Rachel Rowney takes the helm at Local Trust to guide it through the important final phase of the Big Local programme, which has seen 150 areas each receive over £1m to spend on community priorities.
Rachel takes up the baton from outgoing CEO Matt Leach, as part of a planned transition for
the organisation as it completes delivery of the Big Local programme in 2026. She has been Local Trust’s chief operating officer since 2021, having joined the organisation as a programme manager in 2012. In her new role, her focus will be on ensuring that the Big Local programme is brought to a successful close and that the insights and evidence gained from delivering the largest ever programme of its kind are widely and impactfully shared.
Commenting on her appointment, Rachel said:
“I’m excited to build on Matt’s brilliant work in what is a hugely exciting and important time for Local Trust. Matt has done an outstanding job of putting community action on the agenda, and now it’s time for us to maximise the impact of the Big Local programme. My priorities in this pivotal phase, as we move out of delivery, will be to use what we’ve learnt to make the strongest possible case for community-led, long-term interventions to rebuild the country’s creaking stocks of social infrastructure, neighbourhood by neighbourhood.”
Commenting on Rachel’s appointment, Matt said:
“Big Local has been an incredibly successful journey and I feel privileged to have contributed to a programme that has changed so many lives and empowered communities across the UK. I’m hugely proud that so much of the learning from the Big Local programme – about the value of trusting local people, and the importance of social capital and social infrastructure – is now a mainstream part of the policy debate. I know that Rachel will do a fantastic job taking Local Trust into this new phase. She has helped shape Big Local from the very outset, and for the last 13 years has been leading from the front, ensuring that it delivered on its ethos and promise. Local Trust is in very safe hands.”
Chair of trustees, David Warner added:
“Rachel is taking over at a crucial time for Local Trust. I’m looking forward to working with her in her new role as we continue supporting local people make their communities better places to live through the Big Local programme. I would also like to thank Matt for his dedication and contribution to Local Trust, his eight years as chief executive have been transformative for the organisation.”
Biography of Chief executive Rachel Rowney
Rachel Rowney built her career on supporting and enabling neighbourhood renewal at a national level. She worked on several government programmes including the New Deal for communities, Neighbourhood Management Pathfinders and the SRB programme.
She focused on supporting delivery of the national networks, as well as working with communities across the UK on a range of issues, including health and social infrastructure.
Rachel joined Local Trust in 2012, originally as a programme manager focusing on establishing the principles of the Big Local programme, understanding the support needs of areas and designing activities to meet those.
In 2016, Rachel joined the senior leadership team and took on a wider, strategic responsibility for business priorities to reflect the growing ambitions of Local Trust to share insights externally, while meeting the evolving needs of a programme in peak delivery. Rachel supported Local Trust to respond to key external events such as COVID-19, the cost-of-living crisis and oversaw the establishment of more collaborative partnerships that supported 1,500 people involved on an annual basis in Big Local.
Biography of Matt Leach
Matt Leach is outgoing chief executive of Local Trust, The National Lottery Community Fund-endowed organisation tasked with supporting long-term place-based, community-led change in 150 deprived neighbourhoods across England. Over the last decade, under Matt’s leadership Local Trust has pioneered new thinking about social infrastructure, neighbourhood regeneration, including leading the successful cross-sectoral campaign for a Community Wealth Fund.
Prior to that, Matt led social housing innovation agency HACT, was an associate director at think tank ResPublica and has held a range of senior leadership roles across the public sector, including civil society funder Capacitybuilders, the Housing Corporation, Cabinet Office and a range of other Whitehall departments and delivery agencies.
For more information or to arrange interviews, please contact ben.jackson@localtrust.org.uk