I am a Founder Director and Head of Impact at the Real Ideas Organisation, a social enterprise in the south west of England. We develop listed community buildings to regenerate places and run innovative programmes for young people in need. This has included opening Europe's first large-scale immersive VR dome in the Devonport Market Hall, Plymouth. Prior to Real Ideas I worked in social research (Oxford and UBC), and managed large-scale regeneration programmes.

I was awarded a Fellowship in 2013 and in 2017, and made one of the first 15 Social Enterprise UK Honorary Fellows.

I think we waste far too much potential in this country because we don't really focus on and nurture what children are good at, their ideas or what makes them special, nor do we give them much agency. All my work has been driven by a desire for change here and a sense that things could work much better.

My Fellowship took me to the USA and Canada to learn from organisations supporting children to be 'socially enterprising' and enabling young people to make change happen for themselves, their schools and communities. The learning from my Fellowship has helped my organisation develop significantly, and still ripples every day.