Helen Goulden OBE

Chief Executive Officer

As Chief Executive Officer of The Young Foundation, Helen leads our multi-disciplinary team of researchers and innovators to support stronger communities across the UK.

Prior to joining The Young Foundation, she spent nine years at Nesta as Executive Director, supporting, funding and scaling innovation in civil society, social tech, government, arts and education.

Previous roles have included work within the private sector developing digital strategies and solutions for global corporate clients. She spent five years consulting in the Cabinet Office, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, and then Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG), developing national innovation programmes for local government and leading research and development for interactive TV public services.

Helen is also a Trustee of the Big Education Trust.

Helen was awarded an OBE for services to development of sustainable communities in the 2023 New Year Honours List

Contact information

helen.goulden@youngfoundation.org

Chief Executive Officer

Contact information

Contributions

What are creative communities?

‘The “wrong kind” of pandemic’

‘Putting local people at the heart of policy’

Rewriting the rulebook

‘The infrastructure of opportunity’

‘If there is nowhere to go, communities go nowhere’

The Power of Participation: our vision 2024-28

‘Raising our expectation of participation’

‘The driver of Michael’s innovation was often discontent’

‘How can we ensure a people-powered transition?’

A spotlight on the ‘S’ in ESG on the Turley ESG Bites podcast

Five ways a community-centred policy agenda could take us to a fairer future

‘With true collaboration, people can shape the places they live’

‘Businesses must get serious about their social responsibilities’

Quest for the ‘S’ in ESG

‘In our quest for environmental sustainability, social responsibility is key’

A community-led transition to net zero

‘Communities can power a fair transition’

Family and community vulnerabilities in the transition to net zero

An equitable future for research and innovation

‘Putting young people in the driving seat of research can steer better youth support’

Response to the Levelling Up White Paper

‘A time to recharge, renew – and participate in your future’

Remote working can reach a broader range of people. Let’s enable that.

Beyond the ‘blah, blah, blah’: we need a new kind of climate activism

Doc Brown’s dream and the launch of ARIA

A quick note on incentivising collaboration for social change

Be more Michael

Arts, culture and social impact: lessons on how to grow good ideas

Emerging from Lockdown (Part One)

Nothing About Us, Without Us – Lived experience insight & social investment

Scottish Expert Advisory Panel on the Collaborative Economy Report

Community research

Social innovation