Fiona Dowson
Senior Sustainability Advisor
f.dowson@forumforthefuture.org
(0)20 7324 3666
Sectors : Food,
Background
I specialise in sustainable procurement and supply chains – helping business and public sector organisations find innovative and practical ways to deliver their strategic goals, including sustainability goals, through better sourcing decisions. I am also an associate member of the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment.
I’ve been working in the sustainability sector – including roles in the public, private and voluntary sectors - for over 10 years. I stepped back to reconsider my career in 2006 after 5 years working in local government. I began a part-time Masters in Sustainability and Environmental Management and, inspired by the Forum Masters model, dipped my toe into a range of potential careers alongside it. I dabbled in energy consultancy, researched effective solutions to fuel poverty, prepared teenagers for expeditions into Kyrgyzstan and went back to the floor (after years spent as a recycling manager) to quiz the residents of Darlington about their recycling habits.
After finishing my Masters and getting a distinction, I decided I wanted to work somewhere creative, that was creating positive solutions, and that was pragmatic enough to give those solutions a chance of becoming reality. When the chance came to use my skills in public procurement as a force for good, managing Forum’s role in BEST Procurement I jumped at it.
After several years leading Forum’s work on sustainable procurement, I’m excited to be refocusing on transforming the food system. I’m from a farming family but, typically for my generation, didn’t opt to earn my living from the land. I’m passionate about making livelihoods in food production desirable and sustainable – so more people around the world do choose to produce food!
My dream project? To find a way for us to leave behind a food production system that relies on people around the globe working under conditions they’d reject if given half a chance – whether they’re UK dairy farmers or African cocoa growers.
What floats my boat outside work? I’ve jumped on the grow-your-own band wagon and am looking forward to a bumper crop of veggies.
