About us
Society’s problems don’t exist in a vacuum, so they need a solution that recognises the bigger picture. Our approach connects people – from policymakers to frontline workers to those with lived experience – to build solutions that work.
Bridging the gap
We know that lots of decision makers in government are frustrated by their detachment from people implementing and experiencing policy on the ground, and find it hard to create meaningful change.
Our experience working alongside people on the frontline has shown us the deep insights and expertise they have about what really works in service delivery - but it's often hard for them to share this knowledge.
We bridge this gap.
Our principles
We value the expertise of people who use or deliver services, and their experience always informs project outcomes.
We empower - we use tools that encourage everyone to share and contribute, no matter their ability or expertise.
We create an inclusive environment where everyone’s voice is equal and strong coalitions can be formed.
“It showed the benefit of getting views from a genuinely representative group of people, so all those different perspectives could be heard.”
— Local Authority Policy & Performance Manager
Our approach
Every system is built on relationships between people. We use tailored design and innovation tools to facilitate open, meaningful and insightful conversation between people who rarely have the chance to connect.
Skilfully co-designed with our clients and participants, Telescope’s projects build empathy, trust and understanding between people working hard to build a better society.
By the end of their learning journey, participants feel optimistic and ready to lead real change in their sector, encouraged by a supportive network of like-minded people across different roles and organisations.
Our impact
Telescope is a social enterprise: such organisations have impact at their core, with a business model that aims to harness market demand to fund that impact.
We aim to make real change through the projects and partnerships we deliver. To find out more about our work, download our annual impact report below:
Our Team
Our co-founding team has backgrounds in policy, research and social innovation, as well as diverse experience in finance, consulting and frontline service delivery. We met on the Year Here social innovation fellowship in 2018, working together to bring innovative solutions to the most pressing challenges in London.
Hebe Foster
Co-founder & Director
Hebe is the public face of Telescope for creating new partnerships and sales. A thoughtful, driven changemaker, Hebe is passionate about equality and empowering bottom-up solutions. Her knowledge of social impact ventures comes from work with Mercy Corps Ventures, an impact investing fund supporting early-stage ventures in emerging markets. She has a background in financial services and has worked in women’s charities worldwide, as well as holding a Masters in International Affairs from LSE and Sciences Po Paris.
Sarah Holliday
Co-founder & Director
Sarah leads the work on designing Telescope’s programme content, drawing on her diverse background in science, research and social innovation. Her inspiration for co-founding Telescope came from working with amazing colleagues at the Bromley by Bow Centre, and she remains passionate about enabling and championing unheard voices with great ideas. She loves geeking out on learning experience design and is constantly looking for new tools and learning materials to add to our curriculum.
Amy Lord
Marketing & Research Lead
Amy Lord has worked in marketing and communications across the cultural sector, as well as in social housing and local authorities in the north of England. She supports small arts organisations, charities and non-profits to understand the needs of their audiences and tell their organisational stories online in engaging and compelling ways. She is a published novelist and short story writer, and mentors emerging northern writers.
Our Advisory Board
Ruth Martin
Ruth is one of Telescope’s co-founders, and has extensive expertise in policymaking, having worked in the UK’s national human rights institution and the House of Commons before moving to New Zealand to apply her skills to social development there. She has completed a PhD in history and is a trained facilitator, completing courses with Dare to LeadTM and REFRAMR, as well as leading human-centred design and strategy research projects.
Sarah Edwards
Sarah is a former probation officer who worked for Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service for 10 years, supporting hundreds of offenders. A mum of 2, Sarah is also the founder of Edwards Tutoring, an online tutoring company. Being involved in projects that align with her values and missions is central to Sarah’s ethos.
Cathy Wang
A passionate entrepreneurial leader, Cathy has spent 15 years working globally to uncover opportunities, including large e-government initiatives and Fortune 500 company transformation. She most recently founded a Mutual Aid group for COVID response and recovery. Cathy works with start-ups that shape a better world and create positive social impact.
Kit Collingwood
Kit is Chief Digital Officer at Royal Borough of Greenwich Council. Before this, Kit was a civil servant for over 9 years. She’s a keen advocate of diversity and inclusion, with a focus on gender equality and LGBT+ rights. Kit co-founded the One Team Government movement in 2017, which is a network of public servants around the world who meet to share ways to make government more effective.
Zain Zulfiqar
Zain Zulfiqar is a service designer by profession with a background in advertising, and has led projects in healthcare, social inclusion, finance and agriculture sectors. He brings systems-level thinking in the design process to make a holistic social impact, as well as contributing his recent valuable experience in the homelessness sector.