Iona O’Carroll

Iona is a passionate Placemaking and Communities Specialist with over 18 years of experience across the voluntary, public, and private sectors. Her career has been defined by a commitment to supporting and empowering communities through inclusive placemaking and strategic development. Iona’s work is underpinned by the belief in the power of connection—at both local and systemic levels—as a driver for cultivating healthier, more resilient communities. 

 Most recently Iona leads as a stewardship and placemaking consultant, 

Specialising in the development of Community Trusts on large scale new housing developments across the UK. This includes establishing governance and legal structures, writing comprehensive business plans and overseeing implementation and delivery. Her expertise includes conducting options appraisals of existing stewardship arrangements, drafting stewardship and placemaking strategies, and implementing best practice stewardship models. 

 Iona also brings deep experience in community engagement, asset mapping, and needs analysis, integrating health and wellbeing data to produce evidence-based community profiles. Her background includes impactful roles in health improvement and community development, such as statutory social worker, domestic abuse coordinator, and Community Health Development Officer at Oxford City Council. 

 A strong advocate for partnership working, Iona excels in stakeholder collaboration, facilitation, and strategy development. She has led multi-agency partnerships and chaired stakeholder meetings to co-produce solutions, shape policy, and support sustainable systems change. A crucial aspect of her approach is in advocating for and empowering communities to build community capacity from within. 

 Iona is also experienced in establishing community organisations and charities, designing wellbeing initiatives (art, drama, food growing, and physical activity), and developing referral pathways in collaboration with GPs and social prescribing teams. Her work includes delivering large-scale community events and securing substantial funding for long-term sustainable community outreach programmes. 

 She has lectured on Healthy Urbanism and Sustainable Urban Development, holds a First-Class Honours degree, and received an academic award for her dissertation. Iona is a proactive, creative, and resilient leader with a proven ability to inspire, connect, and drive meaningful change.