Dr Ruth Martin is a Strategy and Policy Fellow in the Executive Office of the Blavatnik School of Government.

Ruth is an Edmund Hillary Fellow and a Year Here Fellow, a public servant and human rights advocate. She has a decade of experience working in government and social impact, including strategy, policy, innovation and systems change.

She has held positions in the UK and New Zealand focusing on improving government and ensuring individuals and communities are supported to lead the lives they value – these included the UK Parliament and Equality and Human Rights Commission, and New Zealand agencies focused on environmental protection and social development.

She also co-founded a social enterprise, Telescope, that brings policy and social sector workers together to tackle complex social challenges, and chaired a mental health charity as part of the NZ Institute of Directors’ Chair mentoring programme.

Ruth received a doctorate in Modern History at the University of Cambridge focusing on civil liberties, where she was awarded Fellowships from the New York University Center for the United States and the Cold War, and the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. She was a Humanities, Arts, Science and Technology Advanced Collaboratory scholar and John D. Lees Award winner.