Claire Kennedy

Joint Chief Executive

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).