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. Recent
projects include setting up a Community Trust at Broadnook Garden Village and the
Former Wisley Airfield. 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 and writing stewardship and placemaking strategies to be submitted
as part of planning applications. Recent strategies she has written include Tendring
Colchester Borders Garden Community, East Hemel, and Whetstone Garden Village.
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 at Oxford Brookes, 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.