Environment secretary Steve Barclay has made two appointments of non-executive directors to the Environment Agency board
Brittany Harris and Maya Leibman’s appointments began at the start of this month and will run for three years until March 31, 2027.
All appointments are made on merit and in accordance with the Governance Code on Public Appointments, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said.
Chair of the Environment Agency, Alan Lovell, said: “I am delighted to welcome Maya and Brittany to the board.
“They both bring invaluable experience in innovation and the use of data.
“I have no doubt that they will both make significant contributions, particularly in those vital areas.”
Brittany Harris
Harris is a civil engineer. She founded Qualis Flow in 2018, and sat on the board of Cambridge Wireless from 2020-2023.
She is an enterprise fellow at the Royal Academy of Engineering and is a member of the Institution of Civil Engineers.
She was awarded Entrepreneur of the Year 2023 by West Country Women.
Maya Leibman
Leibman has served as chief information officer at American Airlines for the past decade.
She is non-executive director, member of the Governance Committee and chair for the Remuneration Committee for $4B Acuity Brands, an industrial technology company.
She has also recently become chair of Enterprise Alumni, a technology company.
She is a board member for a non-for-profit organisation called Breaking Down Barriers, which focusses on making the pilot profession accessible to youth from diverse backgrounds.
Environment Agency
The Environment Agency is a non-departmental public body set up under the Environment Act 1995 to take an integrated approach to environmental protection and enhancement in England.
It has responsibilities in flood management, water resources and quality, climate change, land quality, chemicals, pollution prevention and control, waste, conservation and biodiversity, fisheries conservation, air quality and navigation.
The board for the Environment Agency comprises a chair and ten members.
There is a requirement for political activity (if significant) to be declared and both appointees have not taken part in significant political activity in the past five years.
