Fabio Thomas (he/him) is a social researcher, evaluator, and quantitative data specialist with nearly a decade of experience in the arts, community and social action sectors, driven by a passion for using effective research and meaningful evaluation to foster democratic participation in strategy development.

As Director of FRY Creative since January 2023, he is principally responsible for quantitative research and frameworks: fleshing out theories of change to make them measurable; constructing interactive data dashboards for in flight reporting; and designing digital primary data collection methods. 

Fabio holds a First Class Honours degree in English Literature with Creative Writing from the University of Birmingham, with additional studies in African American Studies and Jazz Studies at the University of Iowa, where he was recognised with the Cultural Awareness Award.

Previously, Fabio served as Monitoring and Evaluation Manager (Culture) for the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, where he designed, managed and implemented six complex evaluation frameworks across 224 arts, cultural, and heritage projects throughout the West Midlands. The programme involved reporting to evaluation leads at 11 funders worldwide, bridging the gap between the Commonwealth Games Theory of Change and the strategic investments of these partners.

Fabio founded Beatfreeks' National Youth Trends Programme, a UK-wide social research project engaging thousands of Gen Z participants, where he led a team of freelance researchers, filmmakers, designers, and content creators. As Agency Lead for Evaluation, Research, and Insight at Beatfreeks, he developed company-wide research methodologies and evaluation frameworks with a focus on creative data capture and communication.

Passionate about making evaluation accessible, Fabio has presented insights to diverse stakeholders—from community organisations to major corporations like Google and Coca-Cola, as well as to parliamentary bodies including House of Lords' Select Committees, All-Party Parliamentary Groups, the DCMS Heritage team, and Arts Council England's Board of Directors.