Who we are

Claire Kennedy is Joint Chief Executive of PPL.  She has been working at the heart of public sector improvement since 2002.

A previous Vice President of the UK Management Consultancies Association (MCA) and current Vice Chair of New Local, Claire co-founded PPL in 2007, bringing extensive experience of managing complex change projects across multiple service areas, and of delivering benefits for service users and staff.

As a Head of Strategic Transformation, Claire designed and implemented change programmes at team, organisational, system and national level, including as part of the National eCapacity Building Programme for the then Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM).  Prior to joining the public sector, Claire was a political consultant and communications expert, co-authoring reports with think tanks such as SustainAbility on emerging global trends; and advising clients including Amnesty International on national-level policy development.

An expert in managing and developing people, Claire is particularly skilled in bringing teams together to deliver a shared vision for the future, engaging at all levels from boardroom to frontline, and in complex, networked structures.

At PPL, Claire’s role involves providing strategic development and insight into the implementation of complex policy initiatives across the public sector, including the NHS, Local and Central Government.  Her particular focus is on linking strategic objectives and outcomes to everyday delivery, and the management techniques required to develop effective teams, and to enable them to maximise their performance.

Claire holds Masters Degrees from the University of Oxford and King’s College London, together with a Postgraduate Diploma in Local Government Management from the University of Warwick.  In addition to her academic background in organisational change, Claire is a trained coach, is a recipient of the Chartered Management Consultant (ChMC) Award from the Chartered Management Institute, and is a Fellow of the RSA (FRSA).

Simon Morioka is Joint Chief Executive at PPL, with over twenty-five years of experience in helping organisations to design and implement major changes to the way in which they work.

Simon began his career at global management consultancy Accenture, working up to become a senior manager on projects and programmes with clients based in Europe, Asia and the US. In 2004, Simon joined the London Borough of Lambeth, initially on secondment, to help develop a £30 million service transformation programme; staying on for three years as the council’s Director for Strategy, Transformation & Technology across Adults & Children’s, Housing, Environmental and Corporate Services.

Simon subsequently worked at board level as CIO of a major global educational charity; as a Local Improvement Advisor for the Department for Communities & Local Government; and as an NHS Programme Director on multi-million pound change programmes in primary, community and acute services, focussing on achieving better health outcomes through re-designing the way in which care is delivered.

Since co-founding PPL in 2007, Simon has led the organisation’s work on major public sector programmes including the “People Powered Health Programme” with NESTA and the Innovation Unit, implementing co-production in the area of long-term conditions management and with the LGA, NHS England, ADASS and Public Health England developing the first “whole-system” approach to integrated care across England.

His current roles include providing strategic advice to chief executives in the public and voluntary & community sector; and facilitating dialogue with system partners and communities to better integrate local care.  Simon is lead sponsor for our volunteering programme and in his spare time  volunteers with St John Ambulance and the Metropolitan Police.

Simon holds a Masters degree from the University of Cambridge, is a Life Fellow of the RSA, a recipient of the Chartered Management Consultant (ChMC) Award from the Chartered Management Institute, is a Harvard Business School trained negotiator, and holds a Level 3 Award in Education and Training.

Paul Corrigan gained his first degree in social policy from the LSE in 1969, his PhD at Durham in 1974 and has been appointed visiting professor of public policy at the University of North London since 1995.

For the first 12 years of his working life he taught at Warwick University and the Polytechnic of North London

In 1985 he left academic life and for the next 12 years he worked in local government – mainly in London but also as a member of staff in the local government unit of the Labour party.

In 1997 he started to work for himself as a local government consultant working on issues of modernisation and in 1999 worked for the Office for Public Management. From 2001 he worked for the Labour government as Special Advisor on Health, leading the development of Foundation Trust Hospitals and pioneering the ‘choice’ agenda.

Paul is currently engaged across the NHS playing a leading role in a number of reform and transformation programmes. He is also one of the UK’s leading opinion formers on healthcare and regularly contributes to the national debate in this space.

Halima is a former Executive Director at the Greater London Authority (GLA) and an Affiliated Researcher at the University of Cambridge.

Passionate about developing people-powered approaches to public services which harness the insights and motivation of frontline staff and citizens, Halima has been involved in research, design, funding and implementation as a policymaker in national, regional and local government, and as an executive director at the leading national innovation charity, Nesta.

At  Nesta, Halima was responsible for launching the Health Lab and building Nesta’s health and care work into an influential body of work collectively brought together as People Powered Health.  She left to take up the post of Executive Director Communities and Skills at the GLA, including supporting the work of the Mayor on communities, adult skills and public health through the Covid-19 pandemic.

