Entrepreneurs in Residence

We are delighted to announce our first Entrepreneur in Residence, Peter Ptashko FRSA, who will be providing tailored Social Enterprise support to the Leeds research community, with the aim to support, excite, engage and inform through pilot activity, with the potential for expansion in future. If you have any ideas on how Peter can help you, please contact Jo Howorth, Head of Skills Development.

Social Entrepreneur in Residence: Peter Ptashko, FRSA, Founder & CEO

Peter has a strong track record of working in the field of Social Enterprise globally, having launched his first venture back in 2005 – raising £25,000 in only 7 hours. Since then, he has worked for UnLtd: the UK foundation for social entrepreneurs, supporting thousands of social entrepreneurs to start and grow their businesses across (in particular) the Youth and Education sectors, securing an investment of almost £10m for universities across England, in collaboration with the UK Government.

Image of a man facing the camera giving an interview to press people

Peter Ptashko: Entrepreneur in Residence

He is the former Director of the Global Social Entrepreneurship Network (GSEN), leading its 60 members in over 70 countries to better support social entrepreneurs around the world – providing them a voice and capacity to flourish wherever they may be. Before this he was based in their Mexico City office, with a focus on Impact Investment across Latin America.

A social entrepreneur, funder and supporter of social entrepreneurs and currently an independent entrepreneurship change management consultant working with a range of clients across the Public and Private sectors. He holds a series of leadership and Board-level positions across sectors.  Peter has a specialist focus in Higher Education and is a Social Entrepreneur in Residence at a range of top universities – including Warwick, Imperial, Coventry and Kingston. He lectures in impactful business at a variety of universities and business schools, including UCL, Manchester, Bedfordshire, Kingston and Ravensbourne.

He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts (FRSA) and launched Cambio in 2019 as a response to the growing need for mainstream, high quality, internationally informed and tailored support to social entrepreneurs and their supporters in the UK, and beyond. To date, Cambio has delivered work in: Mongolia, Hong Kong SAR, Brazil, Singapore, Indonesia, Austria and the United Kingdom with a range of partners, including universities, foundations, international networks, corporates and individual entrepreneurs.

Collaboration Activities

At Leeds we anticipate work will consist of a combination of advisory support and implementation consultancy. Core activities that will be covered across this emerging work will focus specifically with our research community and include the following:

  • Deliver tailored workshops on key topics and themes in Social Enterprise: from theory to practice; useful tools and resources; case studies and the international agenda.
  • Host one-to-one coaching sessions for those researchers looking to expand their horizons, based on a methodology of person-centred business coaching, with an ‘impact’ focus.
  • A tailored and specific focus on researchers to build or enhance existing pathways to incubation and / or acceleration within the institution, sharing a broad network of expert contacts to support these activities.
  • Share expertise and guidance on being and becoming ‘self-employed’, with a practical toolkit shared with those who want to explore this career vehicle, potentially as a ‘spin out’.
  • Attend internal meetings related to Social Enterprise provision, bringing a Social Enterprise practitioner focus to such discussions.
  • Act as an ambassador for Social Enterprise and Leeds at both internal and external events.
  • Offer support as a Visiting Lecturer with a practitioner lens, with current examples including delivery on the Michael Beverley Innovation Fellowship.