'Analysis and Engagement on Central Southern England's Strategic Challenges'
Polly London - Policy and Research
Polly joined SPC from the parliamentary office of Rt Hon David Gauke MP, Financial Secretary to the Treasury. A graduate of the University of Nottingham, she works across a range of social enterprise initiatives and has travelled widely in South and North America. She is supported in the office by two apprentices.
Charlotte Proudman - Associate
Frederick Shepherd - Associate
Connor Schwartz - Associate
Charlotte is a barrister who has advised Number 10 Downing Street on forced marriage and her areas of expertise include public law, children, care proceedings and human rights. A graduate of Keele and Cambridge Universities and the City Law School she is currently completing her Phd in political sociology.
Frederick is a graduate of Durham and Cambridge Universities where he won a Rugby Blue. Frederick has worked in financial services and teaching and is also a keen volunteer, having worked on charitable projects in the UK and overseas. Fredrick supports our work in mental health, social innovation and enterprise for social justice.
Connor graduated in 2013 with first class honours from Warwick University, where he read Philosophy, Politics and Economics. While there he set up and ran two projects focussing on the role of food in communities – a food cooperative and a community growing project and he remains extensively involved in environmental groups.
Professor Francis Davis - Chief Executive Officer
Francis is a graduate of Warwick and Ashridge Business Schools and the Universities of Durham, London (SOAS) and Southampton. He has published pamphlets for the Social Policy Association, the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, think tanks and the European Commission on migration, public service reform, social policy and the Royal Family and philanthropy which have all front paged in the national media, been the subject of leaders in major newspapers, debated in parliament or been covered or discussed on the Andrew Marr Programme or BBC TV Question Time. He previously chaired a major industry association for the South and has written for The Times, The Guardian, CIPFA, Tory Reform Group, Conservative Home, Labour List and the New Statesman.
He has worked in the Department of Communities and Local Government and the Cabinet Office , and currently advises a number of local authority CEOs and university Vice Chancellors. Previously he held a Fellowship in an Oxford University College, where he was a tutor in social sciences, and a member of the Diocese of Oxford Board for Social Responsibility. Notably for a resident of the South he is a Preston North End supporter and a trustee of charities providing millions for community development across Lancashire towns and communities and for Bradford, Birmingham and Leeds too.
The Team:
Izaak Wilson- Executive Officer
Izaak grew up in Dover, Kent and is a First Class graduate of the University of York. He has worked in communications both for local government and in the Southampton office of John Denham. Izaak has coordinated a number of successful projects with local businesses, charities and public sector bodies.