Andrew O’Brien is Head of Secretariat at the Independent Commission on Neighbourhoods (ICON). Before joining ICON, he was Director of Policy and Impact at Demos. Andrew has worked in Westminster and Whitehall on policy for over a decade and a half. Andrew has written extensively on neighbourhoods, social capital, economic and public service reform. Before joining Demos, Andrew worked in policy development in the VCSE sector including at Social Enterprise UK, Charity Finance Group and the National Council for Voluntary Organisations.
Name: Andrew O’Brien
Email: andrew.obrien@localtrust.org.uk
Before joining ICON, he was Head of Social Policy at the think tank Demos, where he led the Future Public Services Taskforce. At Demos he authored policy research on public services, economic and fiscal policy, and political governance.
He started his career as a fast stream civil servant, working across three government departments in Whitehall. He has also worked in the parliamentary office of a Labour MP.
Name: Ben Glover
Email: ben.glover@localtrust.org.uk
Prior to joining ICON, Ross was Senior Research Analyst at the Centre for Progressive Policy, an economics think tank, and has previously worked in research at United Nations University-MERIT, and in policy roles in local government.
Name: Ross Mudie
Email: ross.mudie@localtrust.org.uk
Molly is part of the independent secretariat working on the Independent Commission on Neighbourhoods. Molly’s role centres on building policy recommendations and communicating the commission’s findings.
Molly has 5 years’ experience with charities and NGOs, previously working with Advocates for International Development. Molly also volunteers for Conversation Over Borders, mentoring asylum seekers and refugees new to the UK.
Molly holds an MSc in International Relations from the University of Bristol and a BA (Hons) in English Literature from the University of Plymouth.
Name: Molly Townsend
Email: molly.townsend@localtrust.org.uk
Carola is policy and research assistant at ICON. Before that, she worked in the delivery team supporting the delivering the Big Local programme.
Carola graduated from the London School of Economics and Political Science with a MSc in social science with a focus on inequalities, writing a dissertation on the impact of gentrification for local communities in Mexico City.
She believes in the importance of social empowerment and people-led change to build a more equitable future.
Carola.Signori@localtrust.org.uk
Name: Carola Signori
Email: carola.signori@localtrust.org.uk
Ellis joins ICON on a year-long sabbatical basis from local economics development consultancy Metro Dynamics. Ellis has experience in both qualitative and quantitative analysis on a range of areas including economic geography and regional policy, high street regeneration, economic modelling and appraisal, and business cases and infrastructure financing.
Name: Ellis Farrar
Email: ellis.farrar@localtrust.org.uk