Hilary Cottam

[3] Returning to the UK in 1998, Cottam set up two award-winning social enterprises: School Works Ltd (now the British Council for School Environments) which was ranked within Britain's top 100 creative companies and the Do Tank Ltd.[4] Between 2001 and 2006, Cottam was a director at the Design Council where she started the RED Unit and a new programme of work on the transformation of public services.

In 2006, Cottam started Participle, a 10-year experiment to develop and test exemplars of a 21st century welfare state.

Cottam has worked as an advisor to governments in Europe, Latin America and Africa and has sat on the advisory board of for profit organisations and a FTSE 100 company.

In 2005, Cottam was named UK Designer of the Year with her blueprints that combine elements of architecture and policy for schools, health services, and prisons.

[5] In 2007, the World Economic Forum named Cottam as a Middle-Aged Global Leader in recognition of her work on social change.