Nicholas Colloff
Director of Innovation
Nicholas is the Director of Innovation at Oxfam GB tasked with helping improve the impact of Oxfam GB's long term development programming. He is presently focused on small enterprise financing, how to lever change at scale and urban programming.
Prior to his elevation to this new role (to him as well as to Oxfam GB), he was Oxfam GB's Country Director in Russia, where the programme focused domestically on urban livelihood and access to basic services, and internationally on Russia's resumed global role as donor and climate change actor.
Before Oxfam GB, Nicholas was a serial social entrepreneur in both heading a venture philanthropy fund, now Andrews Charitable Trust, and working directly with a number of its off-shoots including Opportunity International (in micro-finance) and Basic Needs (in mental health & development). He is a founder of two micro-finance institutions: Moznosti in Macedonia and FORA (now FORUS Bank) in Russia. He has lived in Indonesia, Macedonia, Russia, the United States as well as the UK.
Where do new ideas come from? How do you produce an actionable, new idea? Nicholas Colloff outlines the 'explore, extract, enact' approach to innovation.
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Why is Oxfam launching an SME impact investment fund? Nicholas Colloff on a new project which aims to tackle poverty by addressing a lack of SME finance in the global South.
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Digital campaigning has been an undoubted success, but can it move beyond mere clicktivism?
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When floods hit Queensland, Australia, in 2010 and 2011, the digital community responded with a unique approach to disaster relief.
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There are no 'Eureka!' moments, says Nicholas Colloff, good ideas emerge through the laborious processes of copying existing ideas and combining them in new ways.
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Innovation is an over-used word and finding valuable advice can be tough. Nicholas Colloff offers his guide to a crowded field.
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The results may sometimes be technological, but innovation is a social process, says Nicholas Colloff, in the second of a series of posts on innovation.
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Innovation is a word with buzz and a shrill high pitched ring tone - Nicholas Colloff, Oxfam GB's Director Strategy and Innovation, considers the role of innovation in development in the first of a new series.
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