing with Which?, Reader’s Digest and Time Warner. She has chaired the board of Inpress Books since 2020 and was a non-executive director of City Lit, 2009-18.

Policy Advisory Group

Josie Cluer

Policy Advisory Group member

Josie Cluer

Policy Advisory Group member

Josie Cluer is a Partner at EY, leading the people consulting practice across government and infrastructure working with clients. Her specialisms include civil service reform, public service reform, the future of work, home affairs, justice, loneliness, cohesion, skills and growth. She regularly speaks and writes on these issues, and was recently a founding member of the Skills Taskforce for Global Britain. She was a Special Adviser in Gordon Brown’s government and was part of the Opposition’s Preparation for Government steering group in 2015. She is a social entrepreneur, having set up and run a design studio in a prison and chaired the Cares Family (a network of charities bringing younger and older neighbours together) through rapid growth from 2012-2019. Following the murder of Jo Cox MP, Josie supported her loneliness commission which successfully campaigned for a Minister for Loneliness and contributed to establishing loneliness as a mainstream issue in the public consciousness.

Cllr Bev Craig

Policy Advisory Group member

Cllr Bev Craig

Policy Advisory Group member

Bev became Leader of Manchester City Council on 1st December 2021. First elected in 2011 as a Burnage Councillor, she held a range of responsibilities on Manchester City Council including as Executive Member for Adult Social Care and Health and Deputy Leader. Bev is a Vice-Chair of the Local Government Association and Leader of the association’s Labour Group. In Greater Manchester she holds a range of responsibilities on behalf of the city as a Vice Chair, including leading on the Economy, Business, and International Portfolio for the Combined Authority. She was formerly Chair of Core Cities UK. She began her career in Local Government, before working in higher education and then a national trade union leading on social care.

Sam Freedman

Policy Advisory Group member

Sam Freedman

Policy Advisory Group member

Sam is a senior fellow at the Institute for Government (IfG) and writes regularly on politics and policy for Prospect, The New Statesman, The Times Educational Supplement (TES), The Financial Times (FT), The Guardian and The Sunday Times. Sam and his father, Lawrence Freedman, co-author their popular substack newsletter Comment is Freed which has over 40,000 subscribers. Previously he was an executive director at Teach First and worked at the Department for Education as a senior policy adviser to Michael Gove between 2010 and 2013. Sam is also a senior adviser to the education charity Ark; Vice-Chair of Ambition Institute; and a trustee of the Holocaust Educational Trust.

Ali Goldsworthy

Policy Advisory Group member

Ali Goldsworthy

Policy Advisory Group member

Ali is President of Accord and a lecturer at Stanford Graduate School of Business. She has built deep expertise in polarisation and co-authored the best seller Poles Apart (2021). Prior to going to Stanford, Ali made her name as a campaigner and movement builder. At Which? she led the team that built the world’s fastest growing and most engaged consumer movement, which followed overseeing successful campaigns to introduce opt out organ donation and introduce measures to alleviate disability poverty. Ali is Vice Chair of the Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust, a board member at openDemocracy and a former deputy chair of the Liberal Democrats. She is a frequent keynote speaker and media pundit on both sides of the Atlantic. Her work has appeared in The Economist, The Times, The Telegraph, The New York Times and on many broadcast outlets.

Julia Goldsworthy

Policy Advisory Group member

Julia Goldsworthy

Policy Advisory Group member

Julia Goldsworthy is Head of Social Impact Investment at Legal & General Capital. She drives strategic partnerships with local leaders and experts that deliver transformational projects and support the real economy, as part of Legal & General's long-term commitment to invest society’s capital for society’s benefit. A former Director of Strategy and Economy at the West Midlands Combined Authority, Julia led negotiations on the region’s second devolution deal and Local Industrial Strategy, after 3 years at PwC focusing on the market response to the emerging devolution agenda. Julia has also served as an MP and Treasury Special Adviser in the Coalition, with work spanning a broad range of issues, though often with a place based, inclusive growth focus. Julia also holds non-executive positions including as a Board member for the homelessness charity Crisis.

