Kate Bird's Page

Describe yourself, briefly

Kate Bird is a socio-economist with 15 years experience in international development. She is Programme Leader of the Overseas Development Institute's Growth and Equity Programme, where she manages a small interdisciplinary team spanning economic modellers through to anthropologists. Her professional interests are in understanding the way in which policy changes filter through an economy and society to affect people; influencing policy makers and the international development community to address the interests of poor people, and the intergenerational transmission of poverty.

What do you do, mostly?

Research, advisory work, public affairs work, research management and the management of small flexible teams.

What matters most in the world?

Equity

If you were Prime Minister what would you do?

* Engage with middle England and seek to convince them that social justice is a meaningful and worthwhile objective, and something that they will support
* Decrease class sizes, particularly in deprived areas
* Provide teenagers with real options (leisure, mentoring)
* Review the UK Constitution
* Review criminal justice legislation of recent years and reconsider what it means to be an effective democratic state, where citizens have a voice

What does Soft Power say to you?

I don't know, but it sounds like a very interesting idea

Do you have children?

No

What would you like from this site?

A 'safe (and annonymous) space' in which to explore ideas - particularly around how to be an effective and enabling manager in a patriarchal and ego-driven sector