February 3, 2021

Fran Boait, our Executive Director, is going on maternity leave this week. We wish her and her growing family a safe and happy year ahead.

2021 is an important year for Positive Money, not least the opportunity to contribute to the debate about the role of finance in ensuring a sustainable future when the UK hosts the 26th United Nations Climate Change conference in November. So we knew it was vital to ensure we had the right person to lead the organisation over the coming months. Our Board led a thorough and comprehensive recruitment process, externally and internally, and we are delighted to announce that we unanimously decided to appoint the current COO, Paul Delaney, to an interim Acting Director role until Fran’s return in November. Paul has been with Positive Money since September 2017 and his sound stewardship, collaborative leadership style, and understanding of the issues we care about will give the organisation, team and partners the stability needed for this exciting and challenging time.

We are particularly excited about the growth and development opportunities both for Paul and other leaders within the organisation. Positive Money’s culture includes a strong commitment to empowered decision-making and mutual respect, and we see this time as an opportunity for all the team to grow in their skills and experience. This will build an even greater capacity for the team to create positive change. As a board we are committed to providing the team with all the support they need throughout this period to continue building Positive Money’s resilience and effectiveness. We believe that this approach will ensure we are well equipped to continue with our strategic ambitions, as well as to seize opportunities as they emerge in the coming months.

We look forward to welcoming Fran back to an organisation that will have grown in strength, relevance and influence, building on Fran’s excellent leadership over the last 7 years.

Sian Williams
Chair, on behalf of the Positive Money Board