Chris Cuthbert is Director of Research at the Lumos Foundation, an International NGO founded by children 's author JK Rowling. At Lumos, Chris leads an ambitious programme of research and evaluation focussed on institutional care of children. This work aims to capture evidence and learning from diverse country demonstration programmes about how child protection systems can be redesigned to prevent institutionalisation and deliver family-based alternatives that achieve improved outcomes for children.
Chris is former Director of Development for the Big Lottery Fund 's £215m A Better Start programme, which aims to improve Early Childhood Development in deprived communities in the UK. Chris was previously Head of Strategy and Development at the UK 's largest child protection charity, the NSPCC, where he led major programmes of research, award-winning service design and policy development. Chris is a former Senior Civil Servant with experience working in the UK Cabinet Office, Social Exclusion Unit, Prime Minister 's Strategy Unit, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, Children & Young People 's Unit and Department of Education. Earlier in his career, Chris worked in the private sector specialising in social and advertising research, including work on a number of major public health communications campaigns.