James Plunkett was recently appointed Chief Practices Officer at Nesta with the Behavioural Insights Team.
Nesta is a UK innovation agency for social good: 
We design, test and scale new solutions to society’s biggest problems, changing millions of lives for the better.

That’s pretty ambitious! And interesting…

So what is the Behavioural Insights Team?
At BIT we improve lives and communities by helping all levels of government, private sector and philanthropy businesses tackle their biggest challenges.
We offer a selection of behavioural science consultancy and services to help clients across multiple sectors to gain an understanding of their audience and create strategies that will help them to scale their business effectively.

That sounds really helpful! What’s the history?

Founded in 2010, the Behavioural Insights Team has grown from a seven-person unit at the heart of the UK government to a global social purpose company of over 200 professionals across many offices around the world. 

You’ve piqued my interest! So what does James Plunkett do?

He provisionally describes his new role of Chief Practices Officer:
I help to create the conditions in which a range of practices — from data science to qual/quant research to design and the arts — can collaborate to solve social problems.

The great thing about James Plunkett is that he is completely open about what he is thinking and working on, and you can listen in here:
https://medium.com/@jamestplunkett

Here’s a little taster from July 31:
Many of today’s biggest problems feel inherently relational or experiential – less technocratic, more human. So do we need a new way to govern?

I wonder what James Plunkett might offer an institution like the church?