Bilal Mahmood

Policy Advisory Group member

Bilal Mahmood

Policy Advisory Group member

Bilal is a Banking and Finance Solicitor and currently Head of Legal at Revolut UK. He’s the former Vice Chair of Labour in the City, a group dedicated to Labour values and policies in the Square Mile. Bilal has been actively involved on various Labour campaigns including Stella Creasy MP’s fight to end High Street Loan Sharks, and Sadiq Khan’s elections as Mayor of London. In addition, he’s been a Parliamentary Candidate against Sir Iain Duncan Smith MP, turning the safe Tory seat into a key London marginal over two General Elections. Outside of campaigns, Bilal is passionate about oracy, debating and social mobility. He pioneered a debate mentoring programmes (the London Debate Challenge and Discover Your Voice) to improve the skills and aspirations of disadvantaged young Londoners. These have been running for over 20 years and have impacted thousands. He regularly runs professional skills classes in East London and is a school governor and former Trustee of the international education charity, the English-Speaking Union.

Sarah Mulley

Policy Advisory Group member

Sarah Mulley

Policy Advisory Group member

Sarah is outgoing Interim Director for Policy & Politics at IPPR. She has a particular interest in migration and social policy, and has most recently been a consultant working with a range of think tanks, funders and civil society organisations. She was previously Executive Director for Communities & Skills at the Greater London Authority, a brief that included social policy, health, young people, civil society and adult education. Before that, Sarah led work at IPPR on migration, communities, employment and family policy. She has also been a civil servant in central government, and worked in policy roles for international development NGOs.

Philip Rycroft

Policy Advisory Group member

Philip Rycroft

Policy Advisory Group member

Philip was a career civil servant for close to 30 years. He worked in the Department for Exiting the European Union (DExEU) between March 2017 and March 2019, from October 2017 as Permanent Secretary. He was responsible for leading the department in all its work on the Government’s preparations for Brexit. From June 2015 to March 2019 he was head of the UK Governance Group in the Cabinet Office, with responsibility for advising ministers on all aspects of the constitution and devolution. From May 2012 to May 2015, he was the Director General in the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg. Through his career, Philip worked in a variety of roles, in the civil service in Scotland and London, in the European Commission and in business. He is now a non-executive director, academic and consultant.

Will Somerville

Policy Advisory Group member

Will Somerville

Policy Advisory Group member

Will Somerville is the UK Director of Unbound Philanthropy, an independent private grantmaking foundation based in the United States. Unbound invests in leaders and organisations in the US and UK working to build vibrant, welcoming societies and just immigration systems. In addition to his Unbound role, he has been a Senior Fellow for the think tank the Migration Policy Institute (MPI) and a Visiting Professor (Politics) at the University of Sheffield for over decade. He has authored over sixty policy papers, chapters and journal articles, mostly related to migration. Prior to joining Unbound in 2010, he worked at the Commission for Racial Equality, the U.K. Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit, the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), and has consulted widely for charities, philanthropic foundations and governments. He has also helped establish a number of social change organisations and currently sits on the Board of Labour Together.

Associates

Dr Charlotte Augst

Senior Policy Associate

Dr Charlotte Augst

Senior Policy Associate

Charlotte came to London in 1997 to pursue postgraduate studies, after her law degree in Germany. She completed a social science Masters, and a PhD (in law and medical ethics) at the University of London. Since then, she has engaged in health, care and research policy making – in Parliament (for the Chair of the Science and Technology Select Committee), for national regulators (HFEA and GPhC), and in the voluntary and community sector. For the last 10 years, she has led work in collaborations and coalitions (Richmond Group of Charities, National Voices), building networks and connecting decision makers with experts by profession or experience. Charlotte lost her husband David to cancer five years ago, and lives with her two teenage children in South London. She now advises public sector organisations, charities and industry partners on strategy, influence, and their work with people and communities.

Email:[email protected]

Robbie Bates

Policy Associate

Robbie Bates

Policy Associate

Robbie was a Director at FutureGov and TPXImpact until 2022; where he oversaw delivery of the consultancy’s public and third sector portfolio. He is now a strategy & design consultant specialising in public sector reform, organisational strategy, service design and digital innovation. Prior to he 2022, Robbie was Director of Design & Innovation at the Royal Society of the Arts and a Director at Uscreates - a design and innovation agency focused on health and wellbeing. Robbie has also held associate teaching roles at leading art and design institutes including University of the Arts.

