What is “mission-driven” government, and can it work here? (Webinar)

Sarah Doyle is a Policy Fellow at the UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose (IIPP) and a Fellow at Social Capital Partners. She is interested in models for catalyzing investment aligned with public policy objectives, and for building partnerships that bring the public and private sectors together to collaborate and co-invest in ways that deliver shared value.

Previously, Sarah was the Chief of Staff and Head of Policy to Professor Mariana Mazzucato at IIPP, overseeing a portfolio of economic policy projects and partnerships that spanned the globe, focused on industrial and innovation strategies oriented around carbon emissions reduction, housing, health, food security, and other policy challenges. Before joining IIPP, Sarah was the Director of Policy + Research at the Brookfield Institute for Innovation + Entrepreneurship at Toronto Metropolitan University, where she led the development of a research agenda aimed at building an inclusive innovation-driven economy in Canada and oversaw the work of an interdisciplinary team of economists, social scientists and designers. As Senior Manager at the Centre for Impact Investing at the MaRS Discovery District, she collaborated with community, government and private sector stakeholders to advance policy solutions aimed at enabling a wider spectrum of investment and business models aligned with public benefit outcomes. Sarah also worked as a civil servant in the Government of Canada, including in Canada’s Privy Council Office, developing advice for the Prime Minister on a range of policy issues, and at Citizenship and Immigration Canada. Sarah has served on several boards and advisory groups, including the Board of Directors of The Neighbourhood Group.

She is an alum of the Action Canada Fellowship and the Recruitment of Policy Leaders program, and holds a Master of Science in International Relations from the London School of Economics and Political Science, where she was a Commonwealth Scholar.

Dan Honig is an associate professor at Georgetown University McCourt School of Public Policy and University College London School of Public Policy, where his work focuses on the organizational bits of government’s role in enhancing citizens’ welfare — particularly management practice, organizational structure and relations between citizens and the state. Amongst other affiliations he’s a non-resident fellow at the Center for Global Development, a fellow of Harvard’s Building State Capability Program and an affiliate of Johns Hopkins’ SNF Agora Institute.

Jack Pannell is a researcher at the Institute for Government, a nonpartisan think tank which aims to improve government effectiveness. His work focuses on elections, parliament, the constitution and mission-driven government. His recent publications include “Mission launch: Five steps the government must take to deliver its five missions” and “Mission-driven government: What does a ‘mission-driven’ approach to government mean and how can it be delivered?”.

Jennifer Ditchburn is the President and CEO of the Institute for Research on Public Policy. She is a not-for-profit sector executive and seasoned communicator working to make complex public policy issues and politics better understood by Canadians. From 2016 to 2021, she was the Editor-in-Chief of the IRPP’s influential digital magazine, Policy Options.

Prior to joining the IRPP, Jennifer spent two decades covering national and parliamentary affairs for The Canadian Press and for CBC Television. She is the winner of three National Newspaper Awards, the recipient of the prestigious Charles Lynch Award for outstanding coverage of national issues, and three Canadian Online Publishing silver awards for her columns. In 2015, she was named one of the 10 most influential Hispanic–Canadians. Jennifer sits on the board of the Banff Forum, an influential Canadian leadership network. She is also a fellow at Carleton University’s Political Management program, and an inductee in the Hall of Distinction at CEGEP John Abbott College.