FFCC announces two major appointments to its Board

The Food, Farming and Countryside Commission is delighted to announce the appointment of two new Non-Executive Directors, Professor Rt Hon Carwyn Jones and Dawn Austwick OBE, to the FFCC Board of Trustees, chaired by Sir Ian Cheshire.

Dawn Austwick OBE has been the Chief Executive of the National Lottery Community Fund since 2013, overseeing the distribution of £600 million of funding to communities across the UK each year, including the creation of the Fund’s £100 million Climate Action Fund. Prior to the National Lottery, she was the Chief Executive of the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation from 2005, and, before that, had established her reputation in the museum sector having been the Deputy Director of the British Museum, led reviews of English Heritage, the National Gallery and the National Portrait Gallery for government and as Project Director oversaw the creation of Tate Modern. She is currently on the board of a range of organisations including the Kiln Theatre, the National Lottery Forum, London Marathon, University of Bath Institute of Policy Research, and the Rand Foundation, among others.

She says, “I am delighted to be joining the Board of the FFCC at this crucial time and am looking forward to working with team there to realise the Commission’s exciting ambitions and help build a sustainable future for us all.”

Professor Rt Hon Carwyn Jones retired as First Minister of Wales in December 2018 and brings with him extensive expertise as a leader and advisor. As First Minister, he led a government that introduced landmark legislation including the Human Transplantation (Wales) Act and Well-being of Future Generations Act, and prior to that he was Wales’s Environment Minister. As a seasoned politician and speaker he has been involved in events at the United States Congress, The United Nations, European Parliament, European Commission and more. Stepping down from his parliamentary duties in March 2021, he is now developing a new portfolio, in broadcasting, business and public life. A fluent Welsh speaker, his early career was spent as a barrister specialising in criminal, family and personal injury law and he is now a Professor of Law at Aberystwyth University.

Sir Ian Cheshire comments “I am delighted to welcome Dawn and Carwyn to join the board of the FFCC along with other key figures from the world of food and farming, countryside and health. This is an important time for the FFCC, which was established as an independent charity earlier this year, to develop our plans and implement recommendations from our report Our Future in the Land. The expertise that Carwyn and Dawn bring to our board will be critical to helping the FFCC work with others to implement innovative and practical solutions to the nature, climate and human health crises.”

Sue Pritchard, Chief Executive of the FFCC says ‘We are incredibly lucky at the FFCC to be supported by an extraordinary group of commissioners and board members, and it is a huge honour that Carwyn and Dawn have agreed to join them. Their combined expertise and knowledge will be invaluable to us as we move forward with this critical phase of the FFCC’s work. We have been busy over the last few months on projects to support a transition to a fairer and more sustainable food and farming system and a countryside that works for all. I look forward to involving these two new board members in the detail of our work.”