Nesta (charity)

Last updated

Nesta
Formation1998;25 years ago (1998)
TypeCharity
PurposeInnovation
Headquarters Victoria Embankment
London, EC4
United Kingdom
Website www.nesta.org.uk OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg

Nesta (formerly NESTA, National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts) is a British foundation, registered as a charity, which supports innovation.

Contents

In 2021, Nesta announced their 10-year strategy that sees them focusing their efforts on three core missions: A Fairer Start, A Healthy Life, and A Sustainable Future.

Nesta was originally funded by a £250 million endowment from the UK National Lottery. The endowment is managed through a trust, and Nesta uses the interest from the trust to meet its charitable objects and to fund and support its projects.

History

NESTA was set up in 1998 by an independent endowment established by an Act of Parliament, the National Lottery Act 1998. [1] It had been a Labour Party manifesto promise. [2] Lord Puttnam was the first Chair. [3] In 2002 it was awarded £95 million. [3]

In October 2010, the government announced that it would transfer NESTA's status from an executive non-departmental public body to a new charitable body. [4]

In April 2012, following the appointment of Chief Executive Geoff Mulgan, the body became an independent charity, shortening its name to Nesta. [5] [6] With this change, Nesta shifted its focus to innovation for public benefit.

In 2016, Nesta received a $300,000 grant from the Global Innovation Fund to carry out research on market failures in aquaculture in Bangladesh and India. [7]

Following the arrival of Nesta's new Chief Executive Ravi Gurumurthy in December 2019, Nesta announced their new 10-year strategy in March 2021 which focuses on three core missions: sustainability, health inequalities and the education attainment gap. [8]

Operations

Nesta and the Nesta Trust are registered as charities in England and Wales, [9] [10] and Nesta is registered in Scotland. [11]

Following Nesta’s new 2030 strategy, Nesta primarily operates in the following three areas:

Alongside Nesta's social innovation missions, the charity also runs several specialist enterprises that they have incubated:

Management

Sir John Gieve chairs the organisation. Ravi Gurumurthy is the organisation's Chief Executive. [12]

See also

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References

  1. National Lottery Act 1998 Section 16 and Schedule 4
  2. Gibbons, Fiachra (1 July 1999). "Arts and science 'damp squib'". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
  3. 1 2 Curtis, Polly (11 November 2002). "£95m boost to UK innovation". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
  4. Curtis, Polly (14 October 2010). "Quango review sees five major bodies becoming charities". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
  5. Scott Buckler (3 April 2012). "Nesta becomes an independent charity". Gov Today. Archived from the original on 6 January 2014. Retrieved 5 January 2014.
  6. The Public Bodies (Abolition of the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts) Order 2012
  7. "Nesta". Global Innovation Fund. Retrieved 20 October 2023.
  8. Hargrave, Russell (2 March 2021). "Nesta unveils new ten-year strategy". www.civilsociety.co.uk. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
  9. "NESTA, registered charity no. 1144091". Charity Commission for England and Wales.
  10. "The NESTA Trust, registered charity no. 1144683". Charity Commission for England and Wales.
  11. "NESTA, Registered Charity no. SC042833". Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator.
  12. Kantaria, Priya (6 August 2019). "Ravi Gurumurthy to join Nesta as chief executive". www.civilsociety.co.uk. Retrieved 17 January 2022.

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