Leading ideas catalyst Patrin Watanatada has been elected to Capita’s governing Board of Directors.
I am delighted to announce that Patrin Watanatada has joined our governing Board of Directors with effect from July 17, 2020.
Patrin is an independent consultant working with organizations that use the power of ideas to spark and support social change. Currently, she is serving as interim program director at the Clean Air Fund, a philanthropic initiative working to catalyze action on air pollution, accelerate decarbonization and improve human health. She is delighted to join Capita’s Board of Directors because its “ideas lab” approach and vision of a world where all young children and their families can flourish are close to her heart.
For nearly 20 years, Patrin has consulted, analyzed, communicated, partnered, made grants, and built and led teams to advance healthy child development, cities for families, clean air, and the role of business in shaping a just and sustainable world for all.
Until June 2020, Patrin was the first knowledge for policy director at the Bernard van Leer Foundation, an independent Dutch foundation working towards a good start in life for all children. There she set up and led a team combining the research & evaluation and communication functions, to inspire and inform the uptake of policies and practices to improve the health and well-being of babies, toddlers and their caregivers worldwide. She also played a key role in developing their award-winning Urban95 initiative that supports urban leaders, planners and designers to answer the question: “If you could experience the city from 95cm – the height of a 3-year-old – what would you change?”
Patrin was previously a director with SustainAbility, one of the first think tanks and strategy consultancies working to shape the role of business in sustainable development, where she variously headed the London consulting team, managed the firm’s largest client relationship, coordinated their internal learning and innovation series, and conceived and led Signed, Sealed… Delivered? a research project assessing the business value of sustainability certifications and labels that was selected for Cambridge University’s sustainability master’s reading list.
Earlier in her working life, Patrin worked in strategy and advisory roles in three very different organizations: the London start-up office of US social change communications agency Fenton, the North American financial services practice of strategy consultancy Oliver Wyman, and a biomass energy start-up in Bangkok – sparking a fascination with the words and ideas that resonate with different professionals and people around the world.
Patrin grew up in a Thai family just outside Washington, DC and is currently engaged in urban early childhood fieldwork as mother to a gloriously energetic 4-year-old.
Aligned with Capita’s approach, Patrin’s career has been dedicated to transcending disciplines, sectors, and ways of knowing to address some of the world’s most challenging and complex problems. We look forward to benefiting from her wisdom and experience as she joins us as a member of the governing board.