Kezia del Carmen

Kezia is Principal Consultant for Place and Systemic Change at Renaisi Innovation.

Kezia works across Renaisi Innovation's portfolio of place-based and systems change projects. This includes facilitating local partner networks, managing and delivering place-based research projects, and supporting the adoption of place-based and systemic change approaches within Renaisi.   Alongside this, in her role as an embedded learning partner Kezia is supporting, advising and building the learning capacity for place-based networks that are targeting systemic change around a range of issues including: inequity in career outcomes for young people, the experiences of women who have No Recourse to Public Funds, a lack of joined up service provision and racism and ableism within our health and employment support systems.

She also leads our Place-based System Change Community of Practice, where she works with the network of practitioners and funders to share learning on approaches to place-based systems change, and to collectively work through emerging challenges to design new ways of working.

Her work focuses on bringing organisations, individuals and networks together to learn about, interrogate and design approaches to bring about place-based and systemic change.

Kezia’s strength is in using place-based and systemic approaches to support organisations, networks and individuals to reflect on their role within their system, understand barriers to change and design strategies that can drive lasting, inclusive change. She has experience facilitating participatory systems mapping, power analysis, journey mapping and root cause analysis processes alongside a range of other design tools to support others to understand how they might approach place-based and systemic change.

Kezia’s career has focused on learning and facilitation. Prior to joining Renaisi Innovation, she supported place-based funders to develop their practice around equitable grant-making, sustainability, and community engagement while working at UK Community Foundations. She is experienced in developing and facilitating thematic learning programmes and communities of practice, as well as providing capacity support to place-based funders and delivery organisations.

Kezia has deep interest in exploring the role of philanthropy in community development and systemic change. She has progressed this both through a masters exploring the role of place-based community philanthropy in shifting power and accountability in community development and work with a range of UK-based funders aiming at place-based systemic change.