Impact Council
Investing time and acting on a committed interest, the Impact Council aims to co-design a new welfare platform that enables people to gain straightforward access to any community-led and holistic services they need to live a better life.
The Impact Council brings together over 50 senior executives, thought leaders, and academics who represent a diverse range of businesses and sectors.
These include prominent individuals from Health, Internet, and Financial Service Providers, as well as Third Sector Practitioners, Housing Associations, and representatives from Central and Local Government.
The objective of the Impact Council is to collaborate and co-design a new welfare platform that addresses the growing need for individuals to have easy-to-use and convenient access to any welfare community-led services anywhere within the UK.
By bringing together experts from various sectors, the Impact Council leverages collective knowledge and experience to develop an innovative platform that can join the dots, bridge divides, and promote inclusion.
Members are committed to dedicating their expertise, resources, and influence towards creating a welfare platform that is efficient, inclusive, and responsive to the needs of the population. By pooling their collective efforts, the Impact Council aims to ensure that people can easily access the services they need to live a better life.
“The Impact Council’s role is to offer continuous situational awareness, and offer critique, challenge ideas, and, above all, support.”
Prof Mark Thompson, Chair of Impact Council
Impact Council Members
Mark Thompson - Chair of the Council.
Mark is Professor of Digital Economy at the University of Exeter Business School and part of DIGIT Lab, an EPSRC Next Stage Digital Economy Research Centre. He is closely associated with the push for the adoption of open standards and digital platforms in the public sector. He chairs a variety of digital conferences, and his work has appeared in Government Information Quarterly, Public Administration, Journal of Public Administration, Research and Theory, The MJ, Computer Weekly, Government Computing, The Guardian, Financial Times, Digital Leaders, and The Economist.
Until last year, Mark was also Strategy Director at Methods Group, specialising in the digital transformation of public services, and a Main Board member at TechUK, blending the roles of academic, practitioner, and policy commentator. In 2010-2012 Mark was IT Futures Advisor to George Osborne, a pro bono Cabinet Office role that involved policymaking around open standards and data across the UK government. He has keynoted Departmental Awaydays for Home Office, DFE, DEFRA, DWP, GDS, MHCLG, and many senior audiences (e.g. General Staff, British Army, Cabinet Office Round Tables).
Matthew Adam
Matthew Adam is the Chief Growth Officer and Founder of We Are Group, a mission-led scale-up based in the West Midlands disrupting the tech-for-good space. Founded in 2012, We Are Group now helps around 100,000 people a year to get online, access essential government online services, manage money and debts, gain new jobs, and ultimately improve their lives. Matt is a 2023 Digital Leader of the Year nominee and is backed by Europe's top impact investors.
When he isn't working, Matt enjoys playing tennis, spending time with his two young daughters, and watching films.
Jonathan Prew
JP is the Managing Director at We Are Group. Having spent a good portion of his career in corporate roles, he chose to move into the field of Social Impact, which combined his business background with a desire to make a positive social difference. He has extensive experience in the public and private sectors, with particular expertise in outsourcing, change management, and technology. He has successfully generated over £1bn in new business and managed a staff base of 5000+ with a P&L responsibility of over £400m. JP has a full life cycle of experience from contract launch to delivery of operational improvements, renegotiation, and transition.
He has worked in various industries, including the Private sector, Local Authority, Education, Housing Associations, Central Government, Social Care, Voluntary Sector, and Emergency Services. His achievements have been recognised with two global awards for inspirational leadership.
David Scott
David Scott has an established background in working for large corporations specialising in Public Sector, Critical Service, and international training, David brings a unique blend of skills to the table. His journey has been shaped by technology, design methods, and service implementation and he is now looking to make positive change in the UK through Social Impact
Leigh Smyth
Leigh is a renowned social inclusion consultant, having pioneered several initiatives, such as launching the UK's first children's range of technology and spearheading the Government Home Access programme for low income families.
Leigh has also worked with Baroness Lane Fox to create RaceOnline2012 and Go ON UK Charity to tackle digital exclusion. As a transformation director, Leigh has designed and delivered the world's largest Digital Index and established the Lloyds Banking Digital Skills Academy. Leigh also runs Impact Match, a social inclusion strategy consultancy, advising the Money and Pensions Service on Financial Wellbeing and partnering with international organisations such as the United Nations to craft Financial Inclusion targets. Additionally, Leigh founded #ImpactMatch to generate strategies and plans that benefit society, currently collaborating with We Are Group to ensure no one is left behind.
