Nesta is the UK’s innovation agency for social good. Backed by a £450 million endowment, it is driven by an ambitious 10-year strategy focussed on three core missions to promote a fairer start, a healthy life, and a sustainable future for millions of people across the UK.

Partnering with frontline organisations, building new businesses and working to change whole systems, Nesta designs, tests and scales new solutions to society’s biggest problems, changing millions of lives for the better. It believes that innovation offers more potential now than ever before. It sees opportunities to mobilise citizens and influence behaviour. Private and public capital which can be used more creatively. A wealth of data to mine. And so it draws on these rich resources by bringing together diverse teams: data scientists, designers and behavioural scientists, as well as practitioners, academics, entrepreneurs and people with lived experience.

The arrival of Ravi Gurumurthy as Chief Executive in December 2019 marked a new chapter in Nesta’s history. In order to achieve the impact needed to tackle society’s biggest challenges – from ingrained health and income inequalities to the climate crisis and the UK’s lack of productivity (all amid the damage wrought by the Coronavirus pandemic) – a new 10-year strategy will see Nesta adopting a focussed strategy which will enable more sustained efforts across its three new Missions. Crucially, the ability to deliver impact at scale will be at the heart of this approach, along with a renewed commitment to collaborative and evidence-based working. This is supported by Nesta's recent acquisition of Behavioural Insights Limited (known informally as the Nudge Unit), a global social purpose organisation which has used behavioural science to support governments in over 50 countries to tackle major policy problems.

Nesta's Vision

Nesta will pursue three innovation missions. Each mission is a response to a generational societal challenge, one where we believe innovation has a big part to play in driving large-scale change. It has set bold goals for its missions which may seem unrealistically ambitious, but which it hopes will act as a lodestar. For each mission, Nesta will continuously assess what is and is not working, deciding what to continue with and what to stop on the basis of its potential for impact at scale.

A Fairer Start: - A mission to narrow the outcome gap between children growing up in disadvantage and the national average.

A Healthy Life - A mission to increase the average number of healthy years lived in the UK, while narrowing health inequalities.

A Sustainable Future - A mission to accelerate the decarbonisation of household activities in the UK and improve levels of productivity.

To succeed, Nesta will need to build strong working relationships with service delivery organisations, policymakers and academics. Its solutions will need to work at different levels of the system, from small improvements to how a service is delivered to grander interventions which rewrite how policies or market forces work.

Nesta's missions are ambitious and it is prepared to fail and learn rapidly along the way. Nonetheless, it believes that a fairer, healthier, more sustainable future is within reach, and that innovation can help to achieve it.

Following the appointment of Ed Richards as new Chair of Nesta, who succeeds Sir John Gieve, Nesta is now moving on to the next stage of its Board appointments. With a number of Trustees coming to the end of their terms in the coming 12 months, Nesta is looking to appoint up to four new Trustees.

Nesta’s Trustees are ultimately responsible in law for the charity, its assets and ensuring that its activities further its charitable objectives. They are responsible for Nesta’s role as a trustee of the Nesta Trust.

Key responsibilities for all Trustees:

• Work with the fellow Trustees to provide governance and strategic oversight
• Work with the Chair and fellow Trustees to ensure that Nesta is meeting the core objectives of the Strategic Plan and that these objectives are in line with Nesta’s mission and values
• Ensure that the Board fulfills its governance, fiduciary, regulatory, and risk management responsibilities
• Maintain appropriate fiscal oversight to ensure Nesta’s financial sustainability
• Ensure that the organisation fulfills its legal and compliance obligations
• Along with the Board of Trustees, establish and implement systems for support and appraisal of the Chief Executive and Executive team
• Develop effective relationships with the government, other similar organisations, charities, relevant public and private sector organisations, academic bodies, the media, and other key external stakeholders in the UK and internationally to maximise Nesta’s engagement
• Act as an enabler and promotor of innovation
• Maintain an awareness of local and national policy and how it impacts on Nesta’s work
• Act as an ambassador for Nesta, championing its interests locally, nationally and internationally, representing the organisation effectively to external stakeholders
• Maintain absolute integrity, independence and professionalism in view of the exposure to delicate and confidential issues at board level

Nesta is looking for up to four new Trustees whose experience aligns with its three core missions. As such, it is particularly interested in exceptional individuals with backgrounds in public health, sustainability / climate action, early years / education, local government, behavioural science / data analytics, or the food / drinks sector.

A Healthy Life aims to halve the prevalence of obesity by 2030. Nesta is therefore interested in those with an in-depth understanding of public health, whether in policy, delivery or commissioning, ideally in the area of obesity, or experience working in the food / drinks sector, whether in retail, wholesale or consumer goods.

A Sustainable Future aims to reduce household carbon emissions by 28% from 2019 levels. Nesta is therefore interested in those with experience of driving sustainability / climate action and adaptation.

A Fairer Start aims to eliminate the UK school readiness gap between those born into deprivation and their peers by 2030. Nesta is therefore interested in those with experience in early years / education.

Following its recent acquisition of the Behaviour Insights Team, Nesta is also interested in those with behavioural science / data analytics expertise. Given its renewed focus on delivering impact and working with frontline organisations to translate theory into practice, Nesta would also welcome interest from those with senior experience in local government or delivering frontline services.

Candidates will also ideally be able to demonstrate most of the following characteristics:

• Committed to innovation as the key to progress in the economy and society
• Comfortable operating across the public, private or non-profit sectors and ability to galvanise stakeholders across sectors
• Able to use networks to advance Nesta’s work and impact
• Open and transparent

Nesta is strongly committed to furthering the diversity of the Board so that it better reflects its values, vision, and its beneficiaries. As such, it particularly welcomes interest from individuals who come from ethnic minority backgrounds as well as those based outside of London.

Ed Richards, Chair
Judy Gibbons
Ian Gomes
Sarah Hunter
Imran Khan
Professor Anthony Lilley OBE
Christina McComb OBE
Heider Ridha
Jimmy Wales
Moira Wallace OBE

Terms of appointment

This role is unremunerated, and reasonable, pre-agreed domestic travel expenses will be reimbursed. The Board meets six times per year, either at Nesta's office or via Zoom, and meetings last c. three hours; there is also one away day each year. It is hoped that Trustees will also serve on at least one of the Committees, which include Audit & Risk, Trust Investment, People as well as one for each of Nesta's three missions; Committees meet either three or four times per year and last between one and three hours. The appointment is for a three-year term, which can be renewed once at the discretion of the Board.