Leadership Team

Damien joined the region in Autumn 2023 to lead the programme of work to establish the combined county authority initially in shadow form and then through to it being fully established in Spring 2024. Previously, he spent a decade in the UK Civil Service in a variety of policy development and programme delivery roles, including most of that time as a member of the Senior Civil Service. Latterly he established the team that worked across government to progress English devolution in several parts of the country – including the East Midlands.

Jodie has over 20 years’ experience working in governance, the past 7 years of which have been in Combined Authorities. During this time, he has delivered a number of successful governance transformation projects, as well as acting as the Monitoring Officer at District Council, City Council and Combined Authority level. The Monitoring Officer is statutorily responsible for reporting to the Combined County Authority on any illegality or maladministration, this includes supporting our Board to ensure proper oversight of the organisation’s activities and compliance with our legal and regulatory obligations. Jodie is passionate about the benefits good governance can bring to an organisation and excited about the opportunity to develop, innovate and engage through governance at the Combined County Authority. Prior to joining the Combined County Authority, Jodie undertook a number of governance reviews within government departments and combined authorities as well as developing Assurance Frameworks and scrutiny functions.

Amanda joined the East Midlands Devolution Programme Team in September 2023 as the interim Operations and People Lead. She is an experienced organisation development and transformation specialist, with a professional background in Human Resources. Amanda has led the creation and implementation of the EMCCA Operating Model and underpinning organisation values. Recent consultancy assignments have included the creation of a new Operating Model for the City of London Corporation, People Services transformation in Birmingham City Council and leading a culture programme in the Government of Jersey.

Richard is Interim Executive Director of Place. He has led the development of EMCCA’s Strategic Framework and delivery plans since October 2023. Richard has worked in local government innovation and transformation for over 20 years, in both the public and private sectors. He was previously Interim Transformation Director with Nottingham City Council and before that Executive Director of Transformation and Resources at the London Borough of Haringey. In previous roles, Richard has worked in local government consultancy, established a social care support business, established and led a managed service for a large city council and led the turnaround of a number of council customer facing services.

Peter joined the East Midlands devolution programme team in September 2023 as Interim Transport Lead, bringing 35 years of local government transport and highways experience, including at senior level in Oxford, Oxfordshire, Bristol and at the West of England Combined Authority. He has now moved into the role of Interim Transport Programme Director at EMCCA to oversee, not just the establishment of the transport division at EMCCA but also the development of the regional transport strategy and investment programme.

Fran Collingham began her career as a journalist before joining local government, working at district and metropolitan councils across the Midlands. She was Assistant Director of Communications at Coventry City Council for 13 years and interim Director of Communications for the West Midlands Combined Authority during the pandemic. She provides strategic communications advice and support to public sector organisations and is an associate with the Local Government Association, leading communications peer reviews and providing strategic support to councils.

Alongside his role as Acting Executive Director for Strategy and Inclusive Growth at EMCCA, Will Morlidge continues to act as Chief Executive of D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), a role he has held since August 2021. Will is also co-chair of East Midlands Hydrogen, championing the region as a powerhouse of green energy-led growth. He joined the D2N2 LEP initially in 2020 as Head of Strategy and Policy, leading the development of D2N2’s Recovery and Growth Strategy and policy relating to social inclusion and inclusive growth, energy and sustainable development and the LEP's approach to rural issues. Will is also a volunteer Enterprise Adviser with Nethergate School in Nottingham as part of the Enterprise Adviser Network programme.

Nick is an experienced senior manager with a strong finance background. He has been the Section 151 Officer/Finance Director in a number of councils and most recently has been the Section 73 Officer for another Combined Authority. He is passionate about how the areas of focus of Combined Authorities - particularly skills and business support - can make a huge difference to communities and he is looking forward to helping EMCCA develop its finance systems, processes, people and strategies to support the achievements of its aspirations.