Social Infrastructure and Left-behind Places: building policy from below

Sarah Chaytor (Chair)

Director of Research Strategy & Policy at UCL

Sarah Chaytor is Director of Strategy & Policy for UCL Research, Innovation & Global Engagement. 

She was a co-founder and is currently co-Chair of UPEN, the Universities Policy Engagement Network; leads the £10 million Capabilities in Academic-Policy Engagement project; and is Principal Investigator and Strategic Engagement Director for the International Public Policy Observatory. She is also a Co-Director of the Research on Research Institute. 

Sarah established and oversees UCL’s flagship academic-policy engagement initiative, UCL Public Policy, to connect UCL research to public policymaking. She works closely with the Vice-Provost (Research, Innovation and Global Engagement) on the strategic management of UCL’s research and innovation agenda and the coordination of activities across the portfolio.

Julian Coman

Associate Editor at The Guardian

Julian Coman is an Associate Editor and Leader-Writer at the Guardian. He was formerly Head of News at the Observer and Washington Correspondent for the Sunday Telegraph.

Helen Goulden

Chief Executive Officer at The Young Foundation

As Chief Executive Officer of The Young Foundation, Helen leads a multi-disciplinary team of researchers and innovators to support stronger communities across the UK. Prior to joining The Young Foundation, she spent nine years at Nesta as Executive Director, supporting, funding and scaling innovation in civil society, social tech, government, arts and education. 

Previous roles have included work within the private sector developing digital strategies and solutions for global corporate clients. She spent five years consulting in the Cabinet Office, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, and then Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG), developing national innovation programmes for local government and leading research and development for interactive TV public services. Helen is also a Trustee of the Big Education Trust.

Helen was awarded an OBE for services to development of sustainable communities in the 2023 New Year Honours List. 

Professor Marc Stears

Director of the UCL Policy Lab at UCL

Marc Stears is an internationally regarded academic, political strategist, speechwriter and executive educator, who specialises in creating dynamic collaborations between academic researchers and broader society. Currently the inaugural Director of the UCL Policy Lab, Marc has previously been Director of the Sydney Policy Lab at the University of Sydney, CEO of the New Economics Foundation, Professor of political theory at the University of Oxford and chief speechwriter to the UK Labour Party. He enjoys a worldwide reputation as a leadership coach and communications strategist, having supported Board and Executive Committee members for major organisations including for some of the world’s largest companies. 

He is the author of several books from the world’s leading presses, including Out of the Ordinary published by Harvard University Press in 2021. Along with his co-author Tom Baldwin, he has just completed a new book entitled England: Seven Myths that Changed a Nation and How to Set them Straight, due out from Bloomsbury in April 2024.

Professor John Tomaney

Professor of Urban and Regional Planning at UCL

John Tomaney is Professor of Urban and Regional Planning at University College London. His research interests are focused on the political economy of local and regional development. A Fellow of the UK Academy of Social Sciences and a Fellow of the Regional Studies Association, he is also a trustee of Redhills: the Durham Miners’ Hall and Sacriston Youth Project.