Who is involved in the Skills for a Sustainable Skyline Taskforce?

Alison Gowman is a consultant at DLA Piper UK LLP following her City career as a senior partner specialising in real estate. She has worked on investment and development transactions with specialisations in insolvency and waste management working with many international businesses entering the UK market. She is an elected Alderman of the City of London Corporation and is serving as Sheriff in 2022. She is Deputy Chair of the Green Finance Institute. Alison has served on numerous City Committees and is a Governor of the Museum of London, a Director of the Museum of London Archaeology and Chair of the London Road Safety Council. She is a trustee of Trust for London and chairs its Estate Committee. She has been leading the work on the project Moving on Up that seeks to find employment for young black men. This is a programme supported by Trust for London alongside the City Bridge Trust, where Alison is also a committee member.

Benjamin is a Director of New London Architecture (NLA) in charge of Galleries, Programme and Events. As Director of NLA at The City Centre, he developed several new streams of activity including a learning programme, exhibitions and public events. Benjamin is also the Director of the One City project, a digital platform promoting the best the City has to offer to City workers. Previously Benjamin was Head of Operations at the Garden Museum which is where he developed his interest and expertise in green infrastructure and public space. Benjamin has also worked across the museums and heritage sector, including White Cube and Dulwich Picture Gallery. He trained in Fine Art to MA level at Central Saint Martin’s School of Art and Design, has curated a number of exhibitions, been a Features Editor and sits on a number of committees for Cultural Development, Sustainability and Diversity in London

Dr Bola Abisogun is the Founder & CEO of the Digital Twin Skills Academy

Bola is a Management Consultant, Chartered Construction Manager and Chartered Quantity Surveyor, and in a career spanning three decades, has successfully procured and delivered, in excess of £8billion in capital projects across the UK. Across an array of sectors, he has extensive public sector procurement and contract management experience.

A well-documented industry disruptor and an eminent Fellow of the RICS, Bola was appointed to the Gemini Council (at the Centre for Digital Built Britain) as a co-author of the Digital Twin Toolkit published by TechUK, and CDBB Gemini Papers. He is an industry thought leader, works extensively with the Mayor of London and young people promoting his profession and is a specialist practitioner of Digital Construction delivering Whole-Life Cycle - Asset, Assurance & Compliance Management solutions.

He was awarded an OBE in the 2019 New Year’s Honours, for Services to Diversity and to Young People in the Construction Industry.

Carol is Chief Executive of leading construction charity, Construction Youth Trust. The Trust works to inspire and enable young people to overcome barriers and discover rewarding careers in the construction and built environment sector. A civil engineer by training, Carol worked on major construction projects, including the Channel Tunnel. Since then, she has worked in the voluntary and community sector for over 20 years and was previously Chief Executive of Kent Community Foundation and Managing Director of Worklife Support, a social enterprise providing training and support programmes to schools. Carol is deeply committed to Construction Youth Trust’s mission of helping more young people access the fantastic opportunities construction has to offer, particularly young people facing significant barriers into work and those groups who have traditionally been under-represented in the industry. 

Conor Storkey is the Director of Sustainability at Brookfield Properties. He joined in March 2022 to lead ESG across the UK office and retail park portfolio. He’s helped shaped the regions ESG strategy and developed the 1.5 degree aligned science-based target. Conor’s role spans across the whole lifecycle of buildings- supporting new developments, refurbishments and buildings in operation.

With 15 years’ experience in the built environment Conor has worked on some of the most sustainable buildings in Europe. Prior to Brookfield Properties he was the Head of Sustainability at Mace the global consultancy and construction firm.

Danna Walker BA Hons, Dip Arch RIBA, FRSA

Danna Walker is the founder and CEO of Built By Us, an award-winning social enterprise that exists to actively champion greater diversity and inclusion in the construction sector. Her career spans over 20 years in construction and built environment, encompassing various roles including electrician and Architect, and within the field of vocational education. She is currently a board member of Public Practice and former charity trustee and was an elected board member for the Architects Registration Board. Danna was proud to be nominated for the Precious Awards 2015, which celebrates the achievements of women of colour. In 2018 she presented the BBC Radio 4 documentary The Architecture of Incarceration which explored the philosophy and ethos of modern prison design and took part in a debate on Race and Our Public Space. In 2019 Built By Us won the prestigious National Mentoring Awards 2019, National Diversity Programme of the Year for the innovative FLUID Diversity Mentoring Programme.

