Digital accelerators: mentoring and making alongside non-profits to ship new products in 3 months

Catalyst supports charities in building digital capability. They wanted a programme that could take organisations from vague digital ambitions to live services in three months, whilst leaving them equipped to keep going independently. That's a tall order. Most accelerators produce slide decks and good intentions. These needed to ship. Contracted by Catalyst, I designed and ran digital accelerators for non-profits across the UK, leading on strategy, coaching, service design, and hands-on product development.

Ship, don't just plan

Most accelerators produce slide decks and good intentions. This programme needed to deliver live services in three months while leaving organisations equipped to keep going independently.

How it worked

Each accelerator ran as a three-month sprint with a single non-profit. The structure combined:

:::callout

• Problem definition and validation to ensure we were solving something real
• Service design and rapid prototyping to test ideas quickly and cheaply
• Hands-on product development where I designed and built bespoke tools alongside the team
• Coaching and capability building so the organisation could sustain the work after I left :::

The goal wasn't just to launch something. It was to change how the organisation approached digital, permanently.

The results

Four accelerators. Four new digital services, all launched within their three-month windows.

More importantly, each team left with playbooks, practical skills, and strategic roadmaps. The accelerator ended, but the capability stuck. Several organisations have continued to iterate and expand the services independently, which is the real measure of success.

Products from the programme

Two of the services built through the accelerator programme are now live and scaling:

EnquiryDesk

An omnichannel triage platform for Law Centres, bringing calls, emails, SMS, and WhatsApp into one unified system. Started with SMS-only during the accelerator, now managing all enquiries nationwide. I led the research, product discovery, design, and engineering from concept through to deployment and rollout.

Action for Children Live Chat

A digital support service that maintained access to family practitioners when physical centres closed. I led the service design research, product strategy, and coached the internal team through prototyping, testing, and launch, ensuring quality held during the transition to digital-first delivery.

Learn more about Catalyst's work at thecatalyst.org.uk.