Dan Jones
Director, Innovation Lab
Dan was a Director in the Innovation Lab where he oversaw practical programme work on public and social innovation, with a particular focus on inclusion and mobilising citizen engagement. This involved partnerships across the public, private and social sector to foster community-led solutions to key social and economic challenges. He was responsible for the £14.5m Centre for Social Action Innovation Fund, which focused on scaling innovations that mobilise volunteers, service users and professionals to deliver public services in new, more impactful ways. Other projects included Innovation in Childcare, Innovation in Jobs and Rethinking Parks (a partnership with Nesta, Big Lottery Fund and Heritage Lottery Fund).
Prior to joining Nesta, Dan worked for Christian Aid, managing a multi-million pound innovation fund and establishing a global programme to roll out new approaches to health and livelihoods for vulnerable families. He spent 17 years working in international development for Christian Aid, the International HIV/AIDS Alliance, VSO and The Leprosy Mission International. He has worked in over 20 countries, including Bangladesh, Brazil, Ecuador, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Nigeria and Sierra Leone.
Dan has a longstanding interest in strengthening the links between planning, implementation and evaluation, and particularly in feeding learning back into better decision-making. He is a frequent speaker on evidence, impact and value for money, and sits on the Steering Group for the Bond Evidence Principles.
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