Ralph Catto
Ralph is a Scot who started business life in corporate finance in a city stockbroking firm, where he ultimately became a director. He left this role to found a software start-up focused on social housing – following his desire to blend social and commercial strategies to make a difference in people’s lives – which ultimately was sold very successfully to a global software company.
He has been an active investor for many years with a strong bias toward businesses addressing social needs, and as such, became chair of We Are Group.
He was an early trustee of the Transformational Business Network, which seeks to be a catalyst in using enterprises in developing countries to create jobs, empower the poor and transform local communities, active directly in southern Africa and the Balkan. Over the years, he has served as a trustee of several charities.
Andy Gawin Warby
Andy Gawin Warby is a highly accomplished Social Value strategist and cross-sector impact monitoring expert. He has an impressive academic background, holding an Executive MBA from Cranfield School of Management, an MSc RICS-accredited from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and professional memberships of the Royal Society for Public Health (AMRPSH) and the Royal Society for the Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (FRSA). Andy has a wealth of experience in performance evaluation across many sectors, including community regeneration and housing, and is a passionate advocate for Circular Economy, Shared Value innovations, Social Prescribing, and health equality for ethnic minority women.
Jemma Waters
Jemma Waters is the Head of Digital Impact and Inclusion at Lloyds Banking Group (LBG). With a background in consultancy, charity and corporate experience, Jemma is dedicated to transforming LBG into a truly responsible tech business. She is committed to putting community into tech and tech into the community, as well as delivering inclusive customer experiences and embedding inclusive design.
Jemma is also passionate about closing the digital divide by working with partners to ensure everyone has access to technology. She is always learning and looking for ways to build an inclusive and sustainable digital economy and society. .
Craig Simmons
Craig Simmons is the Lead Consultant and Director of Clear Consultancy Services, providing high-quality and bespoke consultancy solutions to businesses, charities and governmental bodies. With years of experience in the field, Craig has a passion for helping people in financial difficulty and vulnerable circumstances, as well as those struggling with financial wellbeing issues.
He has extensive knowledge in strategy development, stakeholder influence and engagement, service design and policymaking, enabling him to provide tailored solutions to his client’s needs.
Dave Williams
Dave Williams is the Head of Business Development and Partnerships at Reconome. He leads the team that is responsible for developing and managing relationships with global organisations, leading charities, and other key stakeholders to ensure Reconome's mission of channelling routinely disposed tech into hands and homes that need them most is achieved. Dave has a strong background in strategic business development, digital marketing, and social enterprise.
Jess Flack
Jess Flack is the Digital Inclusion Lead Officer at Essex County Council. She is passionate about tackling digital exclusion and making a positive impact on people's lives. With her background in networking and developing professional partnerships, Jess is an expert at joining the dots and connecting the right people to ensure projects run smoothly and funding is used effectively.
Sheila Bennett
Sheila Bennet is the Head of Libraries Strategy and Delivery for DCMS. She is a highly motivated leader, passionate about library services, who works collaboratively with both internal and external stakeholders to create effective strategies for improved delivery and productivity.
With her extensive knowledge and expertise, Sheila is an experienced manager who has successfully managed diverse services and projects at both local and national government levels, as well as substantial and volatile budgets. She has a proven track record of achieving excellent results through effective stakeholder engagement, communications, customer service and ethical governance.
Samuel Scharf
Samuel Scharf is the Director of Housing and Customer Services at C&C Housing Trust. Samuel is known for thinking differently, constantly trying to problem solve the difficult questions and facilitating change within sectors. Having worked with local government, charities, social investment and now housing, Samuel brings a multi-dimensional approach to addressing the social challenges of today. Built on a strong set of principles around human centred design, evaluation and working relentlessly to deliver services that work for citizens, he has led changes in services around financial capability, debt, mental health and employment. Further to this, Samuel has a passion for working public sector supply chains hard in order to deliver more impact through the inclusion of social enterprise delivery.