David Frise is Group Chief Executive Officer at BESA Group 

After a career in nuclear submarines, David Frise became an M&E contractor for 25 years before branching out into renewable energy systems, firstly as an installer then as head of sustainability at B&ES. He is now chief executive of the Association of Interior Specialists (AIS) representing the fit out industry, a trustee of SummitSkills and a non executive director of the National Skills Academy for Environmental Technologies. He lives in London, cycles to work and is a long suffering Tottenham Hotspur fan. 

Emma is Head of Sustainability at JLL UK.

Sustainability is one of the most business-critical issues for our clients and for JLL. It’s - never been so high up the agenda, with the necessity for action in a decade where we need to deliver a low carbon, socially just future.

As Head of Sustainability for JLL UK, Emma leads on commercial and corporate sustainability agendas, working with a growing team of over 100 sustainability professionals across the UK business. Emma is championed with building on JLL’s 20-year sustainability heritage and supporting our clients with innovative, holistic solutions. She joined JLL’s sustainability consulting team in 2007, before moving into the central sustainability team as Head of Sustainable Client Solutions in 2020.

Emma sits on the UK Executive Board, ensuring that JLL’s sustainability agenda remains core to decision-making and business strategy.

Emma is an enthusiastic member of a community choir and a keen diver, having spent 2 months in Madagascar on a diving conservation project whilst on a career sabbatical. She can also be found swimming/cycling/running at the JLL triathlon most years.

Fiona is Pro Vice-Chancellor (Compulsory and Further Education), at LSBU. Fiona joined LSBU in September 2019 and leads on the Group’s compulsory and further education portfolio, Fiona is the Executive Principal for South Bank Colleges and CEO of the South Bank Academy Trust and leads the Institute for Professional Technology which is home to the LSBU Group apprenticeship offer.

South Bank Colleges includes Lambeth College at Clapham and Brixton and the new London South Bank Technical College which is opening in Vauxhall in September 2022. The South Bank Academy Trust include South Bank University Academy in Walworth and the South Bank University Technical College at Brixton. The Institute for Professional and Technical Education is housed at the Passmore Centre in Southwark.

With a background in further education Fiona has extensive experience in leading A level provision, 14-19 year old offer and adult education in further education and through school and university partnerships. Fiona was drawn to the innovative group model established by LSBU because of the enhanced opportunities our family of education institutions can provide for students through partnership working. Fiona is proud of LSBUs unique group approach that meets the needs of those living and working in south London and provides a real opportunity to increase access to opportunity through the career pathways we have developed.

Fiona’s research interest lie in professional education and training and the vital role this plays in supporting students of all ages and educational experiences to access lifelong learning.

Hannah Vickers joined Mace Group in July 2021 as Chief of Staff. Hannah works directly with the Mace Executive Board to embed the company’s 2026 Business Strategy. In her role, she is driving growth, innovation and the company’s net zero carbon agenda. Hannah was also appointed as a non-executive director to Monmouthshire Housing Association in 2020, where she chairs the association's Development Committee. Prior to Mace, Hannah served as Chief Executive of the Association for Consultancy and Engineering (ACE), since 2018, where she led the creation and delivery of ACE’s ‘Future of Consultancy’ programme , reshaping the future of the built environment consultancy sector.

Hannah’s extensive industry knowledge and experience have been key to her role as a member of the Construction Leadership Council’s (CLC), where she led the creating of ‘ConstructZero’ - the construction industry’s change programme to address carbon emissions and spearheading the launch of the industry-wide skills platform, the Construction Talent Retention Scheme. Her continuous work and commitment to innovation across the built environment sector, led to her being recognised on the Women’s Engineering Society 2021 list of ‘50 Engineering Heroes’.

Prior to moving to the private sector Hannah had a 12 year period in Government, latterly at Infrastructure UK, part of HM Treasury as an advisor to ministers on infrastructure, working closely with the Commercial Secretary and the Chancellor of the Exchequer. As part of this role, she developed and delivered successful training programmes on infrastructure planning, appraisal, and delivery to the governments of Indonesia, Argentina, Indonesia, China, Egypt, and Brazil.

A Civil Engineer by profession Hannah started out her career as an apprentice in River and Coastal Engineering, before progressing her career at the Environment Agency in a number of roles over a ten-year period.

