About Nesta

Nesta is a research and innovation foundation. We apply our deep expertise in applied methods to design, test and scale solutions to some of the biggest challenges of our time, working across the innovation lifecycle.

Denise Amankwah is a research assistant at Nesta.

Previously, as an advisor at Speech and Language UK, she helped revise the organisation's language interventions and delivered training to hundreds of Early Years Practitioners. She also held focus groups with multilingual parents to ensure the interventions were suitable for all families.

Denise’s professional experience includes working as a Senior Early Years Practitioner in a socially disadvantaged area in London and as an Early Years Teacher at a private international school. She holds a degree in Linguistics from UCL and a Masters in Education specialising in Language and Literacy. While studying, she worked as a research assistant on several national projects focused on early language and literacy, drawing on her extensive background in early years education and research. 

She is currently completing her PhD in Applied Linguistics, with a particular interest in multilingualism. In her spare time, she organises 'give-back' initiatives for schools in Ghana, her parents’ home country.