Nesta, the innovation charity, has appointed James Plunkett as Group Chief Practices Officer. Working across Nesta and its sister organisation The Behavioural Insights Team (BIT), James will lead teams across research, data analytics, design and technology, arts and collective intelligence.

James joins us from Citizens Advice, where he is currently Executive Director of Advice and Advocacy — overseeing the technology, data and customer journey teams, leading their policy and advocacy work, and applying user-centred design and digital technology in multi-disciplinary teams.

Before Citizens Advice, James was Director of Policy at the Resolution Foundation. He has also previously worked at 10 Downing Street and the Cabinet Office, and as a strategy consultant in the private sector. His book, End State: 9 Ways Society is Broken and How We Can Fix it, offers an ‘honest yet hopeful perspective on the future’.

James Plunkett said: “I’m so thrilled to be joining the teams at BIT and Nesta. I can’t think of anywhere better to explore how we apply new methods and practices to society’s thorniest problems.

"For a while now I’ve had a growing sense that the ways we do social change - from Whitehall policy development processes, to wider efforts at institutional reform - are as broken as the systems we’re trying to fix. BIT and Nesta are showing how this could be different, practising new ways of applying the frontier of insight and methodological practice to big social challenges. There’s no more important work.

I can’t wait to get stuck into this challenge with Ravi and the teams at BIT and Nesta. Needless to say, we’ll be working in the open, sharing as we go, so more soon!”

Ravi Gurumurthy, Chief Executive of Nesta said: “I’m delighted to welcome James to Nesta and BIT. Across both organisations, we are designing, testing and scaling life-changing solutions, and drawing on a range of disciplines and practices, from behavioural science and design, to data science and the arts. James’ creativity, leadership, and expertise in making practical change happen will be critical to helping us achieve large-scale social impact.”