Our people
Meet our skilled team, expert partners, and influential trustees.
Isabella Pereira
Interim Co-Director of Research
Previously Head of Qualitative Research Methods at Ipsos’s Social Research Institute, Isabella is a qualitative and mixed methods expert with more than 15 years’ experience in researching vulnerable audiences. Her published research includes work on the resettlement of Syrian refugees for the Home Office, and on the Living Home Standard for Shelter.
Jack Layton
Place Research and Impact Manager
Jack is passionate about making our towns and cities better places to live, and his PhD thesis focused on the role of urban public sports facilities as social infrastructures. Jack has written several widely read and highly cited articles that have developed the concept of social infrastructure in a UK context. At The Young Foundation, he works to ensure people’s voices across the country are heard and their needs prioritised.
Jacob Coburn
Knowledge Exchange Manager
Joining the Institute for Community Studies in 2023, Jacob leads work focused on supporting anchor institutions to develop deeper more integrated relationships, aimed at enabling greater knowledge-sharing and strategic thinking.
Jem Hai
Senior Researcher
Jem joined The Young Foundation in 2023 after having worked as a Research Assistant for a charity supporting children living in deprivation.
Jenna Fowler
Policy and Data Analyst
Jenna has worked in private and non-profit sectors, using data to understand problems and propose unique solutions. She is interested in how data analysis methods can be applied to help tackle policy issues, specifically those related to inequality.
Jennifer Clayton
Innovation Practitioner
Jen’s background is in designing and delivering support and scaling initiatives for social innovators and entrepreneurs. Before joining The Young Foundation, she held integral roles in grant management delivery, challenge prize design, and business mentor brokering at UnLtd and Nesta.
Jessica Moore
Director of Communications and External Affairs
Joining in September 2021, Jess drives thought leadership and shares our creative ideas with diverse audiences. Passionate about communicating the needs of people in our communities, she works to extend The Young Foundation’s reach and impact.
Julie McLaren
Interim Director of Sustainability and Just Transition
With leadership experience from across the research and innovation system, Julie is passionate about democratising place-based innovation to recognise the ingenuity of citizens and communities in shaping their neighbourhoods, towns, and cities.
Julie Munro
Financial Controller
Julie joined The Young Foundation in February 2023 after working in finance roles in the charity and education sectors for more than twenty years.
Kathryn Holland
Senior Innovation Practitioner
Kathryn designs and delivers community-led programmes with local authorities across the UK. She enjoys applying creative approaches to engagement and developing ways to build meaningful social connections within communities.
Laetitia Lucy
Social Impact Lead
Laetitia Lucy joined the Young Foundation in 2024 after working as a Social and Economic Impact Consultant at Arup. She is passionate about empowering people to improve their lives, and leveraging investment to create lasting social and economic impact in the most deprived neighbourhoods.
Leonie Taylor
Senior Researcher
Leonie joined The Young Foundation in 2023, and is passionate about using ethical research to address health inequalities. She is a social researcher with a background in migration studies and gender equity. Leonie’s international experience in Sierra Leone and Greece has informed her research design.