Carrie Deacon

Head of Social Action Innovation

Carrie is Head of Social Action Innovation at Nesta. Carrie leads Nesta's work on social action and people powered public services - that is 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 at a 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.