Kathy Peach
Bio
"Kathy is the Director and co-founder of the Centre for Collective Intelligence Design at Nesta, which explores how human and machine intelligence can be combined to develop innovative solutions to social challenges. Kathy was the lead author of the Collective Intelligence Design Playbook, and leads the Centre's partnerships with UNDP and the International Federation of the Red Cross & Red Crescent Societies - applying collective intelligence design to address the Sustainable Development Goals and improve local humanitarian response. She also oversees the Centre's grants programme, which has supported 30 different experiments around the world. Her Nesta publications include Collective Intelligence for Sustainable Development, Collective Crisis Intelligence for Frontline Humanitarian Response, Our Futures: By the people, for the people, Participatory AI for Humanitarian Innovation, and Combining Crowds & Machines.
Prior to Nesta, Kathy was the Head of Innovation and Foresight at Bond, the network for global development organisations. In this role she spearheaded the use of futures techniques to open up thinking about new development pathways and pioneered work on business model innovation for international NGOs. She also held leadership roles at a range of non-profits, including disability charity Scope, international development agency VSO, and the public body Healthwatch England.
Kathy is also a board member of the Nobel prize-winning humanitarian charity MAG and a member of the 2018 Newton Prize Committee. She was named one of the top 40 most influential international development leaders under 40 by sector website Devex."