Early, well planned engagement should be at the core of any business, it is so important to work in collaboration and take people on the journey with you. My ability to engage effectively and guide people through a series of steps enables them to embed engagement within their projects and leads to the implementation of change programmes successfully.I deliver engagement on significant change programmes within the organisation. My willingness to challenge the way we do things has led to me being specifically asked to work on projects for the creative and innovative flavour I can bring to a very process driven format and for my ability to handle sensitive situations with diplomacy. I also lead on internal communications within the Asset Programme Management Team, supporting the deputy directors to communicate, lead and inspire their teams.

In a world that is constantly moving we have to keep up, using my initiative, ideas and influencing skills I want to make a real difference. Give me an idea and I turn it into a reality taking people with me using my enthusiasm and my exceptional attention to detail. I supported the Area Director to implement and inspire change within the organisation, exploring new ways to recruit to get the very best people, making training and development an ‘experience’ and raising the profile of the organisation by organising high profile events and visits.

I am the Strategic Business Continuity lead for the Environment Agency working closely with Defra Group organisations through the Defra Business Continuity Network. I am currently writing a strategy for Business Continuity for the business. I have responsibility for development of risk registers within the business and gaining assurance from senior managers that risks are mitigated.

As Manager of CSW I was responsible for creating funding opportunities, influencing, guiding, steering the chair and steering group to ensure the partnership continued to be recognised regionally for its achievements and its efforts on campaigning for action on climate adaptation. I produced quarterly performance reports for Climate UK (CUK), demonstrating progress against targets, outcomes and projects planned under the collaborative agreement which I planned each year. I developed the business plan to drive new and innovative ways of developing the partnership and achieving its objectives. This involved rising to the challenge of sustaining partner and sector group engagement at a time of resource constraint and lack of commitment to the adaptation agenda. I found new ways of engaging sectors using webinars, created a weekly @SWGreenhour a business twitter hour and was involved in the development of the resilience section of the 'Go Green initiative launched in Bristol. Budget management was an integral aspect of my work, along with identifying and securing future funding. Managing the partnership included creating and prioritising my own workload to ensure the ongoing development of the partnership delivering outcomes and developing a work plan for the project officer.I delivered presentations tailored to various sector organisations including businesses, LEP's and local authorities. I have organised and delivered workshops locally and nationally with Climate UK. These included a workshop on the built environment, health, training for the Chartered Insurers Institute and a regional training workshop on a regionally developed resilient transport network tool which I project managed.

I am a Director for Climate UK and portfolio holder for Knowledge Exchange. Climate UK was the national face of local climate action made up of a network of nine climate change partnerships in England and three devolved administrations of Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Our role was to facilitate a campaign for a nationwide response to climate change by bringing together knowledge and technical expertise from every part of the UK to tackle the challenges and opportunities from a changing climate – a national response that reflects local circumstances, local risks and local opportunities.

As CSW Project Officer my responsibilities included supporting the manager,forum group, communications and leading on sector activity.Throughout this role I took on management responsibilities and demands, which included taking on the budget, supporting the chair and influencing the forum to steer the partnership to be innovative in times of resource constraint and reduced adaptation focus. I raised the profile of the partnership through twitter, doubling followers and produced a #weatherornot for tourism businesses to use as a means of communicating the SW was still 'open' for business after the severe weather winter 2013-14. I organised and delivered tailored workshops for tourism businesses, local authorities and ran a series of events for Climate Week including our notorious pub quiz.I worked at a national level with CUK, delivering a workshop using the BACLIAT tool tailored for an audience that included health professionals, LA staff and public sector colleagues. Positive feedback included establishing a better working relationship with the health sector which was crucial for future success of the Life+ project. I organised and delivered a transport workshop and presented a proposal to ADEPT with Dorset County Council which led to the formation of a Highways Adaptation T&FG. Establishing good contacts with the Chartered Insurers Institute meant SW was the first to pilot a series of training sessions on the 'Business Resilience HealthCheck’ tool to help businesses assess risk and take action to be resilient. Working with Climate Ready we used the learning from this pilot to run the project nationally.

project managed distinct work areas that formed the Lincolnshire Joint Strategic Flood Risk and Drainage Management Strategy. I worked closely with the EA, drainage boards and highway council officers. I ensured that adaptation was embedded throughout the strategy and worked closely with the consultant carrying out the EIA. I was involved in the Preliminary Flood Risk Assessment and provided secretariat to the group, helping to manage the relationship between the council, IDB's and EA.Part of the strategy development of the strategy required public consultation which I was responsible for planning, managing and communicating council ideas to the public in partnership with EA and IDB's. This involved community evening talks and designing information boards for display across Lincolnshire. I developed content and layout of the Lincolnshire County Council Flood Risk Management pages on the council website communicating the flood risk in Lincolnshire and describing and providing evidence for the complex work the council was doing to address this risk. For three years I designed the display boards for the Lincolnshire Show to communicate flood and climate risks to Lincolnshire and how the council was mitigating them. Due to my expertise in engaging the public with display boards I designed the IDB boards.Communication elements of this role often involved communicating sensitive information like flood risk, which evoked feelings of public hostility towards the council. I learnt through positive engagement and relating well with the public I could increase their understanding leading to an improved attitude towards the council.

My role as part of the East Midlands Regional Project ‘Planning to Adapt to Climate Change’ helped Lincolnshire County and District Councils reach Level 3 of the former NI188. This work incorporated liaising and forming relationships with the Council, Districts and LSP partners to carry out comprehensive risk assessments to identify risks to service areas. I gained the support of service managers for the implementation of an adaptation action plan. A series of workshops were held for the North East councils around awareness raising of climate change adaptation. As part of a small team I helped to plan, facilitate, present and design activities for the workshops which received positive feedback and led to increased adaptation activity.Lincolnshire was awarded the Coastal Pathfinder programme, I was given the role of project co-ordinator and as part of the Engagement and Adaptation project I worked with the EA on raising awareness of coastal flooding through community consultation. This involved planning workshops, which I presented and facilitated at to raise community awareness and preparedness for the risk of coastal inundation and review of Lincshore. I sat on the steering group for the Energy Study commissioned for Central Lincolnshire and the Green Infrastructure steering group working with voluntary sector colleagues.I produced numerous communication materials, in the form of leaflets, display boards, newspaper articles and web based information that have raised awareness of climate change and the risk of flooding to the public.