Stephen Bediako OBE

Policy Associate

Stephen Bediako OBE

Policy Associate

Stephen is a serial social entrepreneur with a 20 year career in politics, government, business and social entrepreneurship. His experience includes building six social businesses in 15 years, sitting on Boards, angel investing across the UK, North America and Africa. The businesses he has founded include Project Oracle, The Social Innovation Partnership, Path Group, Turning Basin Labs, Black Global Trust and most recently The Pathway Fund. One of five children whose parents migrated from Ghana to the UK in 1979, he grew up in East London before securing a first-class degree at Brunel University in Politics, and a scholarship from LSE / Skinners Livery Co to study Public Policy at LSE. During his career he has been awarded an OBE, the Freedom of the City by the Corporation of London, an Honorary Fellowship by Social Enterprise UK, and a Visiting Fellowship by Stanford University. He’s former Vice Chair, and current Board member of the Barbican. He is an Advisor to Regenerate which is a leading UK Think Tank, on the Board of Start.COOP (a USA based COOP accelerator) and recently joined the Acquisition Committee of the Whitney Museum in New York, USA.

Matt Bevington

Policy Associate

Matt Bevington

Policy Associate

Matt is a Practice Director at the political consultancy firm Global Counsel, where he leads M&A projects for global investors on UK assets, specialising in infrastructure and education/skills. He was previously a senior researcher at the UK in a Changing Europe thinktank based at King’s College London, leading their Europe-facing workstream on Brexit, and prior to that worked as an industry analyst and editor at the Economist Intelligence Unit. He recently wrote a report for the Progressive Britain thinktank on how a Labour government should approach regulation, as well as being a Fabians contributor.

Andrew Dyson

Policy Associate

Andrew Dyson

Policy Associate

Andrew Dyson has spent his career in investment management and investment consulting in the UK and US. He is currently a non-executive director at Adjuvo, an angel investing / early stage private equity business, and at New Change FX a currency benchmarking and advisory business, and a senior advisor to Pollination, a specialist climate change and advisory firm. His last executive role was Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of PGIM Quant Solutions, a $120bn asset manager, from 2017 until 2022. Prior to joining PGIM Quant Solutions, Andrew was Executive Vice President at Affiliated Managers Group, Inc., and a Named Executive Officer of this S&P 500 company. Before that, he was Head of BlackRock’s Global Institutional Client Business following the merger of BlackRock and Barclays Global Investors. Previously, Andrew was Head of US Multinational Investment Consulting and Head of UK Pension Fund Investment Consulting for William M. Mercer, and a Worldwide Partner there.

Joseph Holland

Research Associate

Joseph Holland

Research Associate

Joseph Holland is the Operations and Programmes Manager at Progressive Britain. He has experience in policy research, political communications and political campaigns in the Labour movement. A former professional football player, he has a Masters degree in Economics.

Charlotte Holloway

Policy Associate

Charlotte Holloway

Policy Associate

Charlotte has spent the past decade working in digital and economic policy and advocacy, most recently as Head of Government Relations across Europe, Middle East and Africa at Zoom Video Communications. Charlotte is a Board member at TechUK, the national industry body for the UK tech sector. She is also a Labour Councillor in Plymouth, and has been a political adviser to Tracy Brabin as well as a former parliamentary candidate. As a policy associate with the Future Governance Forum, Charlotte is focusing on how the UK can support more high-growth firms and economic policy development.

Ben Lucas

Policy Associate

Ben Lucas

Policy Associate

Ben is an expert on the political and economic drivers of inclusive growth, and how to shape strategies and narratives that best reflect these. He advises places on governance, inclusive growth, and devolution. Before co-founding Metro Dynamics, Ben was a Trade Union Head of Research, a New Labour adviser developing regional and local government policy, and an adviser to cities on urban renaissance, including on the Manchester Commonwealth Games, and the Liverpool Capital of Culture. In his career he has worked with Ministers, Officials, Local Government and Business Leaders on a range of public policy issues, and has set up and run a public affairs consultancy and two highly influential Commissions, the 2020 Public Services Commission and the RSA City Growth Commission. Ben is Executive Director of the Power Test podcast, and a member of the Evidence to Impact Committee of Foundations, the What Works Centre for Children and Families, and former Deputy Chair of the Early Intervention Foundation.

