COMMUNITY PROFILE

Genie Turton

Board Mentor

Criticaleye

Genie is a former senior civil servant who now works as a Non-executive Director in the private and charitable sectors.

She is a Non-executive Director of Optivo, one of the largest housing providers in the UK, and of Rockpools, the executive search company. She is also a Lay Member of Salisbury Cathedral Chapter (the Cathedral's board) and Chair of its Remuneration Committee, and on the Advisory Council of Radioactive Waste Management (RWM), the organisation leading work on behalf of the UK Government to safely dispose of the UK’s higher activity radioactive waste.

She was in recent years a Chair of Wessex Archaeology (a national trading charity), a Non-Executive Director of Notting Hill Genesis Housing Association where she was Chair the Resident Services Committee, Non-executive Director for the family-owned construction company, the Wates Group, Cognatum Trust, the Dulwich Picture Gallery (and Chair of DPG Enterprises), the Horniman Museum, and the Sir Edward Heath Charitable Foundation. Until 2015 she advised the Government of Trinidad and Tobago on public service reform.

Other former Non-executive roles included the Woolwich Building Society, the Historic Houses Association and City University. She was an Independent member of the ALG review of London Borough Grants,and a Trustee of the Pilgrim Trust and AA Motoring Trust.

In her executive career Genie has extensive public sector experience. Later roles include Director-General for Housing, Planning and Urban Regeneration in the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (2000 – 2004) and Director, Government Office for London (1997 – 2000), a post in which she established London’s new government under the elected Mayor.

Genie read Classics and then carried out research at Girton College, Cambridge. Her interests include government, gardening, books, painting, music and shopping. She lives in London and Salisbury.