Siân Whyte

Head of Strategic Design and Insight

Siân joined The Young Foundation in November 2020 and is our Head of Strategic Design and Insight.

With 15 years’ experience in programme delivery and advocacy, Siân is passionate about enabling organisations to increase their impact. Her work is interdisciplinary by default, bridging research and innovation – and spans a range of policy topics including public services, place-making, civil society, workforce skills and business innovation.

Siân oversees a portfolio of research and design projects for national and local partners, with an emphasis on participatory research, strategic design and creative methods. She is interested in exploring institutions’ readiness for participatory approaches, particularly in relation to place and the built environment.

Siân took on a vital role as The Young Foundation’s Interim Co-Director of Research, 2025-26. Her previous roles include Head of Research & Insight at Design Council and Head of Impact & Evaluation at Citizens Advice, where she developed sector-leading approaches to understanding social value and demonstrating impact. This is Siân’s second time at The Young Foundation, having started her career here as a research intern, working on public sector innovation programmes.

Outside work, Siân enjoys travelling and exploring new places, as well as spending time in London. Her interests include photography, arts and theatre, views from train windows, and persuading friends to accompany her on cold-water swims.

Contact information

[email protected]

Head of Strategic Design and Insight

Contact information

Contributions

Bold moves: activating local change in physical activity

A story of participation: regeneration with residents and locals

Partnerships for ‘citizen science’

Ethics in ‘citizen science’

‘What is citizen science’

Experiences of ‘citizen science’

‘A conversation not a concept’

Life within easy reach

Research and engagement to develop ’15-Minute Neighbourhoods’ in Waltham Forest

Hive Minds: Funding a more participatory future for citizen science

From tomato seeds in space to particles from comets

Perspectives from the field of citizen science

Citizen science, health research, and the fight against Covid-19

Valuing and enabling citizen science: lessons from the Citizen Science Exploration Grant programme

Kickstarting careers in research

Community research

Social innovation