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Zainab outlines three times you need to consider public policy work for your organisation.

I've alluded to political acuity before, but it's worth noting in a blog post since it's a skill that you might want to adopt for yourself, especially if you're working with public sector stakeholders. I worked in the public sector for so long and I still operate in this manner for many things - and for our clients, this is a glimpse into what it's like working with us. To back up a bit, let's define political acuity. I use the term political acuity but lots of people use "p

Sometimes love is in the air (hey, Valentine's isn't that far away), sometimes we need to show we care about our stakeholders more. Three concepts I learned in my urban planning studies that might be relevant for community and stakeholder inclusion: (The short version of this blog post: if you want to include the community more, do it in baby steps; you'll eventually realise you've shifted your relationship with the community the more you do it over time.) 1. A Ladder Of Cit

We're reflecting on 2025 at Strides Insights and what we'll be doing more of in 2026.

A while ago, I signed up to Reddit (hoping I would somehow figure out how to use it for the business) and while I have not been as active on there, I wanted to share some career advice I gave someone, in case that helps anyone reading this here on the Internet randomly. The original poster was looking for advice related to their own situation here: i need some career advice  by u/CalligrapherKey3127  in PublicPolicy Specifically, this college student is majoring in economics

Happy holidays from us at Strides Insights! We're off from December 20 to January 1 with our families, and we will be responding back to most emails and non-urgent work on Friday January 2. In the meantime, we wish you a wonderful time celebrating the holidays with your loved ones!

Zainab is talking about making hard decisions when it's for children and vulnerable people, as both a parent and a policy professional.

It's now the holiday season and with that often comes the holiday parties with kin, kith and colleagues. Yesterday, I was at the Seeds Hub holiday party for programme staff, current participants, alumni and others who share the coworking space; and we happen to be alumni. The six-month programme at Seeds Hub is the first programme we have participated in as Strides Insights and it reminded me that I have to make use of the fact that we also have access to the coworking space

In the UK, it’s that time of year where parents with three-year-olds and four-year-olds are now attending school tours to see prospective schools for their little ones while applying to these schools. Some of the schools near me are oversubscribed (at least two schools near me receive around 800-900 applications for 90 spots) but it is important to note that perhaps this is uniquely an experience in the London borough of Brent since the birth ratio has dropped and some school

When I introduce myself with: “I’m a data, research and public policy consultant” I often get: “Woah, that sounds like a lot!” This is pretty much what someone said to me yesterday at a networking event. Side note: it was probably one of the best networking events I’ve gone to in a while, where I could authentically be myself; so shout out to Keep Calm and Connect (KCC) networking events and Sue Richards for inviting me to the one held in Queen's Park, London. We often get a

We get asked this one question a lot: why would someone want to hire a consultant when AI makes everything easier. Our response: keep the human in the loop.