Julia Unwin

Julia was appointed to the board as an Independent Non-Executive Director in January 2017.

Julia brings to the board a wealth of experience from the voluntary and public sectors as well as extensive experience of regulatory environments. She served as Chief Executive of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and the Joseph Rowntree Housing Trust from 2007 until the end of 2016 and was a Council member of the University of York until December 2018. She has also previously served at a very senior level at the Housing Corporation, the Charity Commission and she has chaired the Food Standards Agency.

Through her engagement with consumers, regulation and public policy, Julia brings a deep understanding of the interests of customers and individual communities to the board as well as a specific knowledge of the demographics of the Yorkshire region and of poverty, vulnerability and disadvantage.

In May 2019 Julia received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Chartered Management Institute and Julia was made a Dame in the 2020 New Year’s Honours list for her work as a social justice campaigner.

Julia is currently the Chair of the Independent Inquiry into the Future of Civil Society, which reported in November 2018. She is a non-executive director of Mears Group Plc and of the Financial Reporting Council. Julia is also a member of the First Minister (Scotland) Council of Economic Advisers and the First Minister (Scotland) Advisory Group on Economic Recovery Post Covid-19.

Committee Membership: Nomination, Remuneration, Social Value (Chair), Safety, Health and Environment