30 April 2024
Leather Working Group (LWG) is pleased to announce the appointment of Vanessa Podmore to the newly created role of Executive Director to lead the organisation into its next phase of strategic development and growth.
An industry supply chain and sustainability specialist who started her career with Clarks, Vanessa has a wealth of operational and strategic skills gained with major brands, including Burberry, Coach and Jimmy Choo. This is underlined by sector engagement through several initiatives from the Fashion District Sustainable Fashion Accelerator to her role as a non-executive board member of the British Footwear Association, where Vanessa was instrumental in shaping the first UK Footwear Sustainability Summit in 2023.
LWG Executive Committee Chair, Thomas Gregor comments, “This is a pivotal moment in the development of LWG, we believe that Vanessa’s deep understanding of the sector combined with experience working with multi-stakeholder initiatives and her commitment to progressing responsible and sustainable practices makes her uniquely positioned to guide the organisation through its next stage of growth.”
Passionate about understanding and mitigating the impacts of complex supply chains, Vanessa remarks, “Supporting businesses as they tackle the multiple challenges to meeting their sustainability goals has been the thread that runs through my career. This is an important moment for me personally to take on the responsibility of leading LWG - I am both honoured and delighted to be joining the team.”
The appointment of Vanessa as Executive Director reflects LWG's commitment to reducing impact and advancing sustainability within the leather industry and sets a positive tone for the future.
Vanessa will take up the role effective 3rd June 2024.