Popular searches

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.

More about us

Tom Leach

Senior Policy Advisor

Tom Leach Tom Leach

Tom Leach

Missions

Aidan Kelly Aisha Camara Alasdair Hiscock Andrew Sissons Andy Marsden Andy Regan Angela Mitchell Anish Chacko Benoit Siberdt Björn Rust Camille Stengel Chris Norris Claire Doran Clara Widdison Codrina Cretu Daniel Lewis David Bleines David Dearlove Davinia Kiley Dea Nielsen Elena Mariani Ella Sandelson Ellen Davies Ellie Bristow Elspeth Kirkman Elysia Lucas Eve Lerouge Frances Bain Ghazal Moenie Hema Kalamogan Holly Bolger Hugo Harper Jess Gillam John Barber Jonathan Bone Josh Jackson Julia Blom Kate Tudor Katherine Parkin Katy King Kelly Evans Kinza Mahmood Laura Jones Lauren Bowes Byatt Lauren Liotti Linda Macdonald Lizzie Ingram Louise Bazalgette Lourdes Valencia Torres Lucy Kraftman Lucy Turner-Harris Lydia Leon Madeleine Gabriel Marcus Shepheard Marine Furet Martina Kavan Mary-Alice Doyle Max Blore Max Hadley Max Woollard Michael Fell Monique Tan Oli Berry Oliver Zanetti Omar Idris Parita Doshi Patricia Beloe Rachel Wilcock Rebecca Ige Robin Parker Roisín Gorman Ryu Matsuura Sarah Cattan Sean Kelleher-Clarke Shaan Jindal Shyamolie Biyani Simran Motiani Suraj Vadgama Terpsi Panayotidis Thomas Bunting Tim Shakespeare Tom Gunter Umesh (uMe) Pandya Vivek Roy-Chowdhury Zhen Rao

Policy

Andy Regan Angela Mitchell Fiona McFarlane Ikhlas Merabti Julia Blom Livia Katz Rachel Carter Sara Elias Tess Wright Tim Leunig Tom Gunter

Tom is senior policy advisor at Nesta.

Tom works in the central policy team, set up to support the development and adoption of new, high-impact policies that will unlock progress in Nesta’s missions. Tom collaborates closely with the sustainable future mission team and has led recent work on policy barriers in home decarbonisation, reforms to Government funding schemes, and unlocking innovation in the wider energy system.

Tom has a background working in Government, and has spent time in MHCLG, Cabinet Office and DfE.

Browse content from Tom Leach

Could distribution network operators (DNOs) play a greater role in the heat transition?

Project Update
01.12.25

What could £13.2 billion do to improve British homes?

Blog
10.06.25

Using personas to understand policy barriers to innovation in home decarbonisation

Project Update
07.05.25

Nesta’s response to government consultation on EPC reform

Blog
06.03.25

England cut teen pregnancy - and there are policy lessons for everyone

Blog
19.11.24

EPCs need radical reform - here’s four ways how

Blog
14.11.24

What can we learn from Sweden’s roll-out of heat pumps?

24.10.24

Net zero: the ideas

Report
04.09.24

Economic growth: the ideas

Report
04.09.24

What can we learn from England’s teenage pregnancy strategy?

16.07.24

Net zero: the choices

Report
27.06.24

Net zero: the fundamentals

Report
27.06.24

The future of energy retail: how we could reshape the market

Blog
02.05.24

Future of energy retail: how could the electricity retail market be designed to better support net zero delivery?

Report
29.04.24

The future of energy retail: why we need to rethink the market

Blog
29.04.24

Also in Missions

Aidan Kelly

Junior Data Scientist, Data Science Practice

Aisha Camara

Intern, sustainable future mission

Alasdair Hiscock

Senior Design Lead, Design & Technology

Andrew Sissons

Deputy Director, sustainable future mission

Andy Marsden

Design Lead, Design & Technology

Andy Regan

Head of Nesta Cymru

Angela Mitchell

Head of Nesta Scotland

Anish Chacko

Analyst, healthy life mission

Benoit Siberdt

Senior analyst, sustainable future mission

Björn Rust

Design Lead, healthy life mission

Camille Stengel

Head of Qualitative Methods

Chris Norris

Senior Programme Manager, Central Programmes

Claire Doran

Interim head of delivery (research and methods)

Clara Widdison

Mission Manager, healthy life mission

Codrina Cretu

Mission Manager, sustainable future mission

Daniel Lewis

Principal Researcher, sustainable future mission

David Bleines

Senior Researcher, Central Programmes

David Dearlove

Principal Researcher, healthy life mission

Davinia Kiley

Programme Manager, sustainable future mission

Dea Nielsen

Lead Behavioural Scientist, fairer start mission

Elena Mariani

Principal Data Scientist, healthy life mission

Ella Sandelson

Programme Manager, healthy life mission

Ellen Davies

Designer, Design & Technology

Ellie Bristow

Mission Manager (Wales), fairer start mission

Elspeth Kirkman

Chief Programmes Officer

Elysia Lucas

Quantitative Analyst, sustainable future mission

Eve Lerouge

Designer, sustainable future mission

Frances Bain

Mission Manager (Scotland), healthy life mission

Ghazal Moenie

Behavioural Scientist, fairer start mission

Hema Kalamogan

Assistant Programme Manager, healthy life mission

Holly Bolger

Project Manager

Hugo Harper

Mission Director, healthy life mission

Jess Gillam

Data Scientist, fairer start mission

John Barber

Deputy Director, healthy life mission

Jonathan Bone

Mission Manager, healthy life mission

Josh Jackson

Analyst, sustainable future mission

Julia Blom

Programme Manager

Kate Tudor

Principal Researcher, healthy life mission

Katherine Parkin

Analyst, fairer start mission

Katy King

Deputy Director, sustainable future mission

Kelly Evans

Executive Assistant to CPO and Chief Scientist, Central Programmes

Kinza Mahmood

Analyst, healthy life mission

Laura Jones

Senior Analyst, fairer start mission

Lauren Bowes Byatt

Deputy Director, healthy life mission

Lauren Liotti

Mission Manager, fairer start mission

Linda Macdonald

Mission Manager (Scotland), fairer start mission

Lizzie Ingram

Mission Manager, fairer start mission

Louise Bazalgette

Deputy director, fairer start mission

Lourdes Valencia Torres

Behavioural Scientist

Lucy Kraftman

Senior Analyst, fairer start mission

A powerful ecosystem for innovation

We extend our impact through two specialised units that help people and organisations to solve complex problems and achieve their goals.

BIT

BIT helps clients from government, nonprofits and the private sector to improve people’s lives through our empirical problem solving and deep understanding of human behaviour.

Challenge Works

Challenge Works designs and runs challenge prizes to spark innovation in science, technology and society.

Stay up to date

Get our regular newsletter and tailor your updates on our missions, programmes and events