Kate Gardner is a programme management and design consultant with a commitment to driving inclusive societies and economies. Her interest lies in thoughtful process as the cornerstone of people-centred, inspired and effective social and economic development. Her skills include innovation fund management, collaborative programme design, complex local and international programme management, strategic planning, creative thought processes, dialogue stimulation and facilitation and values-based leadership. Kate has worked across and managed multicultural and diverse teams and programmes that put social innovation and cultural relations at the heart of effective, dignified and inclusive development. She has worked with, for and across teams in over 15 countries across Africa, Europe, South America, North America, South East Asia, South Asia and the Middle East. She has worked across development sectors ranging from conservation and food security, to community peace-building, to the arts and the creative economy - the common thread being social innovation and inclusive development. Kate has experience in enterprise development with a focus on social entrepreneurship, believing that supporting small business and the impact this has on the individual, their community and the economy at large is the most exciting, bottom-up, culturally intelligent way to stimulate development.Most recently Kate has focused on innovation fund design and management. She is currently working on the co-ordination and management of a cross-discipline, 1 million CHF innovation fund for the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). She also recently led the South African team of the British Council's Developing Inclusive & Creative Economies (DICE), a £9m global pilot (2018-2021) that imagined and activated new forms of cultural agency and horizontal collaboration for 22,000 creative social entrepreneurs, artists, intermediaries, young journalists and policy-makers. Co-designed and delivered by a team of 25 in Brazil, Egypt, Indonesia, Pakistan, South Africa and the UK, DICE was cited as a 'bold innovation in international development' by. Prof. JP Singh at George Mason University and ‘a model for 21st century leadership’ by British Council Advisory Board Member Gerri Moriarty. Kate has qualifications in Impact Investing from the University of Cape Town Graduate School of business as well as Social Entrepreneurship from the Gordon Institute of Business Science – graduating with the top student award. She has an Honours Degree in Politics and International Studies from Rhodes University.