Nesta, the UK’s innovation foundation, has appointed Sir John Gieve as its next Chair of the Board of Trustees with effect from March 2016. He succeeds Sir John Chisholm, who has been Chair of Trustees at the charity since 2009.  

Sir John Chisholm says: “Nesta has come a long way since it became a charity in 2012. It is a really buzzing and creative place with immense potential to do good in the many fields enabled by innovation. I am delighted to be handing over the Chair to John, who brings a unique breadth of experience and rigorous insight to guide Nesta in the exciting years to come.”

“I am looking forward to working even more closely with Geoff Mulgan and the exceptional team of thinkers and doers at Nesta,” comments Sir John Gieve. “Under John Chisholm’s leadership we have successfully moved from quango to independent charity, and become an international hub for innovation. We are in a great position over the coming years to make an even bigger contribution to  helping  Britain make the most of rapid technological and social change.”   

Already a Trustee of Nesta, Sir John Gieve provides the charity with a wealth of Board experience in the public sector, civil society and business as Chairman of VocaLink, an independent director of CLS and of the Homerton Hospital Trust, and Chair of Trustees for the Clore Social Leadership Programme. He was Deputy Governor of the Bank of England from 2006 to 2009, and formerly Permanent Secretary of the Home Office (2001-2005) following 20 years at the UK Treasury.

Formed by Government in 1998 to promote innovation, Nesta became a charity in 2012 and aims to mobilise ideas and imagination for the common good and boost the UK’s capacity to innovate. Collaboration is central to Nesta’s ethos in innovation across diverse sectors. Key projects in 2016 include the £7 million Arts Impact Fund, focusing on the social, artistic and financial return created by arts organisations; its Health Lab conference on the future of people powered health and FutureFest - exploring the future at Nesta’s high-profile festival in London in September 2016.

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About Nesta: (www.nesta.org.uk) is the UK's innovation foundation. We help people and organisations bring great ideas to life. We do this by providing investments and grants and mobilising research, networks and skills. We are an independent charity and our work is enabled by an endowment from the National Lottery. Nesta is a registered charity in England and Wales 1144091 and Scotland SC042833

For more information contact Katie Randerson at Nesta: katie.randerson@nesta.org.uk, telephone 020 7438 2606. Photographs are available on request.