Sarah Holliday

Researcher, Challenge Prize Centre - Core

Sarah is a researcher in Nesta Challenges, she will be helping to scope out and identify opportunities for innovation and bring people together to solve society's toughest problems.

Sarah works to discover and define new opportunities for innovation where challenge prize methodology can be used to accelerate progress, empower innovators and unlock systemic change.

Sarah has a background in chemistry research, where she developed next-generation solar energy technologies for widening energy access globally. After leaving academia to pursue a career in social innovation, Sarah worked with charities and local government across London to tackle a number of social and environmental challenges including digital inclusion, air pollution, community energy and youth-led projects. As a fellow with Year Here, Sarah developed a strong toolkit in service design methods and community engagement, and she is passionate about empowering people across society with the knowledge and skills to become changemakers.

In her spare time, Sarah runs a social enterprise that brings together policymakers and people working in frontline service delivery to share insights and develop their own innovation toolkit. She also runs a community garden in Peckham, London, and is co-host of a podcast called Utopia Dispatch where she gets to talk to lots of clever people who are radically reshaping society.