Simon Goodrich
Simon Goodrich is a digital design pioneer and co-founder of Portable, a purpose-driven agency that uses human-centred design and technology to address social needs and policy failures. With over 800 successful projects in the impact areas of justice, mental health and government transformation, Simon is highly experienced in delivering innovative products and services that put user experience at the centre. He is also a Senior Honorary Fellow at Melbourne Law School and Melbourne School of Government at The University of Melbourne, an Australian Ambassador for the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, and a Fellow of the Sir Zelman Cowen Centre at Victoria University. As a past National President of AIMIA, he is an expert in digital innovation and a leader in his field.
Emma Weston
Emma Weston is the Chief Executive of Digital Unite, a leading digital inclusion organisation in the UK. With a passion for creating inclusive digital environments, Emma works with public, third sector and private organisations to influence digital inclusion policy and practice. She develops and delivers innovative learning and training programmes to help organisations embed digital inclusion and essential digital skills into their workplaces and pass them on to their customers and service users. Emma believes that everyone who is digitally included has a responsibility to champion it for those that aren’t, encouraging, supporting and sustaining these champion behaviours.
Ren Yi Hooi
Ren was previously the Product Director at Railsr, a leading FinTech scaleup. Passionate about using technology to drive social impact and financial inclusion, she led international teams as Country Manager for BIMA, a global InsurTech provider for the financially underserved.
Ren holds an MBA from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and a B.A. from UC Berkeley. Originally from Singapore, she is a recipient of the UK’s Tech Nation Exceptional Talent Visa.
Samantha Nurse
Samantha Nurse is the Founder and CEO of Money Advice Hub, a professional specialist in holistic money advice, including insolvency and debt advice, associated litigation and financial capability. With a wealth of experience working as a regional manager in East of England & London for Grant Thornton UK LLP, Insolvency, Samantha is a highly endorsed change management and project management professional with comprehensive knowledge of the business priorities, complex legislation, and regulatory frameworks. She is also an experienced public speaker and media-trained professional who is passionate about promoting equality and diversity.
Robin Knowles
Robin Knowles is the CEO of Digital Leaders, an organisation dedicated to helping businesses leverage the power of technology for success. With a wealth of experience in digital transformation, tech for SMEs, event management, real estate, international relations and grant funding, Robin has been instrumental in building communities of interest, networks and connecting people from the public, non-profit, and business sectors.
Paul Finnis
Paul Finns is the Founder and CEO of Digital Poverty Alliance and Chief Executive of the Learning Foundation. Paul is dedicated to ensuring that all school-aged children are connected to the digital world and have access to the right device and connectivity. He launched Digital Access for All (DAFA) in February 2019, in partnership with Nominet UK and other partners, to provide digital access to every family. Paul is passionate about helping children get the most out of technology and enhancing learning for all.
Eilidh Mclaughlin
Eilidh McLaughlin is the Head of the Digital Citizen Unit at the Scottish government. She has a wealth of experience in digital innovation, having worked in both the public and private sectors. In her current role, she is responsible for ensuring that all citizens of Scotland have access to the latest digital technologies and services to enable them to take advantage of the opportunities that the digital age can bring. Eilidh is passionate about driving change and creating a more equitable society and is committed to using technology to empower citizens and improve their lives.
Claire Fewings
Claire Fewings is the Delivery Lead for Innovate Neighbourhood at Salford Council. With 25 years of experience in neighbourhood and project management, she has a passion for putting customers first and working with her team to create new ways of working. Claire's expertise lies in neighbourhoods, communities, digital transformation and leadership. She is committed to making sure that the people of Salford are getting the best possible service from the Council.
Andrew Humphreys
Andrew Humphreys is the Director and Principal Consultant of The Improvement Agency, which specialises in public service innovation, improvement and change. Andrew has led programmes to improve digital access to NHS and local authority services, having worked in several public service settings, including leading digital inclusion strategy for Hanover Housing Association. With a deep understanding of UK public services, their supply eco-system and culture, Andrew has a unique ability to affect sustainable change. He has an inclusive and supportive style, building strong relationships with senior stakeholders while engaging wider audiences to bring disparate views together and produce broad consensus.
Matt Bayliss
Matt Bayliss is the Head of Foundation - North at L&Q. In this role, he leads the organisation's programme to support their residents and people living in their communities to become more economically and socially independent. This includes initiatives such as employment and skills, financial inclusion, digital inclusion and tenancy sustainment programmes which are funded by the L&Q Foundation. Matt is committed to ensuring that everyone has access to the resources they need to achieve independence and a better quality of life.
