Chief Executive
For over a century The Wildlife Trusts have been saving wildlife and wild places, increasing people’s awareness of the natural world, and deepening people’s relationship with it. The Wildlife Trusts are a grassroots movement of people who share a vision of a Wilder Future. The movement’s central charity leads the development of the Trusts, giving them a strong united voice.
Prospectus were delighted to be appointed to secure a CEO that would lead The Wildlife Trusts movement and its central charity. Through developing productive relationships within the movement and with external partners. We were looking for someone to influence the UK’s political, social and legal systems to drive nature’s recovery and rebuild our connection to the natural world.
We sought an inspirational, authentic and experienced leader with significant experience of building relationships with senior decision makers, influencers and funders to successfully affect social or policy change. With a need to dive straight into pre-Brexit environmental negotiations, we targeted individuals with a solid knowledge of the environment, who were used to leading complex organisations and who had a passion for nature.
Craig Bennett was appointed to the role. Craig had led Friends of the Earth as CEO for five years and was previously Director of Policy and Campaigns. Earlier in his career, Craig built a group of one of the most influential and progressive business voices in the international climate debate – The Prince of Wales’s Corporate Leaders Group on Climate Change. Craig is widely recognised as ‘one of the country’s top environmental campaigners’ and has been described by The Guardian as “the very model of the modern eco-general”.