Ailbhe McNabola is Director of Policy and Communications at Power to Change, a charitable trust that supports communities to run businesses that reinvest profits into their local area.
She is also Co-Chair of the Social Research Association, a membership organisation that promotes excellence in social research, and a CAPE Policy Fellow. She was previously an adviser to the European Commission on its design innovation programme and a member of the Oversight Group for Creative Industries for the Arts and Humanities Research Council.
Ailbhe has extensive policy and analysis experience. At Power to Change, she successfully built up a new Research Institute, generating a respected evidence base for the role and value of community business. Prior to joining Power to Change, she was Director of Policy and Research at the UK Design Council, and Head of Research at the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council. In her early career, at the National Audit Office and as a management consultant focused on UK government, she worked on policy development and analysis projects across a range of policy areas and was situated within civil service delivery and policy teams. She has authored and commissioned a wide range of research, analysis and policy publications.