Beth Knight
Beth is currently an independent consultant and board director – with positions ranging from Chair of Save the Children’s corporate advisory board to Domain Expert for Carbon13’s venture builder in climate tech. Alongside this, Beth is a Senior Associate at the University of Cambridge Institute of Sustainability Leadership (CISL) and is Head Tutor for the Business Sustainability Management executive education program. Beth’s prior roles have included: Head of ‘Amazon in the Community’ Leader for Europe, Global Markets Associate Director at EY, and Head of Corporate Sustainability for EY's Financial Services business. Beth was also part of the trailblazer group that launched the first UK Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability (CRS) Apprenticeship standard - improving access to sustainability careers for individuals from under-served and under-represented backgrounds. She has lived and worked in Europe, Jordan, India, Indonesia, Kenya, and the US.
Karen Elliott
Karen Elliott is Chair (Full Professor) of Practice in Finance/FinTech at the University of Birmingham Business School and Co-Director of the FinTech MSc Programme. She has been named ‘Standout #35 Women in FinTech Powerlist by Innovate Finance’ for Policy and Governance 2019/ 2020/2021. In addition, she is an Advisory Board member to Incuto, championing access to fair and affordable finance.
Karen co-leads FinTrust, Finclusion, Agency, and the UKFin Network+ projects (£8m) with Prof van Moorsel to optimise trustworthy/ethical AI. As a member of the Prime Minister’s Champions Group for Dementia, Corporate Digital Responsibility, Radix, IEEE Global Initiative Planet Positive and a Digital Poverty Alliance Ambassador, Karen seeks a balance between academia and practice towards an equitable digital society.
Jonathan Flowers
Jonathan Flowers is a Senior Advisor and Consultant in Policy and Practice with a wealth of experience across private, public and voluntary sectors. He has held both executive and non-executive roles, bringing a valuable perspective to organisations that require engagement with the public sector. As a Non-Executive Director and Board-level Adviser, Jonathan has leveraged his extensive experience to help promote growth in organisations by building organisational infrastructure and networks. He is highly experienced in identifying, developing, and implementing changes to support the growth of public and not-for-profit organisations.
Nathan Elvery
Nathan Elvery is the Founder and Managing Director of Imagine Public Services Ltd, bringing over three decades of senior leadership experience in the Local Government Sector. He has held positions such as Chief Executive, Chief Operating Officer and Executive Director (s151) and has a proven ability to successfully collaborate, negotiate and influence stakeholders to deliver improved outcomes for citizens and communities. He is highly experienced in leading strategic reviews, driving major improvements for communities, establishing effective partnerships, and formulating award-winning transformation programmes that have achieved significant efficiency savings. Nathan is an expert in the public sector, and his knowledge and experience are invaluable in helping organisations achieve their ambitions for their communities.
James Stewart
James Stewart is an advocate and practitioner of digital inclusion, utilising his extensive senior executive experience at both large-scale technology companies and highly regarded blue-chip companies to empower more individuals to reap the benefits of technology. Additionally, he plays a crucial role as a frontline digital trainer for the local charity, Richmond AID, and offers invaluable advice to both public and private sector organizations on matters of inclusion and accessibility. James has successfully led multinational cross-functional teams, placing people - including customers, employees, and partners - at the core of transformative change across diverse industries. Notable highlights include revolutionizing marketplace payments at PayPal, enhancing taxi reliability at Hailo, and creating an exceptional mobile consumer selling experience at eBay.
Nicola Gill
Nicola Gill is currently a Head of Product at NHS England and has led projects over the last 17 years to develop inclusive products and services that help people take more control of managing their health and care and to improve health outcomes for patients in areas of high health inequalities. During that time, Nicola has also worked on a Cabinet Office team supporting the development of the Government Digital Inclusion Strategy, and she also led a programme of work for 4 years at NHE England to improve the uptake of digital health services amongst seldom heard communities. This work also involved bringing together digital inclusion leads from across the government to work on strategies to collaborate more and establish the problem of digital exclusion as a sector-wide one. Her areas of expertise are digital health, digital inclusion, mental health, inclusive design and health inequalities.
Sally Dyson
Sally Dyson is the head of Digital and Development at the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations. Passionate about how we create the conditions to develop a socially inclusive society and the role that charities and voluntary organisations play in all our communities.
