By Dr. John Gøtze, Chair of the awards jury

As The King’s Trust looks ahead to its next 50 years, it is laying the foundations for a more sustainable and strategic approach to technology, one that moves away from fragmented systems and reactive fixes and instead focuses on enabling the right capabilities to support its mission. At the heart of this transformation is Jess Smallwood, Enterprise Architect, who is guiding the organisation through a shift towards a capability-led model grounded in enterprise architecture.

This new direction is more than a change in how technology projects are delivered, it’s a cultural shift. Jess and her team are helping the Trust move beyond the idea of technology as a silver bullet and instead see it as part of a wider system of people, processes, data, and platforms that all need to work in harmony.

One of the cornerstones of this work is the idea of “just enough governance”, putting in place the right structures to make smart decisions without slowing innovation or adding unnecessary bureaucracy. By balancing structure with flexibility, the Trust is creating space for teams to innovate while ensuring that decisions align with its long-term goals and avoid adding to future complexity.

This approach is already delivering results:

• • A transparent technology roadmap gives everyone a shared view of what’s ahead and why.
  • A clean, usable application register supports decision-making, improves visibility, and helps the Trust reduce unnecessary duplication and cost.
  • Technology is no longer seen in isolation, but in terms of the capabilities it enables and the strategic outcomes it supports.

But beyond the tools and frameworks lies a deeper ambition: to build trust.

“People need to trust that the decisions we’re making about technology are grounded in what’s right for the organisation, not just what’s new or shiny,” Jess explains. “And that means being transparent, listening to what teams need, and staying focused on impact.”

That trust is essential to tackling some of the common challenges facing modern organisations, including the growth of shadow IT, tools and systems adopted outside formal processes, often in response to unmet needs, and the accumulation of technical debt, where short-term solutions create long-term problems.

By leading open conversations, embedding capability thinking, and offering teams a better way of engaging with technology, Jess and her team are reducing the need for workaround systems, and instead creating pathways for people to get what they need in a supported, sustainable way.

This is, at its heart, a cultural change. It’s about helping people across the Trust ask better questions, collaborate across silos, and make more joined-up decisions. It’s about designing solutions that last, because they’re built with a clear purpose, on solid foundations.

As The King’s Trust continues its journey, this capability-led, people-centred approach will be critical in ensuring that technology remains an enabler of impact, not a distraction from it. With Jess Smallwood’s leadership and a growing culture of trust, alignment and accountability, the Trust is not just preparing for the future, it’s building it, one capability at a time.

🏛️ About the IRM UK Awards and the Conference

The King’s Trust’s capability-led approach is just one of the inspiring stories being recognised at the IRM UK Enterprise & Business Architecture Conference Europe 2025, co-located with the Business Change & Transformation and Service Design conferences.

As a finalist for the Enterprise & Business Architecture Best Practice Award 2025, The King’s Trust is helping redefine how purposeful architecture supports long-term impact, cultural change, and smarter decision-making in the non-profit sector.

📅 Awards Presentation
Monday, 16 June 2025 | 🕘 09:50 – 10:05 AM

🏆 Finalists – Enterprise & Business Architecture Best Practice Award 2025
• The King’s Trust® – Ryan Preece, Deputy Chief Technology Officer & Jessica Smallwood, Enterprise Architect
• Riot Games – Nelson Gama, Lead Enterprise Architect
• Tatra banka – Peter Filip, Lead Enterprise Architect

The IRM UK Awards shine a light on organisations turning enterprise architecture into a strategic force for good — creating measurable value through clarity, collaboration, and capability-led thinking.

📄 Find Out More: Click Here
🎟️ Book your place: Click Here