I am Innovation Unit’s Director for Innovation in Mental Health. I lead and am responsible for our portfolio of mental health work across adults, children and young people.

I led the National Lottery funded Living Well UK programme (2018-2022), supporting four pioneering places in the UK to build Living Well systems of support for good mental health and wellbeing.

I started my career in local government with the London Borough of Camden, where I first led housing strategy and then the Council’s approach to engaging with and investing in its local third sector. During my time in local government I pioneered new ways of thinking about housing services in terms of wellbeing and led the development of the UK’s first outcomes based models of commissioning and grant making.

I managed the Cabinet Office Innovation in Giving Fund at Nesta before joining the national office of Mind, the mental health charity, where I led innovations in organisational development support for local Mind associations. This included co-designing and delivering a successful leadership development programme for senior Mind leaders.

I am motivated by a deep desire to overcome human suffering and indignity for those who find contemporary culture and society disabling, and I think that social innovation methods and tools can help.