Sally holds an MSc in Charity Leadership and Management. Her previous senior roles have been in large international funding bodies within regional economic development agencies and charities. As a champion of digital inclusion for more than 25 years, Sally is committed to how digital can contribute to helping people make the most of their money, learn more and improve their health and wellbeing.
Simeon Yates
Simeon Yates is a Professor of Digital Culture at the University of Liverpool and Joint Director of the Digital Media and Society Research Institute. His research focuses on the social, political and cultural impacts of digital media, with particular emphasis on digital inclusion and exclusion.
He is currently involved in projects with the UK's Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), the UK's media regulator Ofcom, and the Welsh Government, as well as charity organisations such as the Good Things Foundation, Cwmpas in Wales and SCVO in Scotland. In 2017, he was seconded to DCMS to act as research lead for the Digital Culture team. He is also a Member of the Greater Manchester City Region Mayoral Digital Inclusion Action Network and an appointed expert advisor to DCMS and Ofcom.
Kat Dixon
Kat Dixon is a passionate advocate for digital inclusion and equity. As Third Sector Lead at Snook, she works to create solutions to big social problems, focusing on social impact, public-private partnerships and improving lives. Kat has designed and launched national digital skills programmes with some of the world's leading technology companies and completed a research fellowship on Internet Poverty with the Data Poverty Lab in 2022. She is a Digital Poverty Alliance Ambassador, Advisor to the Digital Youth Index and on the Advisory Committee for the Minimum Digital Living Standards. Kat is committed to finding solutions that will make a lasting difference in reducing data poverty and giving everyone access to digital skills.
Beena Puri
Beena Puri is the Digital Innovation and Partnership Lead at the Greater Manchester Combined Authority. She is responsible for developing partnerships, facilitating change, and supporting policy and governance of the Greater Manchester Digital Portfolio. Beena also leads Greater Manchester’s Digital Inclusion Agenda in partnership with the ten boroughs of Greater Manchester.
With over 13 years of experience in building and developing strategic relationships, defining and implementing brand and marketing strategy and content, Beena has worked with startups, SMEs, and global enterprises to develop B2B and B2C collaborations that enhance impact and achieve business goals. Her focus on impact and people makes her a valuable asset to any organization.
Freddie Quek
Freddie Quek is the Founder of #joiningthedots and Chair of BCS Digital Divide SG. He is a highly experienced and innovative leader who excels in fast-paced environments and is dedicated to achieving team success. His focus on developing cutting-edge products and solutions has been instrumental in positioning Times Higher Education as a leader in higher education data and insights. He is now dedicated to helping bridge the digital divide and connecting people to resources and opportunities to help them reach their full potential..
Ivo Vlaev
Ivo Vlaev is a highly respected behavioural psychologist and professor of behavioural science at Warwick Business School. He has written extensively on finance and health, and in 2010 he co-authored the acclaimed Mindspace report for the UK Cabinet Office, providing advice on using behavioural insights in policy making.
Ivo has since provided counsel to many public and private organisations, such as the Department of Health and Social Care, HM Revenue and Customs, Cabinet Office, Financial Conduct Authority, Tesco, E.ON, AXA, Fairbanking Foundation, Ipsos Mori, Swissre, Barclays Bank, Capital One, NatWest, Royal Bank of Scotland, Ecorys, BearingPoint, Ogilvy, Ernst & Young, Bain & Company, Pfizer, McDonald's, and Omnicom.
Nick Rawkins
Nick Rawkins is the CEO of Reconome, a social enterprise which seeks to revolutionise how technology is used and perceived. As a leader in this field, he has built relationships with a range of stakeholders, from global companies to charities, to ensure that Reconome's mission of providing access to technology for those who need it is fulfilled. He and his team are dedicated to making the world smarter, faster, and more equitable.
Jocelle Lovell
Jocelle is the Financial Inclusion Project Manager for The Wales Cooperative Centre's 'Your Money Your Home' programme. She is a passionate leader with a proven track record of establishing pan-Wales programmes to improve social inclusion and tackle inequalities across Wales’s most disadvantaged communities. Jocelle has extensive operational experience working with disadvantaged people and strategic management experience working with senior figures in the public, private, and third sectors. She specialises in leadership and people development, relationship management, building sustainable partnerships, delivering service improvements, service user engagement, and responsible business practices.
Saket Jasoria
Saket currently heads the Retail Savings business and Pricing function at Santander. He is a digital-first business leader with 25 years of global experience driving business growth in banking and technology, strategy and change across innovation, transformation and capability build and run with a constant focus on broader societal priorities.
