Martin Clark

Deputy CEO at Allia

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Deputy CEO, Allia

Allia is a charitable organisation supporting causes that give people a better future. It started in 1999 with the name Citylife and a mission to raise funds for projects in different cities working to tackle unemployment and disadvantage. It developed its unique charitable bond mechanism as a way of raising more money for those projects than they could have got through donations alone. Future Business is an initiative of Allia giving business support to organisations that want to make a better future. It works with charities, social enterprises and for-profit businesses that want to deliver greater social impact on a sustainable basis. Future Business offers affordable workspace in Cambridge and business advice and training to organisations across the East of England and London. It also specialises in helping organisations to measure and demonstrate their social impact, including support for analysing social return on investment (SROI).

Martin Clark joined in 1996 and as project manager, oversaw the development and launch of the first Bond from Citylife in Sheffield in 1999. More recently he has driven diversification into social enterprise property management and the provision of business support services which is now known as Future Business. He has a PhD in social geography from the University of Sheffield and worked in regeneration consultancy at a university spin-out centre.

He is a member of the Partnership Board of the Greater Cambridge Partnership, a trustee of Cambridge Council for Voluntary Service, and a member of the Bishop’s Council for the Diocese of Ely. He is passionate about using social enterprise to tackle social problems, and is the author of The Social Entrepreneur Revolution (Marshall Cavendish 2009) which aims to popularise social entrepreneurship.