When I left the OECD last summer, it was for several reasons (some of them implicit in this blog post). And I’m pleased that I decided to do so. This has been such a valuable slice of time – a luxury I recognise few people are able to enjoy.

I’m so lucky to have had the career I’ve had to this point and the breadth and depth of what I’ve done. But it has given me a bit of a dilemma about the shape of who I am and the role that best fits, especially in this new, post-OECD phase.

In terms of substance, the OECD was a good match and I was fortunate to have been adept at what the job required. I’m really proud of all the work I contributed to there. But it’s also true that I missed the “gnarliness” of delivery – the practical, hands-on experience without which I wouldn’t have been as good at the job. So I always knew my time focusing on the conceptual and advisory wasn’t forever – it’s testament to the team and the content that I surprised myself and ended up staying for five years.

I learned a lot over those five years but was left questioning how organisations like the OECD support those elected to govern and represent their communities. The focus is generally on equipping civil servants but what about elected representatives? Where is the vehicle that does for them what the OECD and others do for public servants.

For me, personally, that question leaves me thinking about what my faith has to say about good governance in theory and loving encouragement for those who give their lives to public service in practice. A prayer I can’t shake sums it up: “That the people who govern the world would fall in love with the values of the King and His Kingdom.” I believe there’s something very core to Christian theology that leads to politics and policymaking rooted in servant-hearted love, even if this isn’t what people might associate with how the followers of Jesus wield power and influence.

It’s that conviction which sits behind an idea my friend Dave and I have been chewing over, that of Kingdom Democracy (or maybe we’re going to coin the word kingdœmocracy). It’s the basis of a book we’re writing together. It’s also inspired PrayReps, a tool to help people pray for every elected representative everywhere. That started as my tool for praying for every MP in July but I’ve since been playing with adapting it more globally, including for the US Congress (figuring out the hex maps has been a limiting factor for other countries). Alongside these, there are a handful of other ideas that fall under the umbrella of The Kingdom Democracy Project. Maybe one day, this passion can become an actual day job.

But for now, it’s time to jump back into work and I’m really excited to be doing three different things that speak to different aspects of what I love to do: the thinking, the advising, and the doing. I’m especially glad that I’m getting an opportunity to contribute both in the UK and internationally.

  1. The thinking: I’m writing a paper for the World Bank about the ‘building blocks’ which governments need as the basis for successful work on AI (spoiler: it’s more about people than technology). Its focus is particularly on helping build maturity in low and middle income countries, though it will hopefully speak to any context where the fundamentals are at risk of being overlooked in favour of shiny technology. If you’ve got opinions on what those enablers should look like then please give me a shout.
  2. The advising: through a project funded by GIZ, Germany’s international development organisation, I’m helping the Government of Kosovo develop a set of indicators to measure and understand the impact of their most recent digital government strategy.
  3. The doing: it’s back to the UK government and an office with the team at the Department for Work and Pensions that’s working on the new national jobs and careers service. I’m really looking forward to getting stuck in.
A photograph of a building pass. It has a blue band across the top and on the left a picture of the author with a moustache. The name Ben Welby is visible on the card (with the remaining information that is usually found on the card obscured). In the bottom right corner is the crown logo indicating this is a pass for HM Government.
Because I started during Movember the Mo will live on!

So that’ll be keeping me busy for at least the next little while (and explains the possibly confusing flurry of updates on LinkedIn as I added three new things).

Since 2007 I’ve supported Movember. Here’s a link if you’d like to sponsor me and here’s a Movember inspired blog post about US Presidents.