Driving Social Innovation with IoPPN's new Royal Society Entrepreneur in Residence

Venturing into Social Impact: What Does It Mean?

IoPPN stands at the forefront of mental health and neuroscience research with huge potential to improve lives and address some of the most pressing health and social issues. Social ventures, which can be thought of as businesses with a heart, can help maximise the impact of some of our research. Such ventures are founded by innovators who prioritise delivering positive change in lock-step with revenue generation and sustainability.

Traditional routes for translating research into impact, such as becoming a charitable organisation that relies heavily on grants or a more traditional commercial entity, can present limitations. Charities do excellent work, but can face funding uncertainties, while commercial businesses must prioritise shareholders over community, which may not always align with delivering positive social impact.

Social ventures offer a hybrid model, combining sound business principles with a strong commitment to social good.

A Two-Year Mission to Drive Social Innovation

Over the next two years, I will be working closely with IoPPN researchers to:

• Organise workshops, lunch and learn sessions, and networking events to raise awareness of social entrepreneurship and build a community of like-minded academics across IoPPN, the NIHR Maudsley BRC and SLaM NHS Trust.
• Create a practical guide to support IoPPN researchers in setting up and running their own social ventures.
• Provide hands-on support to a select group of research teams to launch 3-4 new social enterprises. These pilot projects will serve as exemplars of the potential of the social ventures model.

A Vision for Transformative Impact

What I would like to see is more IoPPN research translated into sustainable solutions that address critical unmet needs in mental health and related areas.

One of my roles is support academics in the IoPPN to gain new skills and knowledge in entrepreneurship, enabling them to create ventures that align with their values and maximise their research impact.

Key to this will be the development of enhanced collaboration and stronger partnerships between the IoPPN, community organisations, and other stakeholders.

Overall, we – myself, the IoPPN and partners - will create a sustainable impact model to ensure that IoPPN research continues to benefit society for years to come, unlocking new pathways for research to make a real difference in the world.

Let’s meet: Lunch and Learn

I’ll be hosting the first of many Lunch and Learns (this one in collaboration with Maudsley Enterprise and the NIHR Maudsley Biomedical Research Centre) on 28 May at 12.00 in Seminar Room 1, IoPPN.

During the session you’ll learn more about some of the exciting work already happening across IoPPN and South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust to translate research into impact and how to connect with relevant stakeholders to follow a similar path. Register to attend here.

About the Royal Society Entrepreneur in Residence Scheme

The Royal Society Entrepreneur in Residence scheme, part of the Science, Industry and Translation programme, aims to increase the knowledge and awareness in UK universities of cutting edge industrial science, research and innovation. A new round opens on 18 June and you can find out more here. For King’s staff or teams interested in finding suitable entrepreneurs and developing applications, please contact Julie Devonshire, Director of the Entrepreneurship Institute, who can support.

About Erika Brodnock

Erika Brodnock is an award-winning entrepreneur, philanthropist, and angel investor. She is also an MBA, a Visiting Research Fellow at King's College London, a Leadership Fellow at the University of Exeter, and a PhD in the Inclusion Initiative at the LSE. S

he authored Diversity Beyond Gender and co-authored the TRANSPARENT Framework and Better Venture – Improving Diversity, Innovation, and Profitability in Venture Capital and Startups. Erika is co-founder at Kinhub, providing a generative AI coaching and personalised support platform for enterprise teams.

Erika is also a Non-Executive Director of The Good Play Guide; and serves on the APPG for Entrepreneurship advisory board.