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Helping children thrive: how do we drive a national focus on parenting

Nesta at Labour Party Conference

In A fairer start

28 Sep 2025

This event took place on Sunday 28 September. You can watch the recording below.

Event recording

The opinions expressed in this event recording are those of the speaker. For more information, view our full statement on external contributors.

Too many families don’t have access to the support they need to thrive – but effective parenting programmes can be transformative for children’s outcomes. In collaboration with Foundations, we hosted an expert panel to unpack what’s working, what’s missing and how a national focus on parenting support can help break down barriers to opportunity and give all children the best start in life.

This event was for policymakers, practitioners, local authorities and those passionate about improving childhood outcomes.

Ravi Gurumurthy

He/Him

Ravi Gurumurthy is the CEO of Nesta, the UK’s innovation foundation. He joined in 2019 after founding the Airbel Innovation Lab at the International Rescue Committee. In this role, he designed and scaled services for people affected by crisis in over 40 countries, addressing issues from malnutrition to employment for Syrian refugees. Before that, Ravi held several senior roles in the UK government. As Director of Strategy at the Department of Energy and Climate Change, he led the development of the world’s first legally binding carbon emissions targets. He also served as a strategic advisor to the Foreign Secretary and worked as a researcher at the think tank Demos.

Olivia Bailey MP

She/Her

Olivia Bailey was elected as the MP for Reading West and Mid Berkshire in July 2024. She is the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Minister for Early Education) and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Minister for Equalities) at the Department for Education. Her parents' public service roles inspired her to get involved in politics and to improve her community. In her professional life, Olivia has worked in policy and public opinion research, and has held senior roles in a range of think tanks and research bodies. She has also worked in recent years as Head of Domestic Policy to Keir Starmer. Her passion is putting the public at the heart of policy making. Olivia lives in Tilehurst with her wife and two children, and she is passionate about improving her local community.

Sam Creme

She/Her

Sam is passionate about increasing social mobility and believes that more can be achieved through partnerships. Sam is an independent advisor to the Department for Education and was previously the Director of Strategy & Business Development for the London Early Years Foundation (LEYF). She has also supported foundations and charities focused on child poverty relief and early childhood development. Sam started her career in consulting (at Stroud International and then at Bain & Co) and is currently on the Funding Panel for NatWest Social & Community Capital, which provides patient and flexible loans to charities and social enterprises.

Donna Molloy

She/Her

Donna leads Foundations’ work on impact and ensuring evidence is used to influence local and national policy and practice. She works extensively with policymakers in Whitehall departments, sector organisations and those leading services in local areas. Before joining Foundations, Donna helped set up the Early Intervention Foundation (EIF) and was EIF’s Director of Policy & Practice from 2013. She was awarded an OBE for services to disadvantaged children and young people in the 2022 New Year Honours. Prior to her time at EIF, Donna spent over 10 years in central government roles, developing policy and programmes to support disadvantaged children and families. She ran national programmes to increase the availability of evidence-based parenting and family support as deputy head of the DfE Families at Risk division, and also worked as a senior policy adviser in the Home Office, Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit and the Social Exclusion Unit. Donna started her career as a researcher at the National Centre for Social Research.

Louise Bazalgette

She/Her

Louise Bazalgette is a Deputy Director at Nesta, where she leads Louise works as part of a multi-disciplinary innovation team focused on narrowing the outcome gap for disadvantaged children. Before this role, she was a Principal Research Advisor for Nesta’s Alliance for Useful Evidence, where she helped develop the "What Works for Children's Social Care" center. Louise's background is in using evidence to inform policy and practice. She previously worked at the think tank Demos, researching topics like parenting and early years, and at the NSPCC, where she led a system redesign project to improve mental health outcomes for children in care.

Helping children thrive: how do we drive a national focus on parenting

About Nesta

Helping children thrive: how do we drive a national focus on parenting

This event took place on Sunday 28 September. You can watch the recording below.