Acknowledgements
Experts by Experience is a term coined by social change-makers in the United Kingdom using their lived experience to pioneer and lead social change.
Thanks to:
The Clore Social Leadership Programme (CSLP) team for their support throughout, including Shaks Ghosh, Louise Drake, Isaac Abraham, Iga Wojtasik and CSLP’s former team, Founding Director, Dame Mary Marsh and former Programmes Director, Liz Lowther.
Social sector leaders in the United Kingdom and United States for their candid reflections on this topic which helped inform the eventual design and frame of this research.
The interviewees who generously contributed their time, knowledge and input into this research – your valuable, challenging and thought-provoking insights and reflections have shaped and informed the content of this report.
The many individuals whose support and encouragement helped power this work. They include Phyllida Shaw, Fiona Dawe, Maria Adebowle-Schaffer, Michael Cooke, Jamie Beddard, Ben Gadd, Jim Coe, Liam Barrington-Bush, Gareth Dix, Eugenie Teasley, Esther Foreman and Kathy Evans.
Peter Orr for his editing skills and for his unfettered support to help bring this report over the finishing line.
The teams at the Clore Social Leadership Programme, Lankelly Chase, the Big Lottery Fund, The Social Innovation Partnership, UnLtd, Ten Years Time, Koreo and RECLAIM for openly embracing my reflections and findings encapsulated in this research and for recognising its value in inspiring and informing their work to help educate, build and sustain leadership from, and within, all our communities.
The Social Change Agency for embracing this work to help inform and shape their ‘Lost Voices’ project
To Daniela Papi-Thornton, author of ‘Tackling Heropreneurship’ and the Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship at Oxford Saïd Business School, for using the reflections during this research to inspire their social impact education work, likewise for inspiring mine, and for recognising the value this work brings to all social purpose organisations whatever element of the sector they inhabit.
Last, but definitely not least, to my family – your courage, integrity and strength continue to inspire me.
This report was launched at The House of Saint Barnabas, the UK’s first not-for-profit members’ club run to support London’s homeless people back into lasting work. The author would like to thank the HOSB team and its CEO Sandra Schembri for kindly hosting and chairing the event, and give a huge thank you to all the attendees, many of whom travelled from across the UK.
A special thanks to Dawn Austwick (CEO of the Big Lottery Fund) and David Robinson from Community Links for their thought-provoking contributions during the event, and to the Clore Social Leadership Programme team, Darshan Sanghrajka from Super Being Labs, Christian McLaughlin and Charlie Cattrall for their generosity and support on the day.
Following the launch event the author was joined by 20 Lived Experience Leaders working across the UK social change space. This was an incredibly inspiring moment, and hopefully the first meeting of many more to come.