Charlie is an Executive Director at System Shift and has, for almost 30 years, advised governments, foundations, social entrepreneurs and cities on innovative strategies to create public goods. A life fellow of the RSA and a visiting professor at the Institute for Innovation and Public Policy, he sat on the board of the Paul Hamlyn Foundation for eight years and is a trustee of the Raspberry Pi Foundation. He’s fascinated by people who lead ambitious social transitions. Charlie was a co-founder of the the System Innovation Initiative. Before that he was an award winning journalist, Industrial Editor and Tokyo Bureau chief of the Financial Times, a graduate of Oxford University. 

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More about Charlie’s work to date here.

Celia is an Executive Director at System Shift. Previously she was a Director at the UK’s innovation foundation Nesta for a decade, where she led the organisation's strategic foresight function and established cross-sector funds. In research and policy roles in think tanks and NGOs, she has led research into the systems impacting the lives of families and young people - such as the built environment, online spaces and the care system. A Fulbright Scholar, Celia has held fellowships at the GovLab in New York and the Foundation for Young Australians in Melbourne. Celia is a graduate of Oxford University and New York University’s Wagner school for public service. She was trained in systems psychodynamics and organisational change management at London’s Tavistock Institute.

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Selected papers and reports:

Minister for the Future (Prospect Magazine) 

Foundation Horizon Scan: Taking the Long View (Nesta)

In Loco Parentis (Demos)

Ways to see a system: tracking innovation trends (Nesta)

Petra is the Director of Programme Delivery at System Shift, working at the intersection of ambitious ideas, deep collaboration, and practical execution. With more than a decade of experience across the social innovation and creative sectors, she has built organisation-wide innovation capability at the UK’s innovation foundation Nesta, and shaped high-profile programmes such as its flagship event, FutureFest.

She has worked closely with senior leadership in strategic foresight, systems innovation, and communications, and has supported high-performing innovation teams through periods of growth and change. She brings deep experience in leading complex initiatives and building meaningful relationships with stakeholders across different fields.

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Caireen is an Associate at System Shift. She leads The Social Leadership Project, which has generated insight into the state of social leadership development, and is bringing funders together to back leadership as a force for social change. 

Caireen has spent over 20 years working on social innovation and systems change, in central government, national charities, global networks, and schools. She brings significant expertise in strategy and partnership development, collaborative project design and delivery, learning, research and evaluation, and strategic communications and engagement. Most recently, as Senior Director of Impact at Big Change, Caireen led the strategy for their UK grant making and global insight, including work on transforming education systems.

Caireen has led the creation of many influential reports, evaluations and learning resources, most recently focusing on social leadership, intergenerational collaboration, and system transformation.

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Selected publications:

Leadership for a Thriving Future: Rethinking and Reshaping Systems with and for Young People(2025) with Big Change and global partners

Out of kilter: How to rebalance our school system to work for people, economy and society(2024) with IPPR and Paul Hamlyn Foundation

A New Education Story: Three drivers to transform education (2021) with Teach for All, HundrED, Dubai Cares and over 20 global contributors

Let’s Create(2019) with Arts Council England

Against the Odds: Successfully scaling innovation in the NHS(2018) with The Health Foundation and Innovation Unit

Holly is an Associate at System Shift. Previously, she was Executive Director of Challenge Works at Nesta, where she led the team of 50 shaping pioneering innovation initiatives to solve important global problems.

An engineer at heart, Holly’s focus is turning ambitious ideas into practical action. She has built partnerships, programmes and products across the private, public and third sectors - in contexts as varied as financial markets, drone technology, water systems, youth unemployment, dementia and lunar exploration.

She has secured major funding partnerships, developed strategies, driven growth, led happy teams and helped win London's bid to host the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Holly is a graduate of Oxford University and holds an MBA from INSEAD.

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