Hello, I’m Julia Beart.
I created Pragmatic Radicals as a place for people and organisations who want to nurture and transform systems, structures and teams, but are looking for practical tools and entry points to move from brave ideas to purposeful action to inclusive impact. Through this practice, I offer consultancy support to organisations who share a commitment to working towards regenerative social justice.
I am an experienced leader, collaborator, systems thinker and consultant passionate about social justice and climate justice. As a deep generalist and facilitator with twenty years’ experience in the social enterprise and charity sectors, my experience spans collaborative leadership, strategy, systems mapping, organisational change, shifting power, resource mobilisation, practice development, programme co-design, impact and learning, and partnership building. I’m also handy around a spreadsheet and working on knotty social enterprise business modelling challenges.
Before creating Pragmatic Radicals in 2022, I was Chief Exec at Primary Care International, where I spent seven years with an incredible team growing and re-orienting the start-up into an award-winning social enterprise pioneering multi-directional approaches to peer learning. With many of our programmes focused on access to care in refugee settings, I was proud to count the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) amongst our partners. Prior to this, I worked across mental health, disability rights, community development and child rights for a range of organisations from large international agencies to small organisations.
It was a big decision to step away from a front-line leadership role into the world of consultancy. But I know that my past experience enables me to bring deep insight into the tensions in tackling root causes of injustice whilst evidencing impact and supporting teams under a multitude of internal and external pressures. It drives me to create practical and lasting value for my clients by being bold and ambitious, by actively listening to what is said and unsaid, and co-creating pathways for transformative change.
I am committed to anti-racist practice, shifting power and centring lived experience across leadership, design and delivery. I strive for kind, inclusive practices across my work.
I really enjoy collaborating with other freelancers and agencies when a project would benefit from several skillsets or perspectives and have a wide network to draw from. If I don’t have the expertise you are looking for, I can probably signpost you to someone who does! Alongside my work as Director of Pragmatic Radicals, I am also an Associate with PG Collective and the Sheila McKechnie Foundation, and am part of several wonderful freelance networks. With experience in leadership development and coaching, I am a Clore Social Fellow.
I’m passionate about migrant justice and climate justice, and am active in my community as a volunteer with local refugee groups as well as serving in a Trustee role at Play for Progress, who support unaccompanied young people seeking sanctuary through trauma-informed creative engagement in the arts, education and community. I’m also a Non-Exec Director at Shared Assets, who are building movement infrastructure for land justice.
I’m a mum to two football-mad teens, and am a bit obsessed with my big, fluffy, tabby cat. In my occasional spare time, I love reading, yoga, coffee and cooking. I can often be found trying out new recipes to share with family and friends.