Hazel Blears is Chair of the Social Investment Business and a member of the Advisory Council of the Impact Investing Institute. She chaired Well Whitehaven, a regeneration project on the West Coast of Cumbria designed to help the community improve their health, education, and economic opportunities and outcomes. Hazel was the MP for Salford for almost 20 years and was Health Minister, Police and Counter Terrorism Minister and Secretary of State for communities. She helped take the Social Value Act through Parliament and remains deeply involved in Social Value Policy and Practice. She is an adviser on Social value for the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority. Hazel lives in Grange over Sands and is a trustee and champion for the campaign to Save Grange Lido. She is committed to supporting Arts and Culture to drive regeneration across Cumbria.

Alun Francis OBE - Principal and Chief Executive, Blackpool and The Fylde College

Alun has thirteen years of experience in further education, having previously led Oldham College.  Prior to this he had a varied career which has included a range of public services, local government, area-based regeneration, youth work and education, including primary, secondary and higher education.  Alun has a strong interest in the economics of what is now referred to as ‘levelling up’ and sees FE colleges as making a strong contribution to addressing this challenge. Alun is Interim Chair of the Social Mobility Commission.  He received an Order of the Order of the British Empire for service to education in the 2021 New Year’s Honours List.

Professor Jo Rycroft-Malone OBE - Distinguished Professor and Executive Dean of the Faculty of Health and Medicine at Lancaster University

Prior to her appointment at Lancaster University Jo worked in a variety of university roles, including as a contract researcher, programme lead, Head of School, and Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research and Impact). She continues to be an active researcher. Funding for her research has come from a variety of sources including EU/FP7 Programme, National Institute for Health Research, Economic & Social Research Council, Medical Research Council, Canadian Institutes for Health Research, and Australian Health and Medical Research Council. Jo also has considerable experience in research and policy contexts including as Director of the National Institute for Health Research’s (NIHR) Health Services and Delivery Research (HS&DR) Programme, member of the NIHR Strategy Board, Urgent Public Health oversight group member, and as Chair of the National Institute for Care and Health Excellence (NICE) Implementation Strategy Group. Jo was awarded an OBE for services to health and care research in the Kings New Year’s Honours List in 2023.

Rachel Wolf – Founding Partner at Public First

Rachel Wolf is a Founding Partner at Public First. Rachel’s career has spanned business, charities, politics and Government. Previously education and innovation adviser to the Prime Minister at 10 Downing Street, she was also co-author of the Conservatives winning 2019 General Election manifesto. She has been Senior Vice President for technology company Amplify in New York City, running one of their main product divisions. She founded and ran the New Schools Network – the charity that helped develop and implement the Government’s free schools programme.

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