David is a Senior Advisor at the National Lottery Fund.
David Knott, EMPP
When I started the EMPP I was Deputy Director of the Office for Civil Society - the part of the UK Government responsible for volunteering, charities, social enterprise, social investment. and youth policy. I came mid-career: after fifteen years working as an economic and policy adviser in various roles in UK Civil Service and to various governments in the Middle East, Asia, Australia and Latin America.
I chose the programme at School of Public Policy at LSE to consolidate and reflect on things I had learned, and to get access to the latest theory and empirical evidence. LSE’s world class reputation was naturally a major draw. It certainly lived up to expectations, and I found the study approach immersive and interactive with so much expertise in the class from around the world as well as the faculty. In particular the balance of theory and public policy in practice, with both academics and practitioners, made for a unique way to learn. It was busy managing this with a full-time job and family life, but it was worth it! I formed some good friendships and gained so much from others.
Shortly after graduating I was promoted to Director of the Office for Civil Society, and I know my time at the SPP played an important role in this. The programme gave me the confidence to push on and added knowledge and perspective that I could bring to the role.
After three years in that role, I’ve more recently joined the National Lottery Community Fund on a secondment. The National Lottery is a particularly special institution: in the 25 years since it was established it has funded more than half a million sports, arts, community and heritage projects to a value of £40 billion. I’m helping the Community Fund think about its future, like how we can make a contribution to the ‘levelling up’ challenge, innovate more in funding and evaluation of impact, support a vibrant civil society, not least through the Covid-19 epidemic, and collaborate better across sectors. I know that I’ll take the learning and experience from my time at the SPP throughout my career and I’m so glad I took this.