Combining decades of being dauntless to enable others to do the same…
Dauntless is built around a small, experienced core team led by Luke Lowrie and Elizabeth Shaw.
We also recognise that meaningful change depends on partnership. Every commission needs a different balance of strategic, creative, professional and lived-experience expertise, so we build the right team around the work rather than expecting one organisation to hold every answer.
That might mean working with our friends at Pilgrim Productions to create engaging arts-based resources, drawing on Manara Training’s deep professional and lived-experience knowledge, or bringing specialist trainers, researchers, designers, filmmakers and subject experts into the team through our wider associate network.
These are not partnerships added for appearance. We involve external expertise where it can challenge our thinking, deepen our understanding or make the finished work more useful and accessible. Dauntless provides the strategic leadership, coordination and quality assurance, while ensuring that commissioners and communities benefit from the strongest possible combination of skills.
This allows us to remain agile without working narrowly. Our clients get the attention and accountability of a committed core team, supported by a wider network chosen around the people, communities and outcomes that matter to each project.
Luke Lowrie
Director & Senior Consultant
Luke is a charity sector leader, strategist and programme designer with more than 20 years’ experience turning ambitious ideas into practical services, partnerships and sustainable organisations.
His career has included senior roles with Anna Freud, St Giles Trust, LifeLine Projects and Red Balloon Foundation, where he led multidisciplinary teams, managed complex commissioned services and developed programmes supporting children, young people, families and communities. He has managed multimillion-pound portfolios and major commissions for a variety of public-sector partners from grassroots work for local town councils to flagship projects for central government departments.
Luke combines strategic planning, business development and fundraising expertise with substantial frontline and operational experience. He is particularly interested in the point where strategy becomes delivery: building the partnerships, structures, resources and workforce that allow a good idea to make a measurable difference.
He holds an MA with Distinction in Youth and Education and a First Class BA in English Language and Literature from King’s College London. He is an Associate of King’s College London and a member of the Chartered Institute of Fundraising.
Elizabeth Shaw
Director & Senior Consultant
Elizabeth is a skilled communicator, facilitator and practitioner with more than a decade of experience working alongside children, young people and families, including people navigating vulnerability, trauma and complex systems.
She specialises in making difficult subjects understandable, safe and engaging. Her work brings together lived-experience insight, creative communication and practical knowledge of how children, families, volunteers and frontline professionals experience services in the real world.
Elizabeth has contributed to the development of innovative mental-health and learning resources, including Embers the Dragon and the Virtual Mentoring Academy. She helps ensure that Dauntless’s programmes are accessible, grounded and shaped through meaningful participation rather than designed at a distance.
As Dauntless’s Designated Safeguarding Lead for both children and adults at risk, Elizabeth also helps embed safety, dignity and professional curiosity throughout our work. Her combination of warmth, creativity and critical challenge enables people to speak honestly and helps organisations turn what they hear into better practice.
Building the right team around your work
The expertise needed for one commission may be very different from the expertise needed for another.
We begin by understanding the people, context and intended outcomes. We can then bring together the right combination of Dauntless leadership, specialist professional knowledge, creative practice and lived-experience expertise.
Dauntless remains accountable for coordinating the work, maintaining quality and ensuring that every contributor understands the purpose, boundaries and expectations of the commission.