Gary Johnston

Gary Johnston’s headshot

Director of Research & Innovation

IPS Grow

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Gary Johnston is a researcher, operational advisor and system innovator who works primarily on IPS Grow, as well as Social Finance’s wider Employment & Skills portfolio. Gary has been central to scaling innovative health and employment interventions, using implementation science to embed effective solutions into routine practice for lasting impact.

Gary joined Social Finance in 2018 bringing over three decades of experience leading employment and health services in Australia, the UK and Europe. He has worked in government, as well as in private and third sector funded organisations.

His leadership has helped shape services across the NHS, GMCA, Scotland and Europe, enabling thousands of people with mental health conditions, learning disabilities or experiences of homelessness to access meaningful employment and better health outcomes.

He has also driven major national and international initiatives, from securing the next phase of IPSGROW to delivering ground-breaking trials such as the UK’s first Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) of employment support for people experiencing homelessness and Europe’s largest trial of IPS in primary care. 

By combining frontline delivery expertise with evidence generation, Gary has influenced government commissioning, unlocked significant funding, and helped build sustainable system-wide improvements that benefit both service users and wider society.


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