SWM appoints new Chief Executive

Anna Bright has been appointed as Chief Executive of Sustainability West Midlands. Anna takes over from Dr Simon Slater who has held the post for the last seven years. Simon will continue to work with SWM as Associate Director of Policy and Partnerships focussing on work with the Local Enterprise Partnerships and the West Midlands Combined Authority. Anna has played a significant part in the management and development of SWM for the past three years as Senior Sustainability Advisor and recently as deputy Chief Executive. To her new role she brings proven project management and business development skills, established local credentials and a clear mission for delivery of the SWM 2020 vision. “Sustainability is about delivering better quality of life for the people who live and work in our region now and in the future. It is about improving productivity, whilst reducing carbon and providing better standards of health for all. We work with our members to make this happen through the projects we run and by sharing inspiration and best practice in our networks,” says Anna. Sustainability West Midlands has a membership of more than 100 diverse organisations based across the West Midlands region. It offers sustainability expertise and events, specialist support for funding applications, project and programme management and consultancy services delivered through its dedicated in-house staff and team of associates. SWM Chair Peter Braithwaite says: ‘I’m delighted to be working with Anna as she leads SWM on to the next steps in our evolution, continuing to improve our financial stability and allowing us to pick up the pace towards our 2020 vision for a thriving, sustainable West Midlands. We are all very proud of what has been achieved so far by the team under Simon’s leadership and excited about building on that foundation for the future.” Before joining SWM, Anna worked as consultant at the Organic Resource Agency in Worcestershire for eight years and as account manager at Severn Trent Water.  She has a BSc in Environmental Biogeoscience and a Post Graduate Diploma in Water and Environmental Management.