Jan McKenley-Simpson
Senior Associate
Jan is a Senior Associate and Leadership Coach at Innovation Unit with an interest in widening access and participation, raising aspirations and educational achievement. She believes in the transformative power of education, music and sport, particularly in the community.
Most recently, Jan’s main focus has been on supporting innovation in children’s social care, in particular the Department for Education’s Children’s Social Care Innovation Programme which seeks to redesign support to adolescents on the edge of care and the leadership role of social workers. As an experienced facilitator and leadership coach, Jan has previously worked on some of Innovation Unit’s education projects (REAL Projects, Next Practice in System Leadership) and supported Networked Learning Communities across the country.
Having retired from the Civil Service in April 2014, Jan is now a Trustee of the Paul Hamlyn Foundation (PHF) and sits on both their Migration and Youth Panel, and the Evidence and Learning Advisory Group. She has held senior roles in education and served on national committees for the Government on youth work, and for the Mayor of London on black underachievement.
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Innovations in children’s social care
The care system can be transformative, giving young people and their families the support they need at the most difficult points in their lives. But too many young people have a poor experience of the system and poor long-term outcomes, leaving care without the skills, relationships or emotional stability to ready them for adulthood.
3 Ideas for Fostering
This Foster Care Fortnight, we celebrate three fantastic examples of work happening across England, Scotland, and Wales.
Three new sites launch phase two of Named Social Worker
Delivered by Innovation Unit and the Social Care Institute of Excellence (SCIE), six local authorities will now be supported to design, implement and evaluate a named social worker approach.