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How to scale social innovations: growing an organisation to deliver

3 Nov 2026 18:00 – 19:15
The Line, 58 Victoria Embankment EC4Y 0DS and online
Free
Register for the event

How to scale social innovations: growing an organisation to deliver - 3 Nov 2026 18:00 – 19:15

Register for the event

Plenty of promising social innovations never get past the pilot. Others lose momentum once the early enthusiasm fades, because the organisation behind them doesn’t have the direction or capacity to grow.

Join us on Tuesday 3 November 2026 from 18:00-19:15 (GMT) for the final event in our How to scale social innovations series, at The Line, 58 Victoria Embankment, London and online.

So far, the series has looked at forming strategic partnerships, how to use delivery networks and policy influencing as routes to scale. This event looks at the organisation behind the idea and what it takes to build one that can grow.

Through lightning talks and discussion, our speakers will share practical lessons from scaling their own organisations, drawing on Nesta’s scaling toolbox. They’ll cover:

  • building capability by developing staff expertise and leadership
  • securing funding and choosing the right financial model
  • strengthening internal systems so the organisation can sustain its impact as it grows

Speakers include: Sir Tim Smit KBE, co-founder of the Eden Project; Becky Lane, co-founder and chief executive of Furbnow; Philip Colligan CBE, chief executive of the Raspberry Pi Foundation; and Tessa Clarke, co-founder and chief executive of Olio.

This event is for social innovators, charity leaders, funders and anyone who wants practical tools to help their idea grow.

Register to join us in person or online.

Speakers

becky

Becky Lane

She/Her

Becky has been a leading light in the retrofitting game for the past 10 years. Now she's decided to tackle the inefficiencies in people's homes and in the wider industry head-on with Furbnow, as co-founder and CEO. Becky's currently on the board of Sustainable Housing Action Partnership, working for a smart, sustainable national housing infrastructure in the UK. And prior to that she was the Net Zero Neighbourhood Delivery Manager for Energy Capital and Business Modelling consultant for Energy Systems Catapult.

Tessa Clarke 30 April 2025-11-4218

Tessa Clarke

She/Her

Tessa Clarke is the Co-Founder and CEO of Olio, the community-driven app tackling waste and promoting sustainable living. Under her leadership, Olio has grown into a global movement of 10 million people who have together rescued 160 million meals worth of food and re-homed 17 million household items. Tessa is also a TED speaker, columnist for Sifted, and an ambassador for the Better Business Act. In recognition of her impact, she was named Veuve Clicquot Bold Woman of the Year in 2023. Passionate about the power of technology to drive systemic change, Tessa champions purpose-led business, climate action and community collaboration to build a more sustainable and equitable future.

Sir Tim Smit by Rob Donald at Eden Project_March 2026_3

Sir Tim Smit KBE

He/Him

Sir Tim Smit read Archaeology and Anthropology at Durham University. This began a lifelong passion for regeneration and working to put things into good heart. Following occupations embracing his many interests from Archaeology through music to wreck diving, Rare Breed animal husbandry and building restoration, in 1990 He ‘discovered’ and then restored ‘The Lost Gardens of Heligan’ with John Nelson. Of which he remains a Director. This is now one of the UK’s best loved gardens having been named ‘Garden of the Year’ by BBC Countryfile Awards (Mar 2018). Tim’s book ‘The Lost Gardens of Heligan’ won Book of the Year in 1997. Tim is co-founder of the multi award-winning Eden Project in Cornwall. Since its opening in 2001, it has contributed over £1.7 billion to the Cornish economy as people visiting the county have come to see a once sterile pit, turned into a cradle of life containing world-class horticulture and startling architecture symbolic of human endeavour and our dependence and unbreakable part in the systems of the natural world.

image

Philip Colligan CBE

He/Him

Philip Colligan is chief executive of the Raspberry Pi Foundation, an educational non-profit with a global mission to enable young people to realise their full potential through the power of computing and AI. The Foundation empowers schools to teach computing and AI through free curricula, classroom resources, purpose built software tools, and professional development for teachers. They inspire young people to become tech creators through the world's largest network of computing clubs and undertake original research into the teaching and learning of computing and AI. Philip was previously a non-executive director of the Foundation's commercial business, Raspberry Pi Ltd. He was part of the team that led the successful IPO of the business on the London Stock Exchange in June 2024, generating an endowment that fuels the Foundation's educational mission. Prior to joining Raspberry Pi, Philip was Deputy Chief Executive of the UK's innovation foundation, Nesta. He was a founding non-executive director of the Behavioural Insights Team (the Nudge Unit) and a founding trustee of the Centre for London. He served as an adviser on social innovation to the UK government, and has advised municipal and national governments, charities, and social enterprises all over the world. Earlier in his career, Philip was a chief officer at the London Borough of Camden and a senior civil servant in the Home Office. Philip has a degree in law from the University of Liverpool and qualifications in management and finance. He was awarded a CBE for services to Engineering and Technology for Societal Impact in the King's Birthday Honours in 2025. Philip was included in TIME magazine’s list of the 100 most influential people in artificial intelligence in 2026. Outside of work he is a dad, craft cider maker, and a slow cyclist. He is an active member of the local community, having served as a scout volunteer, a school governor, and trustee of a local arts organisation.

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Scaling projects to achieve social impact

Event information

3 Nov 2026 18:00 – 19:15
Free
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