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- Director, Office for the Future Generations Commissioner for Wales
- Jacob Ellis is a policymaker, civil society leader, and global advocate for intergenerational fairness. He has worked at the Office of the Future Generations Commissioner for Wales for 8 years and has supported the implementation of Wales’ world-leading Well-being of Future Generations Act. Jacob is the Founder and Co-Lead of the Impact Coalition for Future Generations - a network of over 600 members that serves as a global docking station for partnerships committed to long-term governance.
Jacob Ellis is the Director for External Relations and Culture at the Office of the Future Generations Commissioner for Wales. Jacob advises public institutions including the Welsh Government to implement the Well-being of Future Generations Act, which marked its 10th anniversary in 2025.
His responsibilities include advocating for public bodies to reinforce the positive impact of cultural well-being and supporting them to make urgent changes to promote culture and creativity. He is currently leading the Commissioner’s campaign for a Culture Act for Wales.
In 2023, Jacob led the Future Generations Commissioner’s Section 20 Review into the Welsh Government’s implementation of the Well-being of Future Generations Act. As a result of this review, Jacob was part of the team that won the ‘Implementation and Impact’ IF Award. Jacob also led the Commissioner’s second statutory Future Generations Report (2025).
In September 2019, Jacob was a member of the Welsh Government’s ‘Delivering Economic Transformation for a Better Future of Work Expert Panel.’ As a champion and advocate for the freelancer community and creative industries, Jacob has worked with trade unions and creative freelancers, in commissioning a ‘Guide for Public Bodies to work with Creative Freelancers’ which was published in February 2026.
Jacob is also the Founder and Co-lead of the Impact Coalition for Future Generations which seeks to tackle a critical issue in global governance: the lack of long-term thinking that safeguards the interests and rights of future generations. The Impact Coalition is a dynamic umbrella network of over 600 members that serves as a global docking station for partnerships committed to sustainable governance.
Jacob has an extensive career advising organisations to embed sustainability and future generations models and governance. In 2022, he co-developed the Football Association of Wales’ Sustainability Strategy and is also a former Climate Justice Advisor for the Museums Association. Jacob is a former UN Foundation Next Generation Fellow for Future Generations, where he advised the United Nations and member states to advocate for the needs and interests of future generations, ahead of the Summit of the Future (2024). In 2023, he was an expert advisor to the UN High-Level Committee on Programmes as it designed the UN Common Principles for Future Generations. As a UNICEF Youth Foresight Fellow (2022), Jacob advised on the UNICEF Global Outlook Report and the Our Future Pledge Youth Foresight Toolkit.
He has participated at various international events including COP27, Dubai Futures Forum, UN Civil Society Conference (2024), UN ECOSOC Youth Forum (2023), Sydney Summit, UN Summit of the Future and the UN High-Level Political Forum.
Jacob is a former Non-Executive Director at Literature Wales (2018 – 2024) and a former Trustee at Theatr Genedlaethol Cymru (2021 - 2024). Jacob is an alumni member of the Unite 2030 Youth Delegate Programme. He is a former Trustee of Cardiff Third Sector Council and Scouts Cymru.
He was previously a BBC Wales Journalist (2016-2018) and served as President of Aberystwyth University Students’ Union (2014-2015). He held several roles at the National Union Students for Wales and Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol. Jacob holds a BA Degree in Welsh and International Politics (Aberystwyth University) and an MA Degree in Broadcast Journalism (Cardiff University).
Previous work and communications:
The New Abnormal Podcast – ‘Jacob Ellis 'Policy Development re: the needs of Future Generations' - https://www.buzzsprout.com/684977/episodes/12799974-jacob-ellis-policy-development-re-the-needs-of-future-generations
UN Foundation Next Generation Fellow Introduction - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zb3zOxu83z0
Sydney Summit (2024) – Keynote Speech - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqWvGFcFZwM&t=882s&pp=ygUSamFjb2IgZGFmeWRkIGVsbGlz
World Futures Day 2023 – Copenhagen Institute for Future Studies – Webinar/ Panel https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gG6vY-fH_YM&t=6s
Future Generations Toolkit Podcast – “Where to start” https://open.spotify.com/episode/7idqslHtPrFgx9A6qRWuTw?si=07bd5079fe724b48
Moderator (Dubai Futures Forum, 2023) How Can Policymakers Effectively Meet the Needs of Future Generations? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YyKp33yGJok&t=114s&pp=ygUfSmFjb2IgRWxsaXMgZHViYWkgZnV0dXJlcyBmb3J1bQ%3D%3D
Launch of the UNICEF Youth Foresight Playbook, Dubai Futures Forum (2023) Panel https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KJFL010aEA&pp=ygUkSmFjb2IgRWxsaXMgZHViYWkgZnV0dXJlcyBmb3J1bSAyMDIz (24:20)
NEW “The F Word” - TedX Talk (February 2025) - Keynote Speech https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHlPjxi9ERU
Moderator, Future Generations Forum (Wales, 2024) with over 250 global representatives.