Prior to joining Nesta, between 2007 and 2010 Halima was Deputy Director of the Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit (PMSU), working with the Cabinet Office and Number 10.  At the PMSU she was a member of the Improving the Life Chances of Disabled People project, which led to the expansion of individual budgets in health and social care and establishment of the Office for Disability Issues in the Department for Work and Pensions.  In local government, at Camden Council she helped lead the five-year community strategy and the Council’s citizen engagement work.

Halima holds a first-class BA from Oxford University and a Masters in Public Administration (MPA) from the Harvard Kennedy School. In 2015, Halima was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Health Sciences from Anglia Ruskin University for her work in health innovation. She holds non-executive positions at the Mayday Trust and Royal Society of Public Health, as well as being a member of the Public Policy Committee at the British Academy, and a previous Trustee of Diabetes UK.

Charlotte Augst is former Chief Executive of National Voices, Director of the Richmond Group of Charities, and current Executive Director of Policy, Campaigns and Improvement at Diabetes UK.

At National Voices Charlotte led the national coalition of health and care charities, representing the community sector and user voice at numerous working groups and programme boards, including Inequalities Oversight Group, Long Covid Programme and Elective Care Recovery Forum.  For the last 10 years, she has led work in collaborations and coalition, building networks and connecting decision makers with experts by profession or experience.  Her previous roles included Head of Policy at the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC); Head of Business Intelligence at the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA); and a part-time lecturer in Family Law & Medical Ethics at the University of London, Queen Mary College.

Charlotte is a pragmatic and thoughtful organisational and sector leader, with a clearly recognisable voice and a strong focus on impact through collaboration. She has an authentic and values-based approach to leadership and has an unparalleled network of both community/voluntary groups and senior health and care leaders.

Charlotte has been a member of numerous advisory and programme boards for NHS England and Improvement, was a Trustee of the Mosaic Clubhouse – an award winning mental health recovery charity focussed on supporting people back into employment – and a Member of the Health Research Authority’s Confidentiality Advisory Committee.

Dr Charlotte Augst holds a Law degree from University of Trier, a Masters Degree in Social Justice and a PhD in Law and Medical ethics from the University of London.

Ren is Chief Executive of X-Forces Enterprise and the Soldiering On Awards, and a tireless campaigner on the themes of enterprise & business, education & learning.

Ren was first appointed to champion Enterprise Learning by the Secretary of State for Education in 2009, as the national champion for Business, Admin and Finance. This led her to work with the FTSE 500 to establish the highly successful task force to enable young people to prosper with the education and private sectors.  She has advised the Home Office, BEIS and the Cabinet Office and has championed a number of causes including supporting Syrian Refugees, Women and Girls in Business, and reducing re-offending rates within criminal justice.

As founder and Chief Executive of X-Forces Enterprise (CIC), since 2013 Ren has supported thousands of business ventures launched by veterans through training, funding and ongoing support.

The knowledge and expertise from this work helped Ren to develop X-Emergency Services (XES) which supports the emergency services with enterprise and business, including career transition support.

Ren was awarded an MBE for service to the Entrepreneurship in 2016 in the Queen’s 90th Birthday Honours.

Charity work and volunteering continue to be a big part of her life, including as a Lieutenant Colonel in the Army Reserve, and in her work with the Federation of Small Businesses, as All Party Parliamentarian Group Women and Enterprise lead for Education and Skills, Enterprise M3 Board Member and Visiting Fellow of Anglian Ruskin University.

Sean Harriss is a highly respected local authority Chief Executive with 15 years of experience as CEO of councils in London and Greater Manchester.

Throughout his career, Sean has worked in highly complex, diverse and challenging political environments, with a focus on developing effective partnerships with political leaders, wider public sector and VCSE partners.  He has provided high-quality organisational leadership; supported the professional development of many others; and has consistently championed regeneration, devolution and public service reform throughout his career, including putting these principles into practice.  Sean has also been responsible for co-developing and delivering large-scale budget reductions, in the context of wider financial pressures on local services, whilst maintaining key outcomes with local communities and people.

Sean has been working in local government since the early 1990s. During his career Sean has managed and led work across a range of local, regional and national issues, including housing, economic regeneration, organisational change and improvement, and the improvement of Children’s services.

His recent success in joining services, systems and politics at a Place and Integrated Care System level is based on a deep, practical understanding of the different worlds of the politician, council officer and NHS organisation and how to bring these together.

Sean holds a degree in Politics from Nottingham University and an honorary Doctorate in Public Administration from the University of Bolton.