Leigh joined Collaborate in June 2022, bringing interdisciplinary experience spanning design, facilitation, research and project management, including backbone support for a collective impact initiative, directing the production of public artworks, and convening creatives to create community archives.
While at Collaborate, Leigh has been involved with a series of learning and evaluation projects with the Cornerstone Fund, the Making it Happen programme, and Sport England. They have supported place-based projects such as the Local Area Retrofit Accelerator and Cambridgeshire Net Zero Financing Framework for Whole System Change’ (CANFFUND), and Leigh has co-delivered the London Leadership Programme, a programme for local government leaders seeking to mobilise change on the complex issues London faces.
In the past, they coordinated the New York City Worker Cooperative Business Development Initiative, one of the largest American municipal efforts to address inequality through worker ownership. Leigh also helped launch Best for NYC, a partnership between local government and civil society organisations for guiding local businesses to improve job quality and community impact.
In their own words:
I come to this work with attention to power shifts that can bring about systemic change. I draw upon participatory research methods, ecological references, and artistic practices in doing so. I love learning new pedagogies and frameworks, and connecting to their roots.
“Every day, I recommit to radical imagination and transformation, to collective action for greater equity and collective liberation.