Toby has a PhD in Political Theory from Newcastle University, exploring “the Concept of Community in Political Theory”.  He was Chief Executive of a participatory arts charity in North East England, supporting marginalised and excluded people to explore and address their creativity.

He has also done policy work addressing poverty in neighbourhoods for the Social Exclusion Unit, and worked as a public management action researcher – helping public service organisations across the world to change their approach to management, so that it better serves the lives of real people, in what is called a Human Learning Systems approach.

He is passionate about helping to change how public service is managed, as he believes that how we do public management is a key factor in whether public service is able to respond to the complex realities of people’s lives. He pursues this passion as a Professor of Public Management at Manchester Metropolitan University, and as a consultant through Civinet Associates.