Nuffield Foundation hires an exciting new Programme Head, Justice

Ash Patel joins the Nuffield Foundation from Learning and Work Institute, where he was Head of Research - Inclusion.

The Nuffield Foundation funds research, analysis, and student programmes that advance educational opportunity and social well-being across the United Kingdom. The Foundation’s primary objective is to improve people’s lives through better understanding of the issues affecting their life chances. In 2017, Nuffield announced a new five-year strategy, which set out its funding priorities in the three core domains of Education, Welfare, and Justice. It will also fund work that cuts across these areas, in particular the impact of digital technologies on people’s lives, social inclusion between and across generations, and the impact of disability and chronic illness.

Ash will develop and manage a portfolio of research grants within the justice portfolio, and ensure the insights generated are used to inform improvements to policy and practice. He will work with Nuffield’s recently appointed Director, Justice on the implementation of the Family Justice Observatory.

Society conducted a search that spanned the Civil Service, the Not-For-Profit sector (including a number of charities, social research institutes, trusts and foundations), and academia. We were seeking a candidate with strong mixed methods expertise and knowledge across relevant substantive research and policy areas.

Ash is an experienced socio-legal researcher and has held responsibility for delivering and overseeing complex, mixed methods projects throughout his career. Ash held research positions at the Legal Services Research Centre and Ministry of Justice before joining Learning and Work Institute in 2014. At the Learning and Work Institute he was the programme lead for the Disability Employment, where he focused on developing evidence around service integration and closing the disability employment gap and more recently, as well as a head of profession. He says:

“I am delighted to be joining the team at Nuffield Foundation at this exciting time, and look forward to working with colleagues across the research community. My thanks go out to the team at Society who supported me throughout the process. Tanya and Megan have provided invaluable input into the requirements of the role, and worked with me to ensure the role fits my particular set of skills and experience".