Carrie Deacon

Head of Social Action Innovation

Carrie is Head of Social Action Innovation at Nesta, leading our work on social action and people powered public services.

This involves the need to move from a paternalistic model of public services where services are 'done to' people, to a more collaborative approach where people are involved in the design and delivery of our public services. Carrie's current portfolio of work supports a range of people powered innovation projects including funds that are testing new models of intensive volunteering, testing models harnessing the time and talents of people aged 50+ in new ways, as well as innovations exploring the role of citizens in emergency response.

Before joining Nesta, Carrie worked for a many years supporting charities and social enterprises around the country to develop their organisation to achieve greater impact, including working with a number of funders on innovation and organisational development programmes. Prior to this she worked on developing and delivering public service reforms at a number of central government departments including the Department for Education and Ministry of Justice.

Carrie is particularly interested in people helping people within communities and volunteers at a range of community projects. She loves cycling and can often be found on her bike.