For the past 25 years, Heather has worked in the UK and Europe championing the revitalisation of deprived urban areas by bringing together people, nature, culture and heritage.
In 2022, Heather was awarded an Honorary Fellowship by the Royal Institute of British Architects for her stewardship at some of the UK’s most iconic national treasures, including the Tate Modern and the Tower of London, making them more relevant to diverse audiences and local communities.
Since 2010, Heather has helped develop the social enterprise sector in the UK, supporting place-based investment. Through her work Heather has helped shape national policies that empower communities to design their own urban spaces, secure a future for local historic buildings and create access to nature, by influencing the National Policy Planning Framework, Neighbourhood Plans and the Environment Act.
Heather previously served as Principal Design Advisor for the Queen Elizabeth Park in East London, including the transition of Olympic Games venues into public/private partnerships. Following the economic crisis of 2008 and subsequent decommissioning of UK development agencies in 2010, Heather worked with DCMS to help grant-funded regional charities move to social enterprise and CIC business models. Heather’s current work includes:
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establishing a nationwide investment skills network enabling coastal communities to co-design place-based investment with social impact leaders, in order to become less dependent on top-down grant funding;
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creating multi-stakeholder partnerships and developing nature finance analytics to support nature recovery;
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guiding the creation of coordinated local planning policy guidance from Surrey to the South East coast, to future-proof community livelihoods against climate-related flood risk.
Over the last few years, Heather has helped shape Access, its legacy plans and Equality, Diversity and Inclusion strategy. Heather currently sits on the Audit Risk and Compliance and Blended Finance Committees.
