Elliot Grainger
British strategic communications and behavioural strategist; Head of Operations and Lead Consultant at the European Strategic Communications Network (c.2017–2019); previously Strategic Advisor at RICU and team leader at the UN Centre for Counter-Terrorism; involved in the RICU–Breakthrough–SSCAT–ESCN–Network Hub revolving door; founding trustee of the Ankawa Foundation (Northern Iraq); co-director of Barfield Grainger
| Elliot Grainger | |
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| Nationality | British |
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| Occupation | Strategic communications; behavioural strategist; consultant |
| Known for | Head of Operations and Lead Consultant, European Strategic Communications Network (c.2017–2019); Strategic Advisor, Research, Information and Communications Unit; team leader, UN Centre for Counter-Terrorism; work in the RICU–ESCN–DG HOME strategic-communications ecosystem; founding trustee, Ankawa Foundation; co-director of Barfield Grainger |
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Elliot Grainger (also known as Elliot Barfield-Grainger) is a British strategic communications and behavioural strategist. He served as Head of Operations and Lead Consultant at the European Strategic Communications Network (ESCN) around 2017–2019. He previously worked as a Strategic Advisor at the Home Office’s Research, Information and Communications Unit (RICU) and as a team leader at the UN Centre for Counter-Terrorism. His career sits within the revolving-door cluster linking RICU, Breakthrough Media Network / Zinc Network, the Syria Strategic Communications Advisory Team (SSCAT), the ESCN and the Network Hub.[1]
Career
Public accounts describe Grainger as having nearly two decades of experience in public diplomacy and strategic communications. He has worked on countering violent extremism / preventing and countering violent extremism (CVE/PCVE), including exploring the ethical and legal implications of using AI for prevention work. He has written on soft power, national security strategy, the “audience problem” in strategic communications, radicalisation in a time of pandemic, and the need for more integrated thinking around national narrative and defence.[2]
He was Strategic Advisor at RICU before moving to the ESCN as Head of Operations and Lead Consultant (c.2017–2019). In the ESCN role he sat within the advisory structure that provided advice to EU member-state governments and DG HOME on the use of strategic communications in P-CVE. He has also been described as a team leader at the UN Centre for Counter-Terrorism. After the ESCN period he has continued as an independent strategic communications and behavioural strategist (associated with GDG Inspire), working on change management, strategic planning, political consulting and related areas. He holds certifications including PRINCE2 Practitioner (2013), Evidence in Public Policy (Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford, 2020) and Systems Thinking (eCornell, 2021).[1][2]
Barfield Grainger
Barfield Grainger was registered at Companies House on 26 October 2020 (company number 12974273). Elliot Grainger was one of two directors.[3] On Grainger’s LinkedIn page the company is listed as having been in operation from 2016.[4] Archived versions of the page show that in November 2020 the company was referred to as Barfield Grainger Partnership as opposed to Barfield Grainger Ltd. However, the website of Barfield Grainger refers to “our founding in 2012”.[5]
Other activities
In 2014, while living in Northern Iraq, Grainger established the Ankawa Foundation to raise funds through churches and organisations in the UK to support relief work by local churches in Ankawa for internally displaced people fleeing ISIS. He served as founding trustee from August 2014 to August 2023. He has described himself as a cradle Christian who returned to the Church in his twenties and later became Church Warden and Deanery Synod representative in Worcestershire, as well as a national volunteer for Save the Parish.[6][2]
See also
- European Strategic Communications Network
- Research, Information and Communications Unit
- Syria Strategic Communications Advisory Team
- Network Hub
- Breakthrough Media Network / Zinc Network
- Luke Havill
- Louis Brooke
- Simon Theis Jensen
- Barfield Grainger
Resources
- LinkedIn Elliot Grainger, 5 November 2020.
- LinkedIn Elliot Grainger, 13 September 2022.
External links
- LinkedIn profile (Elliot Barfield-Grainger)
- David Miller, The Radicalisation Awareness Network (Spinwatch, February 2022) – Chapter 5
- Synod statement (Elliot Barfield-Grainger)
- Companies House: Barfield Grainger officers
- Barfield Grainger website (archived 13 September 2022)
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 David Miller, The Radicalisation Awareness Network: Policy network in search of an evidence base or covert propaganda platform?, Public Interest Investigations / Spinwatch, February 2022, Chapter 5.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 LinkedIn profile (Elliot Barfield-Grainger).
- ↑ Companies House Barfield Grainger: Officers.
- ↑ LinkedIn Elliot Grainger, 13 September 2022.
- ↑ Barfield Grainger Homepage. Retrieved from the Internet Archive of 13 September 2022.
- ↑ Elliot Barfield-Grainger Synod statement.