Richard Tomlins

An agile, collaborative and innovative professional with extensive experience in public service, academia and the private sector.

His career began in 1986 as a housing officer and equal opportunities advisor. He is renowned for his expertise in design thinking, play and playfulness to drive innovation in entrepreneurship and policy development, as well as work with marginalised communities, including minority groups in the early 2000s, women business owners, disabled veterans in Ukraine and Mayan women business owners in Mexico.

He is currently focused on the reconstruction of better, more accessible cities and international development.

Education

• PhD in Ethnic Relations (Sociology), University of Warwick (1992–1997)
  Thesis focused on social gatekeepers and racial equality strategies in social housing, with a practical emphasis on customer service and workplace experience.
• Chartered Institute of Housing Professional Qualification, De Montfort University (1987–1990)
• BA in Modern History and Politics (2.1 Hons), University of Liverpool (1983–1986)

Employment History

• Coventry University Group Regional Director for UK and Europe (2023–2025): Facilitating connections between researchers and UK policy bodies, supporting Horizon and wider funding bids.
• Associate Head of School Enterprise and Innovation, School of Marketing and Management, Coventry University (2021–2023)
• Assistant Professor, International Centre for Transformational Entrepreneurship, Coventry University (2019–2021)
• Research Fellow, International Centre for Transformational Entrepreneurship, Coventry University (2017–2019)
• Director of Cohesia Ltd (2005–2017): Managing a company with social purpose, working as Government Race Equality Advisor and Local Improvement Advisor.
• Professor of Race, Diversity and Housing, De Montfort University (1999–2005)
• Principal Lecturer/Lecturer, De Montfort University (1992–1999)

Current Positions

• Visiting Professor in Leadership and Management, Alfred Nobel University, Dnipro (Ukraine): Focus on the reconstruction of better, more accessible cities.
• Visiting Professor in the Urban Realm, Kyiv National University of Construction and Architecture (Ukraine): Focus on the reconstruction of better, more accessible cities.
• Visiting Professor in Entrepreneurship and Innovation, Universitas Tidar (Indonesia)

Research Interests and Publications

Research interests span:

• race equality (social policy and street-level bureaucracy)
• social entrepreneurship (social value and business development at the “margins”)
• disability (particularly disability and business development)
• large event opportunities (monitoring and social value)

He has over 50 publications, including:

• Tomlins, R. (forthcoming) Social Value Creation and Social Innovation.
• Triasmono, H., Mangesti, Y. A., Febriansyah, F. I., Tomlins, R. and Nawang, N. B. I. (2024) Legal Reforms for Preventing Employer Abuse: Crafting a Socially Just Employment Law Framework.
• Indarti, N., Anggadwita, G., Purnomo, R. A., and Tomlins, R. (2024). Breaking Barriers! Social Entrepreneurship in Empowering People with Disabilities.
• Garcia, M., Spolander, G., Tomlins, R., Leal, F., Borges, R. and Sukumar, A. (2024) Entrepreneurship in the favela: negotiating precarity and mental health during Covid-19.
• Scott, M., Neelands, J., Beer, H., Bharatan, I., Healey, T., Henry, N., Lam, S.C. and Tomlins, R. (2023) Measuring the changes: how can a perceived cultural mega-event evidence its “value”? Insights implementing evaluation methodologies for Coventry 2021.
• Early works on race equality, such as Tomlins, R. (1999) Housing Experiences of Minority Ethnic Communities in Britain: an academic literature review and annotated bibliography.

International and Community Engagement

He has an extensive network of government and private sector partners in the UK, Europe, Latin America and South East Asia.

Key highlights:

• Conducted a high-profile visit to Kyiv for a President’s Forum and meetings with Ukraine’s Deputy Education Minister and Presidential Policy Advisor.
• Held external positions, including:
  • Member of the Homes and Communities Agency’s Equality and Diversity Board Advisory Group
  • Member of DCLG’s Race Equality Advisory Group
  • Member of the Home Office’s Community Cohesion Housing Working Party

He contributed to bringing social value to policy agendas, advancing community-based initiatives in criminal justice and promoting inequality-based approaches.

Teaching and Contribution to Education

In teaching, he applies design thinking and playfulness, including:

• LEGO Serious Play
• Business Model Canvas
• Sprint Rapid Business Idea Prototyping
• “Metaphor Card” Ideation

He developed a distinctive Coventry University Executive Education brand, securing contract extensions for:

• Cabinet Office Civil Service Future Leaders Scheme (£2 million per year)
• Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office Chevening Ethiopia Fellowship (£200,000 per year)