Localise West Midlands is now registered as a Company Limited by Guarantee (not for profit). LWM has a board of directors elected by a wider group of members. We also have associates, who undertake our consultancy activities, and there is some overlap between the two. LWM’s board and secretary are as follows:
Hannah Worth (Chair)
Hannah, chair of LWM, is a co-founder and associate of the Chamberlain Forum, a neighbourhood think-and-do tank based in Birmingham. She first came to LWM as a volunteer after completing a Masters in Global Ethics. She moved on to manage Birmingham Community Empowerment Network, facilitating community networks that aim to involve people more effectively in local decision making.
George Morran (Vice Chair)
Jackie Milton (Treasurer)
Jackie has run her own accounting practice for the last eight years, with a special interest in community projects and new business start-ups. She is also a Trustee of the Cwm Harry Land Trust and involved in Lightfoot Enterprises CIC (Household Energy Services), and was formerly a Trustee of Fordhall Farm Community Land Initiative.
Karen Leach (Secretary and Coordinator)
Karen was involved in setting up LWM, and has been employed as LWM Coordinator since October 2002 , reporting to the Board on its strategy, activities and systems as well as undertaking projects. She previously created the role of Campaigns Support Worker with Birmingham Friends of the Earth, and within this role developed interests in planning, trade and local food. She is also on Birmingham FOE’s Management Committee, responsible for the running of community environmental building The Warehouse in Digbeth.
Phil Beardmore
Phil is an environmental and third sector consultant specialising in community action on climate change. He established the Birmingham Sustainable Energy Partnership in 2003 and is still involved in its successor, the Birmingham Carbon Reduction Partnership. Phil led Groundwork’s climate change work in the region between 2003 and 2010. He is actively involved in the housing co-operative movement and leads on the Greener Together project which aims to promote greener living among housing co-op members. Phil was recently voted one of the Top 50 Green Leaders in the West Midlands.
Chris Crean
Friends of the Earth’s Regional Campaigner for the West Midlands. Chris has been involved with Friends of the Earth (FOE) for over thirteen years, initially as a campaigner on air pollution and transport in Birmingham and the West Midlands. Previously he worked for an environmental consultancy on contaminated land and industrial water issues. Chris chairs the West Midlands Regional Sustainability Forum and his responsibilities include promoting sustainable development, including localisation of the regional economy, in the West Midlands and beyond, as well as regional and local campaigning.
Colin Hines
Author of ‘Localization- A Global Manifesto’ (Earthscan) and an Associate of the International Forum on Globalisation, a San Francisco based alliance of activists, academics and economists developing alternatives to globalisation and free trade. Before that he was the Co-ordinator of Greenpeace International’s Economics Unit having worked for the organisation for 10 years. Colin is the convener of the Green New Deal group.
Andrew Lydon
Andrew Lydon was initially involved in the Labour Party, where he developed his interest in decentralisation and economic development in drafting parts of their Birmingham Council manifesto. Since 1992, when he left Labour, he has been involved in the politics of the regions as a spokesman for the West Midlands New Economics Group and even latterly for Birmingham NHS Concern.
Jon Morris
Currently housing, planning and regeneration consultant. Former Director of Coventry New Deal for Communities, Chair of Royal Town Planning Institute Housing Panel, Extensive experience in the fields of housing, planning and regeneration, as a practitioner, researcher and lecturer. Jon has also been a member of a number of ministerial advisory groups and an expert witness to the House of Commons Environment Select Committee.
Jon Stevens
Jon is a freelance consultant who has worked in the field of community housing and neighbourhood regeneration for almost 40 years. He has a strong commitment to the principle of public housing and neighbourhood services being shaped and controlled by residents and users and this has informed the work he has done on behalf of a wide range of people and organisations, working in varied locations and settings.
He trained as an architect in Liverpool and London and has held a variety of positions including Organiser of Community Forum in Birmingham, Director of Birmingham Cooperative Housing Services (bchs), Community Development Worker for Birmingham Inner Area Study, Senior Urban Renewal Officer for Walsall MBC, and Tenant and Association Support Manager for the Housing Corporation (1989-2003).
The following are also actively involved in LWM in various ways:
Pat Conaty (steering group)
Pat Conaty is a Research Associate of the New Economics Foundation. He has produced a number of recent policy reports on local community banking, rural regeneration and community land trusts, micro-credit for small business, and affordable housing finance for low income homeowners with disrepair problems. He was formerly the Development Director of Birmingham Settlement, an inner city voluntary organisation.
Malcolm Currie (Member)
Trained as a systematic geographer (Bristol), Malcolm was a full time teacher in Liverpool; and has also been involved in youth work, community development, and adult education in Birmingham. He has launched various community newspapers and festivals; edits the LETS newsletter; and is presently developing ‘bottom-up’ projects in community cohesion, such as the application of digital technology; ‘local foods: global recipes’; and integration via performing arts and music.
Phil Davis (steering group)
A former council leader and WM Regional Assembly chair, Phil was also a trade union officer for 20 years and has extensive lay advocacy experience. He sits on a number of community and consumer bodies, including the statutory passenger representation organisation Passenger Focus, and is an NHS non-executive director. Founder chair of the WM Constitutional Convention (now West Midlands Voice) he supports elected government for the English regions and greater financial autonomy for councils and communities.
Max Krafchik (member, steering group)
Barbara Panvel (member, steering group)
Barbara has brought together different people, organisations and ideas on localisation during her work in both Mumbai and Birmingham, and has been involved in LWM since our earliest discussions.
If you are interested in getting involved in our Board or steering group or as an associate, please contact Karen Leach to discuss this further.