Jess Scully

Jess Scully is the executive director of RadicalxChange (RxC), a foundation and global network that sparks imagination for transformative systems change. Through experiments and collaborations, RxC is building the foundations of the next economy, a revitalised democracy, robust commoning and decentralised systems for twenty-first-century governance.

Jess is a non-executive director of Parents for Climate, a member of Women for Election’s Political Advisory Board and senior associate at the Sydney Policy Lab. Her book, Glimpses of Utopia: Real Ideas for a Fairer World, offers solutions to the climate and inequality crises.

During her time as an elected councillor and deputy lord mayor of Sydney, Jess successfully established a Meanwhile Use housing model to address gendered violence and the housing crisis; introduced a framework for an inclusive economy through Community Wealth Building; and encouraged the city to undertake a citizens’ jury to shape its 2030–2050 strategic plan.

In the past, Jess spent three years as a World Bank consultant designing policy and institutional reform for urban transformation in Indonesia; served as a policy advisor to the New South Wales Minister for the Arts; hosted Saturday Afternoons on ABC Radio; and founded and directed Vivid Ideas, Australia’s largest creative industries event, for nine years.