Judging Panel: Breakthrough 5

Lisa is an experienced data professional who has led many teams in the public sector in the UK. Shaping and driving data initiatives to ensure the value of data is unlocked for better outcomes for society, the environment, and the economy. Lisa spent many years in the environmental sector both in the public sector and the not-for-profit space. At the Open Data Institute, she assisted Ofwat with their H2Open Strategy. At the Environment Agency was part of the team that propelled the UK into the top rankings in the world for implementation and impact of open data. Lisa is chair of DAMA UK, the go to organisation for Data Professionals and works with people across the UK, and the world, to elevate industry standards in the data profession, with the aim of putting it on par with more mature professions like accountancy or medicine.

Lisa is the Director of Data Services at The Pensions Regulator (TPR) and joined in November 2023 putting data at the heart of TPR to operate efficiently, transparently and to leverage data for the benefit of savers.

Alison has pursued a portfolio career combining Public Sector Board roles with independent sustainability consultancy over the last 15 years helping a range of clients to develop sustainability strategies within a business context. Her strong interest in consumer affairs and sustainability is demonstrated by her current role as lay member of the Food Standard Agency’s Advisory Committee on Novel Foods and Processes.

Her previous Non-Executive roles include the Consumer Council for Water, WRAP (Waste Resources Action Programme) and Seafish. She is also a Trustee of Springbok Sustainable Heat Co-operative and recently retired from a 9-year term at the Green Alliance.

Alison spent 25 years with Sainsbury’s Supermarkets in a variety of senior roles, ranging from advertising and marketing, public affairs to technical and food policy, but held the environmental remit for 18 years and in 2000 received the OBE for services to sustainability.

Akintunde Babatunde (Akin) is currently an Associate Professor in the School of Civil Engineering, University of Leeds. He is also a member of water@leeds. Akin is a Chartered Engineer with core expertise in systems and processes for sustainable, smart and resilient water systems from cloud to coast. He is also a specialist in the design of frameworks for water quality and pollution control at various scales; and the engineering design of bespoke water systems. Akin has collaborated widely with water companies in Ireland and the UK. In 2009, he was awarded the Green Talent award for outstanding young professionals in environmental engineering by the German Federal Minister of Education. In 2010, he received the Irish Research Council and EU-Marie Curie Joint Postdoctoral Fellowship award. In 2012; he was selected as a Welsh Crucible. Akin has published widely and authored > 100 publications.

He has secured competitive research grants (both as PI and co-I). He is a regular reviewer for a number of funding bodies, as well as academic and practice journals. He has extensive contacts and on-going engagements with the global water industry and community; and this is crucial for understanding needs and developing solutions. Akin received his PhD in Civil Engineering from the University College Dublin, Ireland in Nov 2007. He had brief industry working experience before starting his PhD studies. His PhD research led to the design and deployment of a novel engineered wetland system with enhanced aeration capacity for high-strength wastewater treatment – the deployment was supported by the Irish EPA and Enterprise Ireland.

Dr. Anna Bogush is an Associate Professor, Leader of the “Water Pollution and Mitigation” Cluster, and Academic Leader for the High-Performance Analytical Hub at the Centre for Agroecology, Water and Resilience (CAWR) at Coventry University. Her research interests lay in an interdisciplinary area including chemistry, environmental science and engineering, material science, environmental management, and the circular economy.

Her research is largely focused on holistically understanding the fate of pollutants (e.g., plastics, metals/metalloids, pharmaceuticals) in natural-anthropogenic systems and developing sustainable materials and technologies to address environmental challenges using principles of industrial symbiosis and the circular economy. She has contributed to securing 40 internal and external funding awards for individual and collaborative multidisciplinary projects funded by H2020, RAEng, NERC, EPSRC/NSFC, COST, UCL, CU, BMSS, industry, and the Environment Agency. She is the author of six book chapters and over 90 peer-reviewed papers.

Gail has over twenty-five years’ experience in the environmental sector, having worked in environmental consultancy, water companies in England and Wales, and the Rivers Trust. She has been Afonydd Cymru’s CEO since 2021, initially on a part-time basis whilst also working for the Wye and Usk Foundation. Afonydd Cymru is the umbrella body for rivers trusts in Wales, providing advocacy for Welsh Government and Natural Resources Wales. Our vision is for clean and healthy rivers for every community in Wales.

Gail is currently technical advisor to the Welsh Government Taskforce for Better River Water Quality, a member of the Welsh Government Phosphate Summit, Wales Water Forum and Wales Fisheries Forum.

David Elliott has over 40 years’ experience in the water sector, including more than 10 years as an executive Director at Wessex Water.

He is a systems thinker with particular experience in developing collective approaches to outcomes, including how natural and community capital can contribute to some of our societal and environmental issues today, and how customers, as part of communities can contribute to more resilient water systems in rivers through the river starts in your home messaging. Since 2020 David has been working independently to address issues in water governance and management. He founded Ferns Natural Capital Strategy as a vehicle for promoting change in managing water systems to make faster progress to achieving sustainable and resilient systems.

He has experience with a number of research and investment organisations and start-ups, including founding EnTrade, an on-line trading platform for environmental services that enables businesses to collaborate on investments to improve environmental and societal outcomes. He is also an associate at Sustainability First and Indepen, and an independent environmental advisor to Dwr Cymru Welsh Water and Gurney Environmental Ltd

Suresh has a 20-year track-record in senior management consultancy roles and as a strategist in leading digital and business transformation, and board advisory across the water and utilities sector. Suresh has worked at several major consultancies including at Accenture, as Head of Water at Capita, and Director for Digital Advisory in Water & Resilience at Arcadis.

Suresh has strong links across the water sector and currently is a Core Judge on Ofwat’s Innovation Fund and Non-Executive Director at British Water. Suresh has a personal interest in thought leadership, with articles focused on how we can use digital solutions to solve the sector’s biggest challenges. Suresh is passionate about fostering greater diversity and inclusion in the utilities sector, through industry collaboration and networks.

Andrew has over 25 years’ experience in the UK Water Sector, working for Yorkshire Water for over 15 years in a range of operational and strategic planning roles encompassing the full range of assets in clean and wastewater. He also was the Operations Director for Kelda Water Services, responsible for the performance of 5 PFI contracts across the UK including water, wastewater and food waste businesses.

Andrew is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Water and Environmental Management and a committed environmentalist having recently built a eco-family home in Leeds. Andrew formed Blue and Green Consulting in 2023 and provides consultancy services to senior leaders in the utilities sector in forming strategic plans for improved business performance.

With expertise in drinking water quality, applications of models and data analytics for water quality, public health risk, and innovation in urban water systems. She was Managing Director of TWENTY65, the EPSRC Grand Challenge Centre for Water working across the water cycle with 100+ stakeholder partners to develop disruptive solutions to meet future challenges for water.

With 30 years of experience in the water industry, she has worked with more than 70 utilities across the US and UK and has been a technical advisor to USEPA on multiple drinking water regulations. Prof Speight has served on numerous advisory panels and committees for AWWA, IWA, Water Research Foundation, Defra, CIWEM, and research funding agencies, is a Fellow of the Royal Society for Public Health, and is Deputy Editor of the AWWA Water Science Journal.