Iain McIlwee is Chief Executive Officer at FIS. Iain is a Materials Engineer whose journey in construction started in a scaffolding yard in Hanwell in 1995. Since this time, Iain has worked in around construction in a number of roles including CEO of the British Woodworking Federation, Director of the Fire Door Inspection Scheme and serving as a non-Exec Director of FENSA. Iain is now CEO of Finishes and Interiors Sector, the trade body for the £10 billion fit-out, interiors and finishing sector. FIS is a dynamic community that exists to support the entire construction supply chain from manufacturing through to contracting in driving up safety and quality, minimising risk, enhancing productivity and driving innovation in the sector. FIS also publish the trade magazine SpecFinish. In addition to his role at FIS, Iain is a Fellow of the Institute of Materials, Minerals & Mining and currently serving as Vice Chair of the Construction Products Association.

Joe Dromey is the CLF Director and joined the team in April 2021.

Joe has worked on employment and skills policy for over a decade, including as an employment advisor in Southwark, a council officer in Newham, and at think tanks and research institutes. Joe was also a Councillor and Cabinet Member in the London Borough of Lewisham.

Joe is passionate about inclusive growth, London, and local government.

As the Chief Sustainability Officer, Julia leads on realising Willmott Dixon’s 'purpose beyond profit' through the Group’s sustainability strategy, Now or Never.

Willmott Dixon has been carbon neutral in its own operations since 2012 and great sustainability performance has saved the company millions of pounds in that time. As well as challenging the business to become zero-carbon without offsetting by 2030, Julia is passionate about creating added value for customers by delivering brilliant buildings that are net zero by design, future-climate ready and optimise user health and wellbeing. She encourages the opportunities for learning with and from supply chain partners as the business aims to deliver projects with net zero embodied carbon by 2040. Through its Building Lives ambitions and the Willmott Dixon Foundation, the company delivers high-impact social value that meets the needs of local communities and supports people facing barriers to work into good careers.

Julia represents the sector on various industry and sustainability Groups. Under her leadership, Willmott Dixon has received three Queen’s Awards for Enterprise: Sustainable Development (2019 and 2014), Social Mobility (2018) and was crowned Sustainable Company of the Year (2016) by Construction News. On a personal note Julia was delighted to be recognised as edie's Sustainability Leader of the Year (2021) and BusinessGreen Leaders’ Sustainability Executive of the Year (2018).

Julia is also committed to encouraging a wider diversity of people to seek a career in the construction sector; she chairs the company’s Gender Diversity Steering Group and is an Ambassador for Construction News’ Inspire Me Campaign.

An experienced sustainability professional, Julia is a Chartered Environmentalist, a Chartered Engineer and Fellow of the Institution of Chemical Engineers. Previously she was with Cambridgeshire County Council and the Environment Agency and started her career with ICI.

Stephen Cole has extensive work experience in various roles and industries. Stephen worked as a Senior Customer Engagement and Strategic Lead at CITB from 2018 to the present, where they played a key role in driving the careers strategy and developing the construction industry's skills plan. Prior to that, they were the Founder of Insight Guidance Services since 2007, providing valuable guidance and support. At the University of Westminster, Stephen held the positions of Employability Manager and Careers Consultant, where they offered career advisory services to students and staff and co-founded a mentoring scheme. Stephen also worked as a Corporate Relations Officer at Tate & Lyle and served as a Quality Assurance Officer at North Surrey Water Ltd.

Stephen is the Founder and Chief Executive of BECG. He also sits on Cavendish Advocacy, Liberty One Communications and SoCrowd, all acquired by BECG. As a high-level strategist with 20 years’ communications experience in political, business, stakeholder and media communications, he has advised many FTSE companies, CEOs and company boards. Stephen has worked across all the built environment sectors, delivered award-winning campaigns and is passionate in supporting clients to achieve their objectives by communicating and working with government and stakeholders.

Combining his political, stakeholder and media relations experience, he has significant expertise in providing a full range of communications support to clients and is recognised as a UK expert on political, media and community relations in the built environment.

A devoted supporter of corporate social responsibility, Stephen has advised many organisations on cause-related marketing and advocacy. He was previously a trustee of the UK charities Fixers and the Global White Lion Trust, and currently provides strategic support for the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Endangered Species.