Beena Puri

Beena Puri is Innovation and Partnerships Lead in Greater Manchester Combined Authority and part of the team leading the Digital Blueprint for Greater Manchester. Beena leads the Greater Manchester Cyber Advisory Group and the Digital Inclusion Agenda for Change with a Taskforce of over 250 global, national and local organisations from industry, local and national UK government, academia and community convened with a vision to fix the digital divide for people and ensure public services work for all.

Greater Manchester Combined Authority won the Digital Leaders’ Founders Award 2022, the Royal Geographical Society’s Geography in Government Award 2022 for our Digital Exclusion Risk Index and I have been Shortlisted for the Northern Power Women Levelling Up Leader Award 2023 for our work to fix the digital divide in Greater Manchester and beyond. 

Greater Manchester Combined Authority has also been featured in the national Digital Inclusion Charity, the Good Things Foundation’s Digital Inclusion Roadmap for Combined Authorities.

Greater Manchester’s GM Databank, part of the Good Thing Foundation’s national databank has supported 130 community organisations and 23,000 residents to get free data connectivity.