Jake Hutton
Jake Hutton is the leader of Debt Operations at Christians Against Poverty (CAP), a Christian organisation dedicated to relieving poverty. With over ten years of experience in management and direction in the charity sector, Jake is passionate about ensuring charities reach their objectives to help others. He is determined to provide churches with the resources they need to serve their communities.
With his expertise and enthusiasm for helping those in need, Jake is devoted to guiding CAP's mission of offering debt advice and a plan to assist people out of debt.
Howard Taylor
Howard Taylor is the Complex Risk and Regulatory Change Director and Global Delivery Lead at PwC, as well as a Financial Inclusion Expert and Remediation Specialist. With over 15 years of experience in the Financial Services sector, his expertise lies in navigating clients through the changing regulatory environment post-financial crisis. He has been instrumental in helping clients adjust to bank capital changes, financial inclusion, swap miss-selling and LIBOR replacement across banking and wealth clients. Howard is passionate about creating effective risk management solutions that are aligned with business objectives and customer outcomes.
Sohail Shaikh
Sohail Shaikh is a senior director with over 16 years of experience in PwC’s Deals Business unit. He is responsible for leading investment and deal services for Private Equity, Venture Capital, Sovereign Wealth Fund and Government Clients. Sohail also leads PwC’s fund management services as a CFO and COO (dual role) for an Innovation fund sponsored by UK regional government body (Cardiff Capital Region). Sohail has advised several UK and International Funds, Investment Banks and Government institutions on capital allocation planning, performance management and investment process, including pre and post-deal structuring. His expertise extends to advising clients on identifying performance issues and implementing transformative initiatives across various sectors, including financial services, technology, media, telecommunications, aerospace and defence, and supply chain and logistics.
Rachel Neaman
Rachel is an influential technology leader specialising in digital transformation, leadership, skills, inclusion and healthtech. Following an executive career in the private, public and non-profit sectors in the UK and internationally, she is now a Non-Executive Director, business advisor and ACC-accredited executive coach. From 2014–16 she was CEO of Baroness Martha Lane Fox’s digital inclusion charity Go ON UK, which developed the first Basic Digital Skills Framework and the first Heatmap of Digital Inclusion.
As part of Rachel’s non-executive portfolio, she is a Governor and Chair of the Digital Committee of Birkbeck, University of London, a Non-Executive Director and member of the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Committee of TPXImpact Plc, and sits on the Boards of the Campaign for Social Science and DigitalHealth.London. She was a member of the Board of Digital Leaders for 10 years and Chair for three. Rachel is a frequent speaker at UK and international conferences, has appeared regularly before parliamentary Select Committees, is a frequent judge of digital awards, is a member of the International Coaching Federation (ICF), and is a Fellow of the RSA.
Ellen Martin
Ellen Martin is Citizens Online’s Research and Evaluation Officer, responsible for working across the organisation, analysing and sharing the charity’s impact, as well as undertaking local and national research into digital inclusion. She has a research background in Human Rights and has extensive qualitative and quantitative research experience and facilitation skills.
Ellen has previously explored a range of digital research projects, from using social media to connect marginalised communities to the impact of online negative framing and messaging on LGBTQIA+ identities. She is experienced and passionate about collecting a variety of data to demonstrate the long-lasting and wide-reaching impact of digital support.
Polly Morgan
Polly Morgan is the Programme Director at iDEA Foundation, an international award-winning programme that helps people develop digital, enterprise and employability skills for free. Polly has a wealth of experience in developing and delivering innovative learning programmes and has been instrumental in the success of iDEA.
She is passionate about helping people acquire the skills they need to succeed in the digital world, and her dedication to the programme has enabled it to reach millions of learners around the world.
Jo Dalton
Jo Dalton is an accomplished communications professional and political campaign strategist. She is an Associate Director at Lodestone Communications, the first specialist public affairs agency to join the global community of businesses that meet high standards of social impact through the B Corp certification. At Lodestone, Jo runs successful campaigns for digital charities and Trade Unions, leads activity for the Parliamentary Internet, Communications and Technology and Forum (PICTFOR), and was instrumental in the setup of the Data Poverty APPG in 2021. In these roles, Jo acts as a conduit between the tech sector and policymakers across Westminster, delivering an annual programme of activity which shapes policy on cyber security, digital skills, equity, diversity & inclusion in tech, data poverty and beyond.
