Fran Sanderson

Fran Sanderson is the Chief Executive Officer of Figurative, a not-for-profit organisation focused on driving impact, investment, and innovation in the global cultural and creative sectors.
 

Figurative is incubated at Nesta, where Fran previously worked as the Director of Arts & Culture Investments and Programmes. During her time at Nesta, Fran led initiatives, including Arts & Culture Finance, a £30m impact investing business supporting the arts and cultural sectors. She also worked on Creativity, Culture & Capital, a platform advocating for impact investment in the creative economy, and several interdisciplinary innovation programmes aimed at using digital technology for social change.


Fran is involved in various impact investment initiatives and has collaborated with partners such as Arts Council England, Esmee Fairbairn Foundation, and Bank of America. She contributed to several key projects, including the RSC’s Dream project, which used motion capture to reimagine Shakespeare. Fran also serves as a non-executive director for UnLtd, a foundation that supports social entrepreneurs.

Before joining Nesta, Fran had an extensive career in finance. She started at JPMorgan as a fund manager, focusing on high yield and investment grade debt, as well as global equities, in both London and New York. After a career break spent living off-grid in Portugal with her family, Fran moved into impact investing at Big Society Capital (now Better Society Capital). There, she worked on numerous social investment deals and researched social pensions.
 

Fran is involved with the Arts Impact Fund and initiatives like the Innovate UK-funded performance demonstrator project. She also serves as Chair of the UK Social Investment Forum and Treasurer of Cambridge House in South London. Fran’s passion for literature, creative writing, and the arts is further reflected in her membership in the National Academy of Writing.
 

Fran Sanderson holds a Master of Arts (MA) in Philosophy and Maths from the University of Edinburgh. Additionally, she is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA), having received the designation in July 2003.

Fran Sanderson began her academic journey at the University of Edinburgh, where she earned a Master of Arts (MA) in Philosophy and Maths. Following her education, Fran embarked on a career in fund management, joining JPMorgan in London. During her tenure at JPMorgan, Fran worked as a fund manager, handling high yield and investment grade debt, as well as global equities, in both the London and New York offices. This experience provided her with a strong foundation in finance, which she later applied in her roles in impact investing.
 

After spending several years at JPMorgan, Fran took a career break and lived off-grid in Portugal with her young family. This time allowed her to reflect on her career and explore different aspects of life. Upon her return, Fran transitioned into the impact investment sector, joining Big Society Capital (now Better Society Capital) as an investment director. Here, she contributed to a wide range of social investment deals and research, including social pensions, and helped shape the direction of impact investment in the UK.
 

In 2015, Fran joined Nesta, a global innovation foundation, as the Director of Arts & Culture Investments and Programmes. At Nesta, she managed various impact investment projects, including Arts & Culture Finance, a £30m+ initiative aimed at supporting the UK’s arts and culture sector. Her work involved advocating for new funding models such as impact investing, crowdfunding, and blended finance, while also helping arts and cultural organisations harness new technologies for greater social impact. Fran’s leadership in these areas helped further establish the link between the arts and the creative economy, making a strong case for their importance in creating social value.

One of Fran's notable contributions at Nesta was her involvement in Creativity, Culture & Capital, a platform designed to promote the potential for impact investment to support an inclusive global creative economy. This initiative brought together international partners like Upstart CoLab, Fundación Compromiso, and UNCTAD to explore innovative financial solutions for the creative industries. She also led interdisciplinary innovation programmes, such as the Amplified programme, which helped cultural and creative organisations use digital tools to create positive social change.

In August 2024, Fran took on the role of Chief Executive Officer at Figurative, a new, independent not-for-profit organisation focused on driving impact, investment, and innovation in the cultural and creative sectors globally. Figurative was incubated at Nesta, and Fran’s leadership continues to shape the organisation's mission to empower creatives worldwide and foster innovation in the cultural economy.

Fran also serves as the Chair of the UK Social Investment Forum, a position she has held since January 2022. In this role, she advocates for social investment as a tool for addressing pressing societal challenges, especially in the arts and creative sectors. She is also a non-executive director and Treasurer at Cambridge House, a settlement based in Walworth, South London, where she supports social entrepreneurship and community initiatives.

Throughout her career, Fran has shown a strong commitment to the intersection of finance, arts, and social impact. She has worked on numerous projects that have shaped the landscape of impact investing in the UK’s creative economy. Her work continues to influence how arts and culture are funded, with a focus on creating long-term value for communities around the world.
 

As of the end of 2025, Fran remains dedicated to advancing the cultural and creative sectors, continuing her leadership at Figurative and her advocacy in the social investment space.

In an interview for Dinis Guarda's YouTube Series, Fran Sanderson said the following:
 

About NESTA. 

“I reached a point where I needed to do something different. I had a background working in charities. Likewise, when I was working at JPMorgan managing the ethical fund one of the first organizations I came across was NESTA and I fell in love with the organization: the people there were really intelligent, there was a positive environment in there, etc. And NESTA was all about doing research and analysis for the social good. From NESTA we believe in innovation and for us, innovation means turning bold ideas into reality and changing lives for the better. We use our expertise, skills and funding in areas where there are big challenges facing society. We’ve spent over 20 years working out the best ways to make change happen through research and experimenting, and we’ve applied that to our work in innovation policy, health, education, government innovation and the creative economy and arts.”
 

About ‘Creativity, Culture and Capital: Impact investing in the global creative economy. 

“From NESTA, we are collaborating with Fundación Compromiso and Upstart Co-Lab to create a project called ‘Creativity, Culture and Capital: Impact Investing in the global creative economy. This is a female-led initiative that marks the start of the UN’s International Year of Creative Economy for Sustainable Development and recognises the creative sector as a key driver of inclusive and sustainable growth as the world recovers from the effects of the pandemic.”
 

“The collection, which is available in English and Spanish, highlights the need and opportunity for impact investment to support renewed substantial sector growth, alongside continued government funding, philanthropic support and profit-maximising investment, and marks a moment when arts organisations and the creative industries – including fashion, food, film, music and design – are considering what kind of funding will enable them to ‘build back better’ following Covid-19.”

Fran Sanderson has received recognition for her outstanding contributions to impact investing and the cultural sector. She has played a key role in shaping the UK’s arts and culture funding landscape, particularly through initiatives like Arts & Culture Finance. Fran’s work has been instrumental in demonstrating how impact investment can support creative industries globally. She has been recognised for her leadership as Chair of the UK Social Investment Forum and for her role in pioneering innovative funding models, including impact investing, crowdfunding, and blended finance. Her dedication to social change continues to be acknowledged across the creative and investment sectors.