Speakers

Abha leads British Asian Trust’s Social Finance work across South Asia. She is also a founding member of The British Asian Trust and has contributed to its growth and leadership over the last 15 years. Abha was a Fellow of Practice in 2021 and 2022 at the Government Outcomes Labs, Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford. Before coming to the Trust, Abha was the Chief Operating Officer of the UK India Business Council after five years in the Reinsurance markets in London.

She grew up in Mumbai, India and graduated with a BA in Political Science from the University of Mumbai and a BA Hons in Social and Political Sciences from Cambridge University. She is currently serving on the Board of Trustees at the London Stock Exchange Foundation and the UK Board of Transform Schools, a non profit focussed on secondary education in India.

Avnish leads Instiglio, a non-profit advisory firm founded to ensure the greatest possible impact from every cent spent to alleviate poverty which has funneled over $500 million to deliver impact through results-based financing projects across Africa, Latina America and Asia.

Avnish formerly worked for MIT's Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL), for the World Bank, and as a consultant to a DFID challenge fund. Gungadurdoss holds a MPA/ID from the Harvard Kennedy School, a diploma in performance management for non-profits from Harvard Business School, and a BA in economics and math from Dartmouth College. He was awarded the Echoing Green Fellowship and was elected as one of the "30 under 30" social entrepreneurs for his work with Instiglio. He is also a member of the Advisory Board of Impact.

Since August 2019, Claire DeVries has been First Secretary (Development) and the Team Lead for Education and Gender Equality programming in the Development section of the Embassy of Canada to Colombia. Claire has led the design and approval of the first Outcome Fund for Global Affairs Canada (GAC) - the Outcome Fund for Education Results (OFFER) in alliance with private sector partners and Colombian authorities. In her role, Claire also supports the programming and policy advocacy objectives related to the theme of Gender Equality. Previously, Claire served as a Project Manager and Gender Equality Specialist in Global Affairs Canada to country programs in Southern & Eastern Africa, and Latin America.

Eleanor Carter is the Academic Co-Director for the Government Outcomes Lab (GO Lab) and is a UKRI Future Leaders Fellow.

Eleanor’s research investigates challenges in coordinating complex public service delivery networks and cross-sector partnerships. She is one of Apolitical’s 100 Most Influential Academics in Government. Eleanor’s work explores the ability of novel contracting arrangements – like social outcomes contracts and impact bonds – to facilitate purposeful partnerships and effective services that avoid perfunctory or cynical behaviour by contract holders.

Before moving to Oxford, Eleanor gained experience from the policy-maker perspective working as an advisor for the Social Investment and Finance Team in the UK’s Cabinet Office and through collaborative research projects with the Department for Work and Pensions.

Eleanor’s work has been published in a range of journals including Social Policy and Administration and Journal of Social Policy. Key research outputs have also been translated into policy submissions and she frequently advises on policy design and evaluation strategies for government departments and voluntary sector organisations.

James leads a policy team with a focus on supporting voluntary, community and social enterprise organisations to support more efficient, effective and preventative public services. This includes the development of social outcomes partnerships (also known as social impact bonds) through the £70m Life Chances Fund and work to enhance social value in wider public service contracting.

Louise is co-founder of Social Finance and jointly leads our International team. She advises governments, philanthropies and service providers on the design and delivery of social development programmes. Louise is passionate about driving social impact through rigorous analysis, efficient structures and effective cross-sector partnerships. She has particular expertise in outcomes-based approaches and social investment structures. She co-developed the impact bond approach in 2008.

Mara is the Academic Co-Director of the Government Outcomes Lab at the Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford.

Mara has two decades’ experience in connecting academic insights to decision making for social impact. She has provided input for decisions on Outcome funds and Outcomes Contracts in the UK, the EU, foundations, and international development agencies working in LMICs. In her previous posts she has worked with health policy makers and healthcare providers in the UK, Italy, Ontario and the Global Fund to fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria as well as policy makers at the Home Office, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Office of the Deputy Prime minister in the UK.

Mara is an economist and experienced decision modeller with an interest in impact metrics and the use of data to inform better decisions. She is particularly passionate about the ways in which governments can work with the private and non-for-profit sector to accelerate progress towards shared goals. She loves making sense of data and currently works on nurturing the INDIGO data collaborative.

Milena Castellnou is Chief Programs Officer at the Education Outcomes Fund (EOF), a hosted trust fund at UNICEF with the mission to significantly improve learning and employment outcomes by tying funding to measurable results. She leads EOF’s Program Team and oversees a portfolio of large-scale outcomes-based financing programs in multiple countries, including the two largest outcomes funds in education globally, in partnership with the Governments of Ghana and Sierra Leone. Milena is a former Visiting Fellow of Practice at the Government Outcomes Lab at the University of Oxford.