Who we are
Andy Schofield
DirectorAndy is perennially puzzled about how dysfunctional systems can be, and loves making them better by connecting impact, values and evidence, so that organisations can design better support for the complexity of real life. Andy cut his teeth at a home-grown IT consultancy and then Pinnacle psg, providing services to social housing, where he became director of special projects. It was then he became a board member of social innovation charity Matryoshka Haus, where he helped launch a jewellery upcycling social enterprise, and co-designed the Transformational Index social impact tool. He co-founded Cocreate Consulting, the ancestor of the Curiosity Society, as a social and environmental consultancy bringing diverse skills together under a co-operative banner. Not being a one-dimensional sort, Andy is also co-opted to the board of London Community Land Trust and an investment committee member of CAF Venturesome’s community-led housing fund.
Anna Crooks
CONSULTANTComing from an arts background, Anna started her working life in exhibition management for large scale West End (London) galleries before switching lanes to work with creative community organisations and social enterprises; helping them to develop business strategies and robust finances. An interest in organisational development led onto consulting and helping people understand the many layers of creativity that it takes to run a positive purpose organisation. Anna now splits her time between the Curiosity Society and our extended family: social designers Noble Studio, with whom we share an office. She is a director of social enterprise GLOW that aims to support and empower women from low income areas, and is on the board of Arts Space, a charity that serves to champion the voices of asylum seekers through art.
Chris Wood
DirectorChris has had what the older members of his family say is ‘not a proper career’. It has been a 25-year pick-n-mix of everything from campaigner for Friends of the Earth, to an executive Director of the Open University, manager of a sustainable cities programme, director of a charity devoted to executive development in social issues, MD of a technology company, founding Director of a policy think tank, and investment manager at a boutique social investment company. If life can only be understood backwards, then it looks like these things are united by a restlessness to re-make the world as a better place. The Curiosity Society was inevitable really. Outside of work, Chris is not a bad surfer, not a good snowboarder, and not at all sure what a ‘proper career’ is anyway.
Hannah Markusse
Chief ChoreographerHannah’s job title chose itself: whether it’s working with an organisation to help them build their culture, systems and processes; or curating events in her local community, she finds deep joy in helping others choreograph the difference they are trying to make in the world. As a dancer, Hannah’s career has been in the overlapping worlds of social good and extraordinary performance: running a dance programme for a charity working with at risk young people; and teaching budding west end performers. Having hung up her leg warmers for a little while, she has devoted her attention to choreographing teams and talent at the Curiosity Society, to get the best from everyone for the sake of our clients and their visions of a better society. Off-duty, Hannah can be found walking in the woods with her young family or on her yoga mat: perfecting her warrior pose.
Jamie Pett
Associate Jamie is a systems entrepreneur. He brings people and ideas together to create the conditions for deep change in complex systems, and supports others to do the same. His journey has taken him via two years as an economist in the Zanzibar Planning Commission, to helping the UK Department for International Development address knotty problems through learning and adaptation, and now to the world of facilitating, coaching, convening and consulting.
Jamie is a consultant at Healing Solidarity and part of the Stewarding Group for the Transformational Governance inquiry. He is also co-chair of the board of RESULTS UK, a charity that creates the public and political will to end global poverty. To de-compress, Jamie can be found challenging his family’s patience with his drum kit, or challenging the limits of comedy with puns worthy of official complaint.
Lara Norris
senior consultantLara’s career path has been a journey with more twists than a pretzel but leading to right here!
After studying Psychology, Research Methods, and Management she has worked in health research, charity leadership, and politics, including five years in the UK Parliament.
When not fully engaged in trying to change the world, Lara is happy at home in rural Normandy where she tries to live a more sustainable life surrounded by nature, her beloved family, a menagerie of rescue animals, and plenty of good French wine and cheese.
Lara adores watching people and organisations grow to their full potential and delights in breaking down barriers, turning things on their heads, and helping people to create surprising and beautiful things.
Michel Alimasi
senior consultant Driven by a passion for understanding the causes of things, Michel is on a perpetual quest for new insights.
This restless exploring has led him on adventures from the polar ice cap in Greenland to the rural areas of Benin, and a Masters in International Relations and Diplomatic Affairs, followed up with a move into strategic consulting with a focus on civil society organisations and social impact evaluation. Lately, Michel has been hunting for more insights by pursuing a Masters in Development Management at the London School of Economics.
