Dr. Rachael Kelly appointed as Interim Executive Director at CMP UK

Common Mission Project UK is pleased to announce Dr. Rachael Kelly as Interim Executive Director. Rachael will be spear-heading the organisation’s mission to bring innovative solutions to some of the UK’s most difficult challenges through educational engagement and outreach. 

Since launching in 2019, CMP UK has partnered with 13 UK universities to apply lean start-up principles to solve critical problems in defence, healthcare, sustainability, law enforcement and more. Rachael has been integral to all of this, so her new appointment will allow us to supercharge those efforts further by raising visibility of the programme.

As an accomplished academic, and in her role as Programme Director, Rachael has managed and administered all ‘Hacking for’ course material and communications, built and nurtured vital relationships with our key stakeholders, and leads a team of talented individuals who help realise the H4MoD experience for all participants. The extensive knowledge and experience will help us steer forward our vision and keep CMP UK at the forefront of innovation and entrepreneurship education.

As Interim Executive Director Rachael will lead current projects interfacing between top U.K. universities and Defence, British Police, National Health Service, and National Security as well as drive growth into new potential sectors and take the next step in making the Common Mission Project one of the most impactful UK charities.

Rachael says: “Every industry has its challenges, but the challenges faced within Government and the Public Sector are arguably more important due to the sheer scale of potential impact on our everyday lives. And CMP exists to support a better future. The incredible work coming out of the H4MoD course gives us hope, and I am excited to keep delivering this as well as expanding our efforts into other sectors, where real-world impact can be made. All at the same time as developing the skills of our students to help expand their limits and inspire a brighter tomorrow.”  

We chose Rachael for her deep expertise in CMP’s methodology, her embodiment of our core values and thorough understanding of our mission, commitment to driving the social impact of the organisation.

She continues: “CMP provides an unparalleled opportunity to take cutting-edge learning from Silicon Valley, use it to educate and inspire the next generation of entrepreneurs and leaders. And as such, build a network of mission-driven change-makers who take on, and potentially solve, our biggest challenges.” 

In the future, CMP is looking to broaden the scope of its mission beyond university level, to build a secondary education programme, and so create mission-driven entrepreneurs at a school age level working on local and community issues. We also aim to grow our transformational Impact Fund to accelerate solution development in-house and launch our post-course Fellowship, enabling students to continue working on their government problem. 

Having been with CMP UK from the ground up, Rachael is the perfect person to lead us into the next phase of our growth. She takes on the role of Interim Executive Director immediately and will continue to oversee our Programmes. We’re thrilled to be working with her and can’t wait to see how she helps CMP UK flourish further.