Charles Leadbeater is an independent adviser, best-selling author, award winning journalist and recognized thought-leader on innovation whose advice is sought by governments, cities and organizations throughout the world. He was awarded the prestigious David Watt Prize for journalism after a distinguished career at the Financial Times, where we was Labor Editor, Industrial Editor and Tokyo Bureau Chief all by the age of 32, before leaving to become Assistant Editor at The Independent. Leadbeater went on to become a key adviser to Tony Blair's policy team at the Downing Street Policy Unit and the Department of Trade and Industry, specializing in the impact of the Internet and the knowledge driven economy, helping to shape government policy across a number of fronts. He is a senior research associate with Demos, the London think tank and a founder of Participle, the leading public services innovation agency, which is working with public sector agencies to create next generation public services. Charlie is also a visiting fellow at the National Endowment for Science Technology and the Arts, where he has championed ideas of open and user driven innovation. He has a long track record of involvement in social innovation and is co-chairman of the social enterprise Apps 4 Good, an advisor to the Ministry of Stories and a supporter of Mothers-2-Mothers, the self help network of HIV positive mothers in Africa.
