Sophia leads our programme of work to imagine and grow radical new approaches to tackling poverty in collaboration with JRF’s partners and people with lived experience of poverty. Sophia was formerly CEO of Little Village, a London-based charity founded in 2016 that works to tackle child poverty. Previously Sophia has held senior roles at think tanks including the Resolution Foundation and Demos. As well as roles in central government, Sophia has been a Fellow at Harvard's Kennedy School, and set up Kent's pioneering Innovation Lab. Sophia brings a track record in policy, research, and designing community-based solutions to social challenges. Sophia is based in York.
Email: sophia.parker@jrf.org.uk
Bluesky: @mssophiaparker.bsky.social
We are living through a period of deep instability, as familiar systems struggle to deliver justice or ecological safety. Navigating this transition will require honesty about what no longer works, attention to alternatives already taking root, and the capacities to steward change with care and courage.
The Emerging Futures team at JRF works with people who are building alternatives around the edges of systems that no longer really work. How can governments understand the potential of this work, and what stops them recognising its value?
Amid grief, rage and division, there are seeds of hope and repair to be found in the North East. But they will not flourish if we stay silent.
This reflection looks at new research on the scale and nature of efforts across the UK to build alternative futures. How can wealth holders like JRF do more to better support and shield this essential work?
For the last two years, JRF and a range of partners have convened the Next Frontiers conference. Here we set out our plans for the 2024 conference.
As we head into the autumnal months of the year it’s a time of turning leaves and brisker air. A time of harvesting, and sharing the fruits of our labour. In that spirit, Sophia Parker has spent some time pausing and reflecting on where we are here at JRF in our Emerging Futures work.
Earlier this month, along with a group of partners, we hosted Next Frontiers: unlocking resources in this time of crisis and possibility. This blog shares a short summary of some of the rich themes our speakers explored.
It was a big week last week for JRF's Emerging Futures team as they welcomed five new colleagues into the work. In this blog, Sophia Parker introduces the team, and shares some early thoughts on how they want to work in a way that embodies the futures they want to build towards.
A few weeks ago Sophia published a blog sharing the overall plans for the Emerging Futures work in 2023. This blog digs more deeply into one strand of work - the Pathfinders. This is an inspiring ecosystem of practitioners across the UK who are actively building alternative futures in their neighbourhoods and communities.