Gary Kernaghan
Gary is a Business Development Consultant and was previously the Head of Money and Debt Operations at the Money and Pensions Service. He has a proven track record of securing major income for organisations in the Private, Public and Voluntary Sectors. Focusing primarily on those working with the most vulnerable in our society due to unemployment, debt, abuse, health and disabilities.
Tim Stranack
Tim Stranack is the Founder and Director of Community Fibre, an organisation working with London's landowners to bring full fibre-optic connections to properties across the capital. With a wealth of experience in both the private and public sectors, Tim has developed a reputation as an entrepreneurial manager with an impressive track record of launching and managing successful companies. He is passionate about providing Londoners with access to the latest technology and strives to make Community Fibre the go-to provider in the city.
Helen Burrows
Helen Burrows is the head of the content and services policy team at BT Group, handling matters such as digital inclusion, consumer fairness, online harms, and data. During the pandemic, Helen worked with the Government to assist vulnerable customers and citizens. She was also part of the Creative Industries Council's Access to Finance group and wrote a report on access finance for the sector.
Before joining BT Group, Helen was a Senior Researcher on culture, creative industries and communications policy for Ed Vaizey when he was an opposition MP. Earlier in her career, she was a photographer and writer in the fashion and music industries. Helen studied politics, philosophy and economics at New College, Oxford.
Elisabeth Rochford
Elisabeth Rochford leads Virgin Media O2’s work tackling the digital divide as their Head of Social Equity, Value and impact. Whilst there, she has galvanised the UK telco industry response to digital poverty by spearheading a multi-stakeholder database of free connectivity for 500,000 people, the National Databank. Originally from Ireland, she is a Trustee of Age UK Islington and lives in Hackney, London.
Joanna Moriarty
Joanna Moriarty is a Partner at Green Park Executive Search. She sits in the Civil Society and Government practice and leads Green Park’s work on Arts and Heritage, Faith and Trusts and Foundations, focused on roles with a strong understanding of social purpose. She has a background in senior leadership in the charities sector and brings to Green Park her experience as a Trustee for organisations including ODST (a top ten Multi-Academy Trust) and Feed the Minds, an INGO focused on women’s literacy and social inclusion in the developing world.
Green Park was set up to promote diversity, including social mobility and widening participation, and Joanna’s work includes thought leadership on how tech developments are impacting this, positively and negatively, in recruitment and in the work of the non-profit sector more widely.
Sarah Porretta
Sarah will be joining Fair4All Finance in September as Executive Director of Policy and Strategy. Prior to this, she was Executive Director for Strategy and Insights at the Money and Pensions Service for five years. She specialises in strategy, stakeholder engagement, and innovation.
In the last few years, she has published the National Strategy for Financial Wellbeing, a government-backed strategy involving and engaging a wide range of public and private sector organisations. She also ran a financial capability lab, employing behavioural insights to test a range of consumer interventions, and built an evidence base of what works to improve the financial wellbeing of consumers. .
Graham Walker
Graham Walker is a strategist and public policy expert; advising Ministers in the UK and internationally on innovation, digital economy and public service delivery. Graham has been hugely influential in the UK government’s digital journey for over 20 years, working in all sectors to improve digital public service delivery and fight for digital inclusion. As Director of Strategy at the Office of the eEnvoy in Cabinet Office, he was responsible for the UK’s first broadband strategy and the set up of the Broadband Stakeholder Group. He also led the transactional services strand of the 2004 Efficiency Review; built a HMT approved business case for a salary sacrifice PC purchase scheme; and championed funding for UK online centres. As the Managing Partner of an international consultancy business, Graham supported government assisted PC and broadband purchase programmes across Europe and in several US states. He also developed the business case and delivery model for the UK Government’s £300m Home Access Programme. Graham worked closely with Martha Lane Fox, the UK’s Digital Champion as Government Director for RaceOnline2012, drafting The Manifesto for a Networked Nation, which was launched by the PM and Martha at No10. He also played a key role in developing Martha’s report “DirectGov 2010 and Beyond: revolution not evolution” and was loaned to the Cabinet Office as Director of Digital Delivery to deliver its recommendations; which included the economic case for funding the Government Digital Service and launching GOV.UK. More recently, Graham has led work on innovation and digital capability building in GDS.