Dawn joined Collaborate in 2018. She leads a number of areas of Collaborate’s practice including place-based partnerships, learning, and new approaches to funding and commissioning. 

She is highly experienced in supporting multi-agency partnerships and place-based collaboration to tackle complex issues including integrating early years services, special educational needs and disabilities, loneliness and physical inactivity. She supported Wigan Council to review the Wigan Deal to develop a new collaborative whole-place strategy, and leads work with Involve providing external scrutiny of the Grenfell Support programme, which has included embedding a restorative approach.

Dawn played a key role in developing the Human Learning Systems movement, focused on developing more effective ways of delivering, funding and managing public services in complex contexts. 

Her background is in grantmaking with a focus on developing more person-centred, collaborative and learning-focused approaches. Dawn previously worked at The National Lottery Community Fund where she worked to develop and test a new UK-wide funding strategy, and help establish a new knowledge and learning function. Before this, she was a Senior Consultant at NPC, a charity think tank and consultancy. 

Dawn has a MA in Social Policy from the University of Birmingham. She is trustee of Refugee and Migrant Network Sutton, and Xenia, a charity in Hackney which brings together women to promote language learning, solidarity and cultural exchange.

In their own words:

I love working at Collaborate because of the opportunity to look beyond traditional silos and help people and organisations achieve more together. So much of our work is about weaving relationships, shifting perspectives, rebalancing power and learning together – priorities that are often invisible and overlooked, but are essential foundations for helping people and places thrive.

Dawn Plimmer Projects