Current Fellow
Jenny Bates
Jenny Bates, a senior civil servant, is our current Heywood Fellow at the Blavatnik School of Government and Hertford College. This fellowship, established in memory of former Cabinet Secretary Jeremy Heywood, provides senior civil servants with the opportunity to focus on public service and policy innovation.
During her fellowship, Jenny will consider the changing global economic order and seek to develop a refreshed approach – or longer-term strategy – for the UK. Read more about her appointment and plans for the fellowship here.
Past Fellows
Lucy Smith
In her fellowship, Lucy explored how governments can develop successful long-term strategies, a vital issue in today’s rapidly changing world. Read more about her appointment and her research here.
“The Heywood Foundation has been delighted to support Lucy’s work, and her push to get the UK government to be better at thinking long-term – which is the only way to address these cross-generational challenges – is very much welcome. These are not easy issues to address, but our children, and their children, will thank us if we put in place long-term plans to address these issues, and formulate that thinking in a way that engages people across our society.” – Suzanne Heywood, Chair of the Heywood Foundation
You can read the full playbook here, and download the transcript of the lecture here.
Jonathan Black
During his fellowship, Jonathan researched connecting foreign and domestic economic policy. His report set out an agenda for how policy making needs to change to stay ahead of geopolitical trends and foster a culture where integrated and innovative policymaking is instinctive across: people; information and insight; partnership with business; alliances between countries; systems; and structures.
“We are delighted that Jonathan has been a Heywood Fellow and that, at this moment of huge geopolitical turbulence, has produced a piece of thinking that will improve the way in which government thinks about the interaction between security and economic issues. His work shows the importance of taking the time to do longer term policy thinking and applying this to the way in which government works, something that Jeremy passionately supported.” – Suzanne Heywood, Chair of the Heywood Foundation
You can read the Full Report here.
Olly Robbins
Olly Robbins was the inaugural Heywood Fellow in 2021. Olly’s research focussed on the role of the Cabinet Secretary and his report was provided confidentially to the Cabinet Office.
About the Fellowship
The purpose of the Fellowship is to allow a Senior Civil Servant (a Secretary or Director General) the opportunity to explore issues relating to public service and policy, outside of the immediate responsibilities of Government duties. Each Fellow is asked to make recommendations based on their work for how policy making can be changed in the area of research the Fellowship will cover.
In addition to the Heywood Foundation, the fellowship is also supported by our partners: the Civil Service, the Blavatnik School of Government, Hertford College, Oxford and the ESRC. We are very grateful to them for their support in making this fellowship possible. The Blavatnik School of Government is a global school of public policy committed to improving the quality of government and public policymaking worldwide https://www.bsg.ox.ac.uk/