My Job
I head up the Sustainability Practice at Acumen, working with global companies and associations across areas including agrifood, chemicals, environment, transport, energy and industry. My role is partly strategic advisory, partly team leadership, and partly helping clients navigate the increasingly complex intersection between sustainability, competitiveness and policy. What I enjoy most about Acumen is that the work is rarely siloed. Many of the biggest issues we work on are transversal and we also work very closely with colleagues across our Tech and Health practices. There is a very strong sense of teamwork.
My Experience
My career has taken me across trade associations, consultancy and in-house leadership roles with scale-ups, family-owned businesses and S&P 500 companies. I have worked across the full spectrum of public and corporate affairs, from advocacy and EU public affairs to media relations, corporate communications and broader corporate affairs leadership, including overseeing regulatory functions. The red thread has always been sustainability and stakeholder engagement.
My Proudest Achievements
I have had lots of professional highlights. Convincing “Bob the Builder” to lobby the European Parliament on the first iteration of the EPBD was definitely memorable, as was standing in front of a town hall of concerned villagers in eastern France to defend a factory build and taking 25 European journalists to visit biotech trials in Southern Spain.
The professional milestone I am probably proudest of was becoming a Board member of Knauf Insulation at 43. Alongside leading Corporate Affairs, I also took on responsibility for the HR function during a period of major organisational change and pushed hard for DEI long before it became mainstream in many industrial environments.
I have never been scared to roll up my sleeves (even when it felt a little daunting).
My Education
I have a BscEcon in European Union Studies with French and Spanish from Cardiff University.
My Languages
English, French, Italian, Spanish and Welsh.
My Interests outside work
I love cooking and entertaining, singing (I sing in choirs but am also partial to a bit of karaoke), and adore the theatre, especially musicals. I also love the south of Italy. My husband and I recently renovated a house in a tiny village in Cilento, and we try to disappear there whenever possible – life there is beautifully simple.