Sophia Looney

What I am working on at the moment?

I am now self employed, working with a variety of mostly public sector organisations to think through how they interact with the people they serve, the relationships they build with other organisations operating locally and how they can improve both these things through redesigning their approach and thinking differently about the role they can play. Most of this work is happening in London and the south east of England. 

Why I wanted to join the Participatory City Foundation Board?

Because we absolutely have to think again about the way society is working and build more cohesive, participatory cultures from a neighbourhood level. PCF is doing exactly that - experimenting at scale, building on what we know works and genuinely transforming what can happen when people work differently together. 

A little bit about my background

I have worked in and around the public sector for more than 20 years, starting as a youth worker, working in different roles in strategy, policy and operational delivery. I was involved in the early prototyping work which has grown into PCF that took place in Lambeth and throughout my work have been deeply committed to thinking differently about relationships that public services have with citizens and local people.