New Economics Foundation

Who we are

For more than three decades, the New Economics Foundation’s mission has been to transform the economy so it works for people and the planet. We work with people igniting change from below and combine this with rigorous research to fight for change at the top.

NEF aims to create a new economy that by 2040 works for people and within environmental limits. We do this through:

• Policy and research
  Producing original, rigorous and creative research, and developing policy solutions shaped by the lived experience of those at the sharp end of the old economy.

• Transforming local economies
  Supporting practical, on-the-ground projects that devolve power to communities, and improve wellbeing and sustainability.

• Campaigns and organising
  Working alongside people, community groups, activists and organisations to build a movement for economic change. 

• Our consultancy
  Helping organisations to think differently about environmental and social impact, and how they collaborate, interact and make decisions. 

NEF has pioneered ideas and practices including co-production, local money flow analysis, social return on investment, ethical investment and social auditing. We have given birth to a range of organisations to carry on our work, including the Jubilee 2000 Debt Campaign, the Ethical Trading Initiative, AccountAbility, Time Banking UK, the London Rebuilding Society, the Community Development Finance Association and the New Economy Organisers Network.

In the last few years, NEF has:

• Pioneered co-production and asset-based community development in the UK.
• Innovated community and early action agendas of local authorities.
• Developed a new vision for UK coastal towns.
• Embedded democratic engagement in devolution.
• Delivered successful community economic development programmes.
• Launched an online platform to map new economy projects around the UK.

Our culture and values

NEF aims to create a new economy that works for people and within environmental limits. We are guided by three missions:

1. A new social settlement
   
   A new social settlement will ensure people are paid well, have more time off to spend with their families, and have access to the things we all need for a decent life.
   
    
2. A Green New Deal
   
   The Green New Deal is a plan for government-led investment to reduce the carbon we emit and massively boost nature, while creating a new generation of jobs.
   
    
3. The democratic economy
   
   We need to devolve state power and transform ownership of the economy to give us all an equal stake in the places where we live and work.
   
    

Underpinning all three missions is an acknowledgement that the rules and institutions that shape our economy are not forces of nature beyond our control, but have been designed by people. Over the past 40 years, they have been redesigned in favour of the market rather than people and planet. In little more than a decade, we must redesign them again.

Equality, diversity and inclusion policy

NEF wants to be an inclusive workplace with a diverse body of staff. We don’t want to conform to the traditional think-tank model where people from certain backgrounds are hugely under-represented. We know we have some way to go in this and are therefore genuinely keen to receive applications from Black, Asian and minority ethnic people; women; neurodivergent people; disabled people; people who identify as LGBT+; people with experience of mental health problems; and people who identify as working class or have done so in the past.