Meet the team: Lindsay Wright, Joint Head of Communications and Impact

Hi Lindsay. What’s your role within UPEN and what do you do?

I’m Joint Head of Communications and Impact, and am responsible for developing strategic communications, enhancing the impact of the project, and building UPEN’s visibility amongst public policy communities and the wider academic-policy ecosystem.

I’ve worked as a knowledge mobiliser within a number of UK universities, brokering relationships between researchers and policymakers, predominantly in public health, energy and the environment, and science. More recently, I’ve worked in global non-profits, supporting companies to collect anonymous supplier data on the labour and human rights impacts of their purchasing practices, as a driver of decent work and more equitable supply chains.

What’s your favourite thing about your role?

I’ve been a knowledge mobiliser for years, but never knew that I was – so I’m thrilled to be here at UPEN, because now there is a strong voice speaking up and out for us and bringing us together as a community, codifying what we do, and raising awareness of its value and critical relevance. We’re the connective tissue, building connections, and creating the academic-policy infrastructure that’s driving real societal change.

What has been your career highlight (or highlights) to date?

When I was at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, I worked on a Channel 4 News exposé of Big Tobacco, connecting public health researchers with the science desk, supporting the researchers as they went undercover over a period of many months to gather evidence in the giant evidence depository where the tobacco companies grudgingly stored their documents (after being order to by the courts), and working with the journalists at C4 News to identify the most impactful stories and pieces of evidence with which to build an expose! This was all quite a few years ago now but I still feel a sense of pride and achievement when I think about it. I also helped to organise a national conference commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Great Smog (giving my age away here), connecting researchers and public health specialists and co-ordinating testimonies from people who were there.

What do you think the biggest challenge in academic-policy engagement is at the moment and what can we do about it?

The high-level advocacy piece, by which I mean persuading senior leaders within universities of the value of knowledge mobilisation. This is about demonstrating impact. The good news is that funding bodies are increasingly focused on impact, and the sustainability of the university sector depends on being able to do impact well. Luckily, knowledge mobilisers are great storytellers. Using that storytelling expertise to tell a collective, impactful story is the key to unlocking understanding and senior-level buy-in.

What’s one small unexpected thing that always brightens your workday?

At this time of year, there is a row of cherry trees opposite my house that have all gotten tangled up with one another, and when they blossom, they form an arch of dazzling white which, when the sky is blue, or the sun is just rising, is breath-taking.

What does your dream holiday look like?

I would like to ride a motorcycle around the Scottish Highlands. This is not entirely mad – I have a full motorcycle licence and used to ride a lot until my beloved Honda 500 was stolen from outside my house a while back. My other love is skiing, so I’d take in Aviemore or Glencoe and have a day on the pistes too, if I could. The challenge of how I would carry my skis and boots on the motorcycle is one for another day. Especially as it’s highly unlikely I’ll ever be able to go on this dream holiday, now I no longer have a bike!

Time for Desert Island Discs! If you were cast away on a desert island, what three songs would you currently take with you and why?

Dancing in the Moonlight by Thin Lizzy – a perfectly constructed song about first love.
Rock and Roll by Led Zeppelin – I could shout this out and no-one would hear me.
Let’s Get This Straight from the Start by Dexy’s Midnight Runners – a cry from the heart from someone with the best of intentions who is continually misunderstood. And because there’s so much more to them than Come on Eileen.

Give us a plug for something you’re working on at the moment

I’m working on a video competition for knowledge mobilisers – to showcase what we all love about our jobs! We’re going to show the best ones at the UPEN Conference, and there will be prizes!

How can we get in touch with you?

Send me an email at lindsay.wright@ucl.ac.uk