You would expect me to start this lecture by quoting Joseph Rowntree. You wouldn’t be surprised if I mentioned that the founding memorandum of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation commits us to looking at the ‘root causes of social evil’, not its manifestations. Not to fund the soup kitchen in York, but to find out why […]
Three striking trends stand out from the annual state-of-the-nation report Monitoring Poverty and Social Exclusion, commissioned by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF). First, the inexorable rise of in-work poverty. A total of 7.4 million people are in poverty, despite being in a working family – a figure that has risen by one million over the […]
Julia Unwin's inaugural lecture for the Wales Council for Voluntary Action (WCVA) given at their AGM, 24 November 2016, at the Millenium Centre, Cardiff Bay Where next for civil society? This is an amazing building, a tribute both to the drive and commitment of Welsh civil society, and the confidence of a capital city marking its status […]
Lecture given by Julia Unwin at the Human Cities Institute’s sixth Annual Lecture. Why cities matter Cities are central to the development of our world. By 2030, urban areas are expected to house 60% of the world’s population and generate up to 80% of global economic growth. Over the last 50 years, the percentage of people […]
This briefing sets out priority areas for the new Secretary of State to focus on for a sustained reduction in UK poverty levels. Two things can be done to substantially reduce poverty levels in the UK: either the resources available to individuals and households need to increase or the costs of meeting their needs must […]
David Cameron is a man in a hurry. Set to stand down ahead of the 2020 election, the PM has promised an ‘all-out assault on poverty’ in what he calls a ‘reforming decade’. His major speech on poverty this week could not be more timely and important. The Conservative-led coalition oversaw a period of flat-lining […]
In April 2014 as Chief Executive of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation Julia gave a lecture at York St. John University where she outlined her take on the ingredients needed to bring about social change. JRF was established over one hundred years ago in the city of York, a city that has more claim than many […]
A lecture given at Gresham Collage on 29 March 2012. This lecture outlines the challenges of modern-day society and how they affect a charity’s ability to deliver its purpose, and discusses how a ‘Good Society’ could be built through the individual, community, market and state. Read the whole lecture (PDF)
My interest in governance is as a governor, advisor, author, consultant and chair – and now as a CEO. And my interest also lies in the charity sector, because I think that is where the challenge of governance is most demanding, and the rewards are greatest. But at a time when the criticisms of governance […]