Chrisann Jarrett, Alex Sutton and Guilio Quaggiotto provided us with a thought-provoking snapshot of the funding side of the equation to system Innovation. As far-sighted funders themselves, both Guilio and Alex showed us why it’s essential we invest in continuous learning, experimentation and collaboration, rather than single-point solutions.

Interview: Giulio Quaggiotto

Giulio Quaggiotto calls these isolated ideas single point solutions, which although might be tempting, do not stand the test of time. As the UNDP’s head of strategic innovation, Giulio works with governments, development funders and philanthropists, showing them how system-wide innovation requires a collection of connected initiatives such as changes to legal frameworks, new service models, innovative forms of organisation and citizen engagement. Giulio will show why funders need to invest in the constellation, not the single star, and this requires them to dispense with detailed plans and instead invest in continuous learning, experimentation and collaboration.

Interview: Chrisann Jarrett & Alex Sutton

Chrisann Jarrett is a living example of what changing the field really means. Chrisann moved to the UK from Jamaica when she was eight years old. Over the last few years she has become an inspirational campaigner for the rights of young people whose citizenship status is uncertain. She helped to create We Belong, the only British charity led by and for young migrants. Her work has taken her to the highest courts to press the case for young migrants to be allowed to study. Chrisann will talk about what she has gained from being part of the collaborative field-building that Alex’s far-sighted funding has enabled.

Alex Sutton will reveal how to do that in practice. For years Alex worked supporting refugees in a resettlement charity. What he saw was that no matter how good the service, the challenges of migration never got any easier, because the system he was working within made it so difficult for migrants to integrate into society. When Alex became a Senior Grants Manager at the Paul Hamlyn Foundation, he quickly came to the realisation that while he could fund any number of helpful initiatives, what he needed to do was change the entire migration framework. That is why Alex talks about funding an entire field of endeavour, from the top-down and the bottom-up, convening players from across the system to bring about change: from politicians, researchers and policy makers, to service providers and migrants themselves.

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