Between a plane to catch and another Ken Follett book, Michel was one of the youth experts selected by Chatham House to co-create Common Futures Conversations, an online platform to exchange ideas, and influence international decision-making in Africa and Europe.
He is fond of street art and can be seen meandering alleys and abandoned buildings searching for hidden graffiti
Rita Maksimtseva
senior consultantRita has changed several careers trying to satisfy her craving for better ways to do things in the world. Her journey includes product development, leadership and innovation at a large corporation; a somewhat ironically lonely but rewarding social entrepreneurship dealing with social loneliness in seniors; and a freelance consulting career bringing principles of design thinking and human-centered design to...anyone who would listen!
Mystified by how tricky organisational transformation can be, she is also immersed in a Bachelor’s degree in psychology, hoping to bring more humanity into business. Rita sees her mission as helping people align meaning with work, whether by helping them understand their own values, or designing joyful and sustainable work for organisations.
In pauses, you can spot her on daily walks through Montjuic mountain in Barcelona, discussing the geopolitics of her native Crimea with friends and, occasionally, singing a selection of 90’s karaoke songs.
Will South
Non-Executive DirectorWill is a mechanical engineer with over a decade in the sustainable building sector; responding to the climate emergency with a combination of design, efficiency, and the re-imagination of buildings and systems to allow people and planet to flourish. He started at the sharp end of construction for a specialist contractor, and spent sabbatical time working as a professional oak timber frame craftsman. Fast forward to today, and Will now runs Etude: a company dedicated to beautiful de-carbonised buildings and energy systems. It is as diverse a job as looking at zero carbon design for London’s Olympic Park, a renewable energy policy for the island of Bermuda, and keeping everyone in the UK Treasury building from overheating (we might all agree that’s a good idea). Managing these kinds of projects tells you how Will thinks: his office wall is devoted to a live project calendar made entirely from Lego.
Annie Hedge
Non-Executive DirectorAnnie’s career in equality and diversity started when she witnessed from the inside the way racism and sexism affected the UK school system. Trying to understand what she was seeing, led her through a PhD in organisational psychology and eventually into a long professional enquiry into inequality in the workplace.
Annie has always been fascinated by how people learn and develop, and has dedicated herself to helping others deepen their understanding in this area – as a teacher, trainer, consultant, coach, and mentor. With her business partner, she co-founded an early equality and diversity consultancy that has just celebrated its 30th anniversary. Her work has spanned the public, private and non- profit sectors – from large organisations including Transport for London, Ferrovial, and Citizens Advice– to small but powerful voluntary organisations like Rights of Women, which she currently chairs, campaigning to achieve equality, justice and safety in the law for all women.
Haidee Bell
Non-Executive DirectorHaidee is driven by opportunities to create social change and a committed ‘doer’ in turning ideas into action. Her 25-year career has offered her a chance to work across the worlds of design, data and technology, health systems, social enterprise, the creative industries, science and research. A consistent thread throughout, has been finding routes for meaningful and inclusive public engagement and accompanying different people on a quest to innovate.
Haidee directs the public participation team within Wellcome Trust, one of the largest philanthropic research funders, working to build roles for those most affected by urgent health challenges alongside science and research. Prior to Wellcome, Haidee led design and innovation teams within Save the Children, Nesta and the Design Council.
Whenever life and geopolitics allow, Haidee can be found sampling fries and mayonnaise in towns and cities of The Netherlands.
Mark Sampson
Non-Executive DirectorMark’s professional career spans the spectrum from profit to non-profit, from start-up to established business, and his academic ‘side-hustle’ has focused on the intersection between theology and contemporary economics. He is the former KLICE award holder for business ethics and has a Doctorate in Theology and Economics from King’s College London; with his thesis focusing on social enterprise as ‘faithful economic practice’. Mark was a foundational member of the Curiosity Society team and, until 2020, lived in his native London where he also found time to lead The Paradise Cooperative, an urban farming and education charity. He now lives just outside Detroit, Michigan where he and his wife Katie and their three children are engaged in ‘family farmsteading’ as well as founding Rooted Good: a charity that bears more than a passing resemblance to the things Mark cares most about.
