Selected Work
Prison Leavers Project
Resettlement Vision
Video Calling in Prisons Democracy Watch
Ready Now
Photography
About Isabelle
The Prison Leavers Project was a cross-government project that works with people inside and outside of prison, as well as relevant stakeholders, to test innovative ways to improve social inclusion of people leaving prison and reduce reoffending.
In a nutshell, we were trying to find ways to change the way business as usual works and experiment how government can work more effectively and efficiently to support people leaving prison.
What did I do?
I advocated for people-centred design and systems thinking during the two years of the project to ensure both services and policies understand people’s needs, and the interconnectivity between policies and day to day operational realities.
I collaborated with senior stakeholders across policy, operations, and delivery teams to develop sustainable, long-term interventions for complex societal and service challenges, using design and systems thinking methodologies.
I built, led and introduced a multidisciplinary team with Agile Delivery and ways of working. I designed and supported the on-boarding process, ways of working, planning rituals, communication channels and team culture.
I led the research and design process across multiple workstreams to test concepts and develop strategic recommendations that influenced policy decisions for stakeholders across the justice system. I also co-designed the implementation of a new (pilot) therapeutic service into the Male Prison Estate with operational staff, policy colleagues and people with lived experience.
I built and nurtured a healthy, cross-disciplinary community of practice for designers, creating a trusted space for knowledge sharing, peer support and skills development.