| WIFSeminarSpeakers&PanellistsPage2025 |
MICHELLE ASHFORD | CHAIR, WATER SECTOR MULTI-CAPITALS NETWORK STEERING GROUPWith over 30 years of experience in the water sector, Michelle Ashford has worked as both a senior regulator and a strategic leader, driving collaboration and innovation across the industry. As a chartered civil engineer and experienced management professional, she has played a key role in shaping policies, fostering trust among stakeholders, and championing forward-thinking approaches to water management. As Chair of the Water Sector Multi-capitals Network Steering Group, Michelle advocates for a holistic, long-term approach to decision-making, ensuring the sector is equipped to tackle the pressing challenges of climate change, resilience, and sustainability. She continues to challenge conventional thinking, helping organisations navigate complexity and build a more resilient, sustainable future. For Michelle, the future of water and wastewater services is about more than just infrastructure—it’s about accountability, intergenerational equity, and the courage to adapt. The choices made today will define the sector for generations, and she remains committed to driving meaningful change to meet the needs of both society and the environment. 
Michelle Ashford Chair ANDY BROWN | GROUP CHIEF SUSTAINABILITY OFFICER, ANGLIAN WATERAs Group Chief Sustainability Officer Andy Brown works with Anglian Water’s board to oversee the delivery of their purpose, “to bring environmental and social prosperity to the region we serve through our
commitment to Love Every Drop”. He has worked for over 10 years embedding sustainability & purpose throughout the business, overseeing the development of their six capitals framework and the Purpose
Scorecard. He is the sponsor of their Sustainability Centre of Excellence and is working with the AVH Group companies to develop their sustainability frameworks. 
Andy BrownGroup Chief Sustainability Officer HELEN DUNN | TECHNICAL DIRECTOR – NATURAL CAPITAL, AECOMHelen is a senior-level economist with significant experience in both consultancy and public policy specialising in natural capital, environmental economics and non-market valuation. Since joining AECOM as Technical Director Natural Capital in December 2022, she has led the team in undertaking a range of projects focusing on natural capital accounting, natural capital valuation and investment in nature-based solutions. For water sector clients, Helen has helped to develop catchment and site-based natural capital accounts and advised on integrating natural and social capital values in appraisal processes. Helen has previous extensive public policy experience as a senior economic adviser in UK government and played a lead role in the early development of natural capital expertise in government including developing greener markets and valuing natural capital. Helen has also previously worked in private consultancy, including for Anglian Water on developing societal values for the Price Review (PR19) and Simetrica-Jacobs leading on wellbeing analysis. 
Helen DunnTechnical Director – Natural Capital KATHRYNNE MOORE | SENIOR ADVISER - NATURAL CAPITAL TEAM, ENVIRONMENT AGENCYKathrynne Moore, BSc (Hons), MSc is a senior advisor in the Environment Agency’s Natural Capital Team. She has worked for the Environment Agency for 20 years in various roles (including in flood and coastal risk management, sustainable abstraction, river basin management planning and business planning) helping to create better places for people and wildlife. She is now focused on applying natural capital approaches and evidence in environment planning and delivery. Recently, she has been working with the water industry to improve access to natural capital evidence and build the capability to use it in water company investment planning. For Price Review 2024, Kathrynne worked with the water industry to integrate a natural capital approach in options development and appraisal. 
Kathrynne MooreSenior Adviser - Natural Capital Team ECE ÖZDEMIROĞLU | CEO, eftecEce Özdemiroğlu is the founder and CEO of eftec. Her work focuses on the economic valuation of natural capital assets and the use of this evidence in accounting and appraisal across all sectors. She uses economic analysis to showcase the benefits of taking interlinking action to restore nature, tackle climate change, and ensure long-term economic sustainability. Throughout her career, Ece has been a voice for nature amongst decision-makers. She continues to work with forward-thinking investors, businesses, NGOs, and central and local governments by encouraging them to consider their impacts and dependencies on nature and to view the ecosystems we depend on as assets rather than externalities. To complement these efforts, Ece champions multi-disciplinary working and better ways of communicating evidence, including the use of arts. Ece currently holds (or has held) many professional positions in national and international organisations and government bodies, including:
She has also co-edited or co-authored 11 books and is an Associate Editor for the Journal of Environmental Economics and Policy. Ece holds an MSc in Environmental and Resource Economics from University College London and a BA in Economics from Istanbul University. 
Ece ÖzdemiroğluCEO JOEL ATHERTON | PRINCIPAL, ENVIRONMENT TEAM, OFWATJoel has a background in environmental economics and valuation, and he worked for a number of environmental and consumer organisations prior to joining Ofwat. He leads Ofwat's work on natural capital and environmental programme efficiency (including the WINEP/NEP). 
Joel AthertonPrincipal, Environment Team LUKE MCLAUGHLIN | ESG STRATEGY MANAGER, UNITED UTILITIESLuke is a Chartered Accountant focussing on bringing ESG (Environment, Social and Governance) information into company decision making. Currently, Luke leads United Utilities’ value-based decision-making approach as part of the Asset Management directorate. Previously, Luke was Sustainability Accounting Manager at Accounting for Sustainability (A4S), working to influence the finance sector and accountants to adopt a more sustainable approach to business and accounting. Luke is on the Steering Group of the Water Sector Multi-capitals Network and a member of A4S’s Nature Advisory Group. As part of the Mainstreaming Nature-based Solutions Programme (MNbS) Luke is the task lead for the Common Value Framework that is capturing and evaluating the benefits of NbS in a robust, consistent and comparable way. 
Luke MclaughlinESG Strategy Manager ROB CUNNINGHAM | POLICY DIRECTOR, THE NATURE CONSERVANCYRob is Watershed Programme Director for Europe at The Nature Conservancy (TNC), a role that involves developing programmes that deliver nature-based solutions (NbS) at scale to address water-security issues faced by utilities, businesses and communities. Rob’s background is rooted in water quality and water resource management, and he has worked for NGOs, regulators and utilities – always maintaining a focus on how nature-based solutions can be deployed for the benefit of people and wildlife. Rob sits on the Technical Working Group as part of Mainstreaming Nature-Based Solutions (MNbS), advising on technical aspects of programme delivery. 
Rob CunninghamPolicy Director ARCHIE HILL | RESEARCH MANAGER, CONSUMER COUNCIL FOR WATERArchie Hill is Research Manager at the Consumer Council for Water (CCW), responsible for delivering evidence-based insights and research to support consumer-focused campaigns and initiatives. His background is in policy and research: prior to joining CCW in 2022, he was part of a Westminster-based think tank, the Centre for Policy Studies. 
Archie HillResearch Manager LU YANG | ASSOCIATE, ARUPLu has worked in engineering for over 12 years and has collaborated with organisations across public and private sectors to improve decision making. She led the methodology development for the Social Cost Benefit Analysis for the Peru Reconstruction Programme and helped Ambition North Wales to design and implement a methodology to reduce carbon emissions and improve biodiversity for its projects. She is also the key author for several multi-capitals value frameworks being used in the UK water sector. 
Lu YangAssociate |
