
Charlotte Billington
Innovation Consultant
Charlotte is an Innovation Consultant who is passionate about how we can apply behavioural change and human centred thinking to solving big social problems.
Her work at the Innovation Unit focuses on the Children’s Social Care sector, where she has supported Early Help system and strategy redesign, the development of Family Hubs models, including how families and communities are involved in their co-design & creation, development of an ambitious multi-disciplinary approach to Alternative Provision, and a large scale adopt and adapt programme across the North West to drive regional innovation capability. Charlotte also leads on work to strengthen the Innovation Unit’s approach to identifying and understanding impact through social innovation, drawing on past experience of establishing & chairing impact forums in a previous government role.
Prior to working at the Innovation Unit, Charlotte has been an early years professional, later working in a National Human Rights Institution and other third sector organisations tackling large social justice issues, such as sexual harassment in the hospitality sector, access to healthcare as a basic human right for people seeking asylum and refuge, improving early literacy outcomes in lower income areas and health inequalities in cancer care. Using a range of behavioural change, innovation and project management models, Charlotte is most interested in what drives behaviours within systems and what innovations can be used to drive change through the people working in them.
Outside of work, Charlotte is a Trustee at her local children and young people’s foundation and volunteers as a Samaritan, and can be regularly found in her local boxing ring.
Recent work

Family Hubs: maximising the potential of parent panels
Family Hubs have been a key priority for all leaders working in Children’s Services since they were announced by the Department for Education (DfE) back in 2021. The ambition for hubs is a ‘one stop shop’ for families, creating more accessible, better connected and relationship-centred physical and virtual spaces that families can use as soon as they seek help and that seamlessly support them as their needs change over time.
27 Apr 23

Family Hubs: what are we learning about designing forward differently
21 Mar 23