Polly Neate

Policy Associate

Polly Neate

Policy Associate

Polly is a high-profile expert commentator on social issues, as well as a strategic adviser, coach and mentor. Her most recent role was as CEO of the household-name housing and homelessness charity Shelter, and before that she was CEO of Women’s Aid and Executive Director of External Relations at Action for Children. She has substantial first-hand experience of leading teams through rapid and transformational change and strategic challenges, both external and internal. Polly is also a former award-winning journalist and communicator who has spoken on platforms as diverse as the Oxford Union and the 250,000-strong first Women’s March on London. She was made CBE and Honorary Doctor of Laws (Bristol University) in 2022. https://www.pollyneate.net/ https://substack.com/@pollyneate Instagram @polly_neate (Picture credit: Honor Elliott)

Ram Puvinathan

Policy Associate

Ram Puvinathan

Policy Associate

Ram is a public policy researcher and consultant. He works with governments and businesses globally to advise on reform and modernisation and innovation. He previously led strategy at a public sector consultancy and worked in the Civil Service. He is an Expert Advisor on responsible innovation to the World Economic Forum.

Oliver Smith

Policy Associate

Oliver Smith

Policy Associate

Oliver is an independent strategy adviser, innovator, and policymaker, as well as the Director of Daedalus Futures, a responsible AI consultancy. He was one of the founding executive team at Koa Health, which span out of Telefonica Alpha in 2020 with a €50m investment, where he was responsible for strategy and ethics. Prior to Koa Health he was Director of Strategy and Innovation at Guy’s and St Thomas’ Charity, responsible for investing £100m over five years in innovations in health and healthcare. He was a Senior Civil Servant in the UK Department of Health; responsible for UK Tobacco Control Policy, and UK Obesity Policy before that, writing the government’s first comprehensive childhood obesity strategy. Oliver was also a Policy Adviser in the Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit under Tony Blair.

Claire Spencer

Policy Associate

Claire Spencer

Policy Associate

Claire Spencer moved on from FGF in November 2024 having led FGF's work on devolution. She now holds the position of Chief of Staff to Claire Ward, Mayor of the East Midlands. As an elected member on Birmingham City Council, she helped to establish the first Overview & Scrutiny committee for the West Midlands Combined Authority, serving as its Deputy Chair for two years. She went on to work as the Strategic Lead for Inclusive Growth, with a remit that covered public service reform, social economy growth, and the development of a mission-driven Inclusive Growth Framework. She then served as the Associate Director of Public Sector and Politics at The Leadership Centre. Claire currently holds roles across public services, including as Chair of Governors for Kings Heath Primary School, Public Governor (Birmingham South) for University Hospitals Birmingham Trust, Co-Chair of Moseley Community Development Trust, Trustee of Baby Aid Birmingham, and as a member of the Advisory Group for Aston University’s School of Social Sciences and Humanities.

Email:[email protected]

Pritpal S Tamber

Policy Associate

Pritpal S Tamber

Policy Associate

Pritpal is a doctor who works at the intersection of evidence, power and health equity. As the former Physician Editor of TEDMED, he contends that most innovation in health fails to appreciate people’s social circumstances and innate strengths. Since leaving TEDMED in 2013, he has spent time with ‘community-centric’ innovators to understand how they work. His observations have brought him to the importance of power to health, especially in terms of changing the unfair and unjust structures that underpin social inequities. Drawing on his earlier career as a medical editor, he now helps community-oriented practitioners, whether in health care, public health or community-based organisations, make sense of the evidence and design structural interventions that pursue health equity.

Phil Tinline

Policy Associate

Phil Tinline

Policy Associate

Phil is the author of The Death of Consensus (Times Politics Book of the Year, 2022), which explores how political settlements break down and are painfully recreated, and Ghosts of Iron Mountain, about how American conspiracy theories express fears of state power. From 2002 to 2022 he worked for BBC Radio, producing and presenting documentaries about political history and how it shapes the present. His journalism has appeared in various outlets, including the Financial Times, the Daily Telegraph, the New European, Prospect and the New Statesman.

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