Hello!

I’m Cleo, a political strategist, facilitator and researcher based in Edinburgh. In 2025 I brought the focus of my work home to Scotland after half a decade working remotely for London-based think tanks.

I work with charities, social enterprises, campaigns, think tanks and public sector institutions to drive change towards a more equal and democratic Scotland. I know what this work feels like from a variety of perspectives. As a founder, an employee, a volunteer, a citizen, a voter and a human. I use these perspectives and respect for the unique perspectives of everyone I work with to take an empathetic and person-centred approach.

Cleo Goodman at the Basic Income 4 Farmers campaign strategy weekend. She is a white woman with fair auburn hair, wearing a dark jacket, sitting relaxed on a green sofa and smiling, with a campaign banner visible in the background.

Background

I moved to Glasgow from Southampton in 2011 to study chemistry. Soon after I graduated I moved to Edinburgh to work at the Fringe and come September I had a short stint on Universal Credit while I tried to work out how to put my new chemistry degree to use. I was sanctioned into a minimum wage job before this task was complete, an experience that has stayed with me and ignited what will now be a lifelong mission to build a more just and unconditional social security net.

Fortunately, I found my way to The Melting Pot, Scotland’s Centre for Social Innovation, as a Community Host, then working on business development, social impact measurement and communications. Working with this community of social entrepreneurs and purpose-led organisations has been formative for me and my work, showing me that Scotland had become home personally and politically.

In 2019, I began working on universal basic income. First with Basic Income Network Scotland, primarily as their volunteer Director, and then being hired by Compass to co-found a basic income hub for the UK. This became Basic Income Conversation, a UK-wide initiative combining participatory research, narrative change and policy influence to build the case for a different kind of economy. I delivered campaign actions calling for an emergency basic income during the early days of COVID backed by hundreds of politicians, led participatory research projects with outputs that received global coverage, supported the founding of spin out campaigns like Basic Income 4 Farmers and spoke to tens of thousands of people about basic income via email, talks, media and 1:1. Basic Income Conversation and I moved to The Autonomy Institute in 2023, the project remains in their capable hands.

I now work as an independent freelancer with my primary focus on Scottish policy and social change. In 2026 I co-founded Basic Income for Artists Scotland.

How I work and why

To drive change I believe we must work with the people most affected by the failures of policy, and push back against the narratives and interests that perpetuate those failures. We must also work within the system and the present moment to create the political will for change and strategies that will deliver it. 

Why campaigns? Clear, direct and designed to increase reach. Campaigns give a sense of whether the things we talk about in meeting rooms and conferences translate to engagement from the public. 

Why research? We need an evidence base to inform our work. I favour participatory research because it treats lived experience as crucial evidence and connects the influencing work with people most impacted by policy. 

Why communications? Change is shaped by the loudest voices. Too often these are shouting over the common sense solutions to the most universal problems. Good ideas need strong, strategic communications. 

Why facilitation? Well facilitated spaces are a leveller. If we want to shift power we must start by doing that in our work. I am more interested in listening that talking and facilitation is how I do this with my clients. 

I have worked across the third sector, grassroots campaigning and policy. Civil society needs a rich ecosystem to deliver change and address social issues. We all play a different role in that, from service delivery to holding power to account. I am sensitive to these nuances and do not take a one size fits all view of how different organisations, voices and individuals should approach this work. I form strong, trusting and long term relationships with the organisations I work with that allow me to get inside what’s important about how we work together as well as what will drive progress towards their objectives.

I work as a freelancer because it allows me to collaborate with a broad range of people and organisations, challenging and supporting them to ensure their deep insight makes the maximum possible impact. This work is hard, the change needed is big. It takes bravery, self-reflection and resilience. We have to look after ourselves and each other. As Angela Davis said “hope is a discipline” and one best cultivated together.

Selected work

Want to work together? Let’s Talk

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