Meet our team
Dame Caroline Mason
Dame Caroline Mason
Before joining Esmée, Caroline was Chief Operating Officer at Big Society Capital and preceding that, Charity Bank. Caroline was also the co-founder of Investing for Good, a social investment advisory firm and one of the first Community Interest Companies. Before joining the social sector, Caroline had an eighteen-year track record of creative and innovative product development in the financial services sector. With Reuters, she managed the global development of real-time news and television services and then pioneered the introduction of web technology products. She also had her own consulting company, working with several financial institutions to develop new business and products including an electronic brokering service and a global wealth management business for a private bank.
Caroline is a Board Member of the Environment Agency, a Board Member of the Impact Investing Institute, and Chair of the Foundations Forum.
You might be interested in
-
16 May 2024
Pre-application Q&A webinar: 13 May 2024
Watch a pre-application Q&A webinar we held on 13 May for organisations interested in applying to Esmée for support who have questions about our application process and guidance.
Read more -
Increasing Funding Plus support for wellbeing
We are committed to targeting more Funding Plus support towards preventing burnout and improving wellbeing for the people we fund.
Read more -
Esmée’s allocation to social investment increased to £60m
We are delighted to announce that Esmée Fairbairn Foundation is increasing our allocation to social investment to £60m.
Read more -
Diversity, equity and inclusion: progress in 2023
A summary of key actions we have taken during 2023 to make progress on our commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion.
Read more -
Who our funding is reaching 2023
To help us understand who our funding is reaching, we ask all applicants and organisations we fund to complete a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) monitoring form. See a report analysing the data we collected for grants awarded and applications decided in 2023.
Read more -
Webinar: Effective partnership working
Watch a webinar we hosted with Take Note exploring a series of practical tools and approaches they've developed to support more equitable and impactful partnership work.
Read more -
Proposed changes to the Sentencing Council's guidelines
The Sentencing Council has announced changes to their guidelines including new measures covering pregnancy and maternity. Earlier this year, they also launched a consultation on the Imposition of community and custodial sentences guideline. See the joint response of the Corston Independent Funders' Coalition.
Read more -
Supporting a more diverse, equitable and inclusive environment sector
A new report by Hybrid Consulting and sam-culture reviews activity to address the lack of diversity in the environment sector. Commissioned by Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, Simon Wightman, Esmée's Funding Manager Lead for Our Natural World shares his reflections on the findings and Esmée's role.
Read more -
Foundation Practice Rating Year 3: How Esmee did
The Foundation Practice Rating (FPR) has published its third annual report assessing foundations on three areas of practice: diversity, accountability and transparency. Below, we share more about how Esmée did.
Read more -
Invitation to Tender: Equity in funding practice
We are looking to work with a researcher to deliver a report analysing UK funding through the DEI Data Standard.
Read more -
Collaborative learning about investing for environmental impact
Jenny Sansom from Environmental Funders Network and Tom Colborne from Esmée Fairbairn Foundation share progress from the Environmental Finance and Learning Fund.
Read more -
Invitation to Tender: Racial Justice consultant
We're looking to work with a consultant to help us think through how we best support organisations under our Racial Justice priority.
Read more -
Invitation to Tender: New Connections Network facilitator
We are looking to work with a facilitator to support our New Connections Network, which will enable peer support and learning for funded organisations, as well as help shape Esmée's future processes and funding practice.
Read more -
Invitation to Tender: Impact Investment deep dive on sustainable food and agriculture
We're looking for a provider to develop a practical resource for impact investors, assessing the investment opportunity both through funds and direct, across sub-themes, which align with the theme of sustainable food and agriculture.
Read more -
Funder Commitment on Climate Change 2023 update
Read our 2023 update on our work towards the six goals of the Funder Commitment on Climate Change.
Read more -
Youth-led creativity Fund Q&A: 7 February
Watch a Q&A webinar about our Youth-Led Creativity funding, which opens to applications on 14 February.
Read more -
The RACE Report: Esmée’s progress
The second annual RACE (Racial Action for the Climate Emergency) Report shared its latest findings on the diversity of the environment sector. They also shared Transparency Cards for each participating organisation. Here, we share more about Esmée's Transparency Card.
Read more -
Esmée staff and Trustee diversity data 2023
We carry out an annual survey of Trustees and staff to help us track progress on the diversity of our people. In 2023, we also asked a question on salary to help us understand our gender and ethnicity pay gaps.
Read more -
Youth-Led Creativity funding
We're excited to share our plans for our Youth-Led Creativity funding. Co-designed with Esmée's Involving Young People Collective, we reopen to applications from 14 February.
Read more -
Pre-application Q&A webinar: 31 January
Watch a pre-application Q&A we held on 31 January 2024 for organisations interested in applying to Esmée for support who have questions about our application process or guidance.
Read more -
Nature Friendly Farming: Mid-strategy review
Read the findings from a mid-strategy review of Esmée's Nature Friendly Farming work, which explores the changing context for Nature Friendly Farming in the UK, the drivers and blockers of progress, and shares insights and recommendations for Esmée's work.
Read more -
Using social investment to improve our natural world
Sarah Hedley, Esmée’s Social Investment Portfolio Manager, writes about our social investment plans to improve our natural world. This is part of a series of blogs on how our social investment strategy will contribute to Esmée’s mission.
Read more -
Changing how we fund youth-led culture and creativity
We are changing how we fund youth-led culture and creativity and plan to share our plans for a new funding programme in the New Year. To prepare, we will close to applications towards youth-led culture and creativity at 5pm on 10 November 2023.
Read more -
Developing our social investment strategy to support our mission
Jonny Page, Esmée’s Head of Social and Impact Investment, outlines our plans for social investment and the opportunities it offers to support our mission.
Read more -
Testing a new approach to make New Connections
We want to test a new approach to funding and are ringfencing £1.5m for New Connections funding to find and support organisations that could not, or would not, usually apply to Esmée. For the first phase in 2023 and 2024, we are starting with work led by and for communities experiencing racial inequity.
Read more -
Pre-application Q&A webinar: 27 September 2023
We hosted a pre-application Q&A webinar on 27 September for organisations interested in applying to Esmée for support who have questions about our application process or guidance. Catch up on the recording and see all the questions answered.
Read more -
Esmée Fairbairn Foundation’s strategy extended to 2027
Esmée’s Trustee Board have agreed a two-year extension to our 2020 strategy, committing to our current funding priorities to the end of 2027.
Read more -
Esmée Fairbairn Foundation welcomes three new Trustees
We are excited to welcome three new Trustees to Esmée’s Board: Elspeth Jones, Clare Moriarty and Mary Ann Sieghart.
Read more -
Blue Spaces – Wales: our approach to assessing expressions of interest
Earlier this year, we launched Blue Spaces – Wales, with an open call for expressions of interest for projects that support communities to improve their local freshwaters. Jenny Wheeldon, Esmée’s Freshwater Partnerships Manager, shares our approach to assessing applications and what’s next.
Read more -
Inclusive Histories: engaging communities to reflect our shared past
A new report on Inclusive Histories by British Future explores how arts and culture organisations are reflecting the complexity of our shared past, engaging communities to help shape the work, and navigating polarised responses.
Read more