Jonathan Black appointed as new Heywood Fellow

11 January 2023

Yesterday the Heywood Foundation announced the appointment of Jonathan Black as the new Heywood Fellow. Until December 2022, Jonathan was the Prime Minister’s G7 & G20 Sherpa and Deputy National Security Adviser. During his Fellowship, he will focus on policy making at the intersection of economic prosperity and national security. Some of the most systemic policy challenges faced by the UK and allies today sit at this intersection. This includes issues relating to science and technology, to trade and investment, to climate and health, and – as the war in Ukraine has shown – the fundamentals of statecraft. The ability of governments to address these challenges in a coherent way is ever more critical to delivering peace and prosperity for their citizens.

In his work Jonathan will look at how policy making needs to change in light of this changing context and evolving global and geopolitical trends. This will include looking at systems, structures, capabilities and culture – and in particular the relationship between the private sector and governments. The Fellowship will report in Autumn 2023.

The Heywood Foundation is a charity established in the memory of Lord Heywood, Hertford alumnus (Modern History and Ecnomonics, 1980) and Cabinet Secretary from 2012 to 2018. The Foundation exists to promote innovation and diversity within the public sector, two things that Jeremy was passionate about and promoted himself during his career. The Heywood Fellowship allows a Civil Service Permanent Secretary the opportunity to explore issues relating to public service and policy, based at the Blavatnik School of Government and associated with Herford College.

The Principal, Tom Fletcher, commented: “We’re delighted to welcome Jonathan as our second Heywood Fellow. He has worked at the heart of the international effort to address the major global challenges we face, and his recommendations while at Blavatnik have the potential to be the kind of transformational intervention that typified Jeremy Heywood’s leadership.”

Lady Heywood, the Chair of the Heywood Foundation, said: “We are delighted that Jonathan Black will be the next Heywood Fellow. The thinking he will be doing affects an increasingly critical area of policy making for all governments and Jonathan is exceptionally well positioned to bring new insights to this. Jeremy would be thrilled by both Jonathan’s appointment and the topic that he will be researching.”

Jonathan Black said: “It’s a real privilege to take on this Fellowship established in Jeremy’s name. Jeremy championed a culture of problem solving for the most systemic policy challenges. The focus for the Fellowship this year is inspired by that.

Our national security and economic interests are interconnected as never before – and global and geopolitical trends mean they will only become more so. We need to make sure we have the right policy making processes to keep up with this much more complex and changing context.”

We warmly welcome Jonathan to Hertford!