What is the Policy Leaders Fellowship?
The Policy Leaders Fellowship addresses the needs of the most senior policy makers – whether in Whitehall, Brussels, devolved administrations in the UK, or equivalent organisations – providing access to research and academic expertise. Launched in 2013 under the Chairmanship of former UK Cabinet Secretary Lord Wilson, its discussions focus on the need for long-term thinking, the value of evidence, and fresh perspectives on key challenges.
Who is the Fellowship for?
Policy Leaders Fellows join the Fellowship by invitation. Those who take part include Permanent Secretaries and Directors-General from Whitehall and beyond, as well as Chief Executives of agencies and major corporations and foundations.
What does the Fellowship involve?
Our Leaders Fellows participate both in one-to-one meetings with leading academics and in roundtable discussions with researchers and other Fellows. The Fellowship meets once a term in Cambridge, and is now chaired by the Master of Trinity College and former Chief Medical Officer for England, Professor Dame Sally Davies.
Over the course of the two-year Fellowship, Fellows commit to two days of meetings per year.
What topics are covered?
Roundtable meetings have included discussions on the intelligent use of modelling in government, the future of work, cities, conspiracy and democracy, and open policy making in a digital world; they have also explored the latest thinking on academic frontiers such as biodiversity, neuroscience, artificial intelligence, blockchain, life sciences and the internet.
What are the benefits of joining the Fellowship?
- access to senior academics across all disciplines
- membership of a network of high-level policy professionals
- access to structured interactions, including the opportunity to convene bespoke discussions
- the challenge to thinking which is characteristic of the Fellowship process, promoting innovation and creative approaches.
Policy Leaders Fellows (and alumni)
Those who have completed two years as Fellows are now alumni. Current Policy Leaders Fellows and alumni/alumnae are listed below:
Policy Leaders Fellows
James Bowler
Cabinet Office
Deborah Cadman
Birmingham City Council
Alex Chisholm
Cabinet Office
Juliet Chua
Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office
Shona Dunn
Department of Health and Social Care
Tamara Finkelstein
Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra)
Julian Kelly
NHS England
Sam Lister
Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS)
Helen MacNamara
Cabinet Office
Scott McPherson
Department of Health and Social Care
Emily Miles
Food Standards Agency
Hayaatun Sillem
Royal Academy of Engineering
Andrew Slade
Welsh Government
Lucy Smith
Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra)
Tracey Waltho
Cabinet Office
David Williams
Ministry of Defence (MoD)
Policy Leaders Fellows - Alumni
Tera Allas
McKinsey & Company
Mike Anderson
Kosmos Energy
Gillian Beasley
Cambridgeshire County Council
Sam Beckett
Office of National Statistics (ONS)
Deborah Bronnert
Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office
Nadia Calviño
Spanish Government
Lindy Cameron
National Cyber Security Centre
Jon Cunliffe
Bank of England
Gareth Davies
Department for Transport (DfT)
Helen Edwards
Recovery Focus
Leslie Evans
Scottish Government
David Eyton
BP
Matthew Gould
NHSX
Iain Gray
Cranfield University
Paul Grice
Queen Margaret University Edinburgh
Tricia Hayes
Home Office
Sarah Healey
Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS)
Ed Humpherson
UK Statistics Authority
Joy Hutcheon
Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO)
Nick Joicey
Department for Work and Pensions (DWP)
Gavin Kelly
Resolution Foundation
David Kennedy
Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra)
Paul Kett
Department for Education
Robert Madelin
Fipra International Ltd
Charlie Massey
General Medical Council (GMC)
Clive Maxwell
Department for Transport (DfT)
Jonathan Mills
Department for Work and Pensions (DWP)
Jeremy Moore
BPDTS Ltd
Shan Morgan
Welsh Government
Clare Moriarty
Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB)
Geoff Mulgan
UCL Public Policy
Sue Owen
Jeremy Pocklington
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG)
Vikas Pota
Education Outcomes Fund
John Pullinger
The Electoral Commission
Antonia Romeo
Department for International Trade (DIT)
Philip Rutnam
Philip Rycroft
Bennett Institute for Public Policy, University of Cambridge
Jonathan Slater
Geoffrey Spence
Julia Unwin
Patrick Vallance
Government Office for Science (GO-Science)
Ashok Vaswani
Barclays
Peter Watkins
Chatham House
Katrina Williams
Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra)
Chris Wormald
Department of Health and Social Care
Phil Wynn Owen
Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC)