Governance
WSUP, Water & Sanitation for Urban Populations, is deeply committed to promoting good governance across all its subsidiaries and associated organisations, each of which has its own Board and audited accounts. These Boards provide oversight and guidance to our Executive Leadership teams, ensuring we embrace inclusive decision-making processes, foster open communication, and adhere to financial, legal and regulatory standards.
Our main Board contains individual representatives of our organisational Members, as well as several independent directors. WSUP Advisory has its own Board of Directors, and WSUP Charity has a Board of Trustees.
Vanniasingham Baghirathan
WSUP Charity Trustee
Vanniasingham Baghirathan
WSUP Charity Trustee
Baghi is a civil engineer specialising in water resources and project management. He had a long career with one of the UK’s major consulting engineering companies, leading on water resources and other development projects in south and SE Asia including Indonesia, Bangladesh and India. In the latter years, as Regional Director for South and SE Asia based in Bangladesh and India. Following his retirement from the company, Baghi spent 16 years with WSUP from the start of its implementation programmes in 2007. This included several years as Programme Director for Mozambique and Madagascar followed by periods as Director, WASH Finance and as a consultant WASH expert. Baghi joined the Board of WSUP Charity in 2023.
Ulrike Sapiro
WSUP Charity Trustee
Ulrike Sapiro
WSUP Charity Trustee
Ulrike Sapiro is Chief Sustainability Officer at Henkel AG & Co. KGaA, an internationally operating DAX-40 company based in Duesseldorf, Germany, and active in consumer products for laundry and personal care as well as industrial technologies with high-tech adhesives and sealants. In her role, Ulrike reports to the board and - together with her team - develops and oversees corporate sustainability strategy, governance, reporting and disclosure as well as external and internal engagement. She is working closely across the business on implementation and ESG data management program. In 2022, Henkel launched its new 2030+ Sustainability Ambition Framework and worldwide employee engagement and upskilling hub. Prior to joining Henkel, Ulrike spent 13 years in several sustainability leadership roles at The Coca-Cola Company on global and European level. Before joining Coca-Cola, she held sustainability and external affairs roles at RWE Thames Water, a UK-based private water and wastewater company. Ulrike holds a Master's degree in Political Science from the University of Munich. In 2022, she was recognized as one of the Global Top 100 Sustainability Leaders.
Dr Richard Adams
Non-Executive Director, Representing Cranfield University
Dr Richard Adams
Non-Executive Director, Representing Cranfield University
Dr Richard Adams is Reader in Entrepreneurship at the Bettany Centre for Entrepreneurship at Cranfield University with over 30 years of experience in research, consultancy and teaching. Previously he held positions at the Universities of Surrey and Exeter, the University of the West of England and Imperial College London. His research focuses on the intersection of responsible innovation, sustainability and technology entrepreneurship. He has published widely including in the areas of social innovation, social entrepreneurship and WASH.
Ida Aagenaes
Non-Executive Director, Representing Unilever
Ida Aagenaes
Non-Executive Director, Representing Unilever
Ida leads strategic operations for TRANSFORM at Unilever, a public-private partnership empowering social enterprises across Africa and Asia. Her prior experience includes driving Unilever's efforts to improve access to safe water, hygiene and sanitation initiatives, and working on humanitarian responses for Save the Children and Action Against Hunger during major international crises.
Peter Lochery
Non-Executive Director, Representing Care International
Peter Lochery
Non-Executive Director, Representing Care International
Peter is Director of the CARE USA Water Team and his current work includes increased engagement with private entrepreneurs in rural WASH and mobilizing investment into rain-fed agriculture in Sub-Saharan Africa. Previously Peter worked for the World Bank’s Water and Sanitation Program and then with the WSP Regional Water and Sanitation Group for South Asia.
Karl Simons
Non-Executive Director
Karl Simons
Non-Executive Director
Karl is Executive Director – Head of Health, Safety, & Wellbeing at FYLD. Previously, he was the Chief Health, Safety & Security Officer at Thames Water and was responsible for the strategic direction and development of these. He has 25 years of experience in industry, having worked across all continents and numerous safety critical industries including oil, gas, minerals, rail, construction and utilities.
David Scott
Non-Executive Director
David Scott
Non-Executive Director
David Scott is a London based chartered accountant. His career has been with Coopers and Lybrand, the Commonwealth Development Corporation and Deloitte, specialising in transactions and business appraisal.
David Birch
WSUP Charity Chair
David Birch
WSUP Charity Chair
David is a civil engineer specialising in water resources. After three years as a VSO volunteer in Bangladesh, David led water resource projects in Egypt, Pakistan, and India. He has worked for one of the UK’s major consulting engineering companies, including managing director or chairman of the group’s companies in India, China and South East Asia.
Lord Boateng
Chairman
Lord Boateng
Chairman
The Rt Hon Lord Paul Boateng DL PC is a Member of the House of Lords. He was formerly in the UK Cabinet as Chief Secretary to HM Treasury and UK High Commissioner to South Africa. He is currently Chairman of the Africa Enterprise Challenge Fund based in Nairobi and is on the Board of the London based Ghana International Bank. He is Chair of a number of charities working in Africa including BookAid International and the International Council of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award.
Andy Wales
Non-Executive Director
Andy Wales
Non-Executive Director
Andy Wales is one of the most experienced Chief Sustainability Officers in the world, having led sustainability for telco BT, brewers SABMiller and ABInBev, water utility Severn Trent, and textiles firm Interface Inc. Most recently he led Global Sustainability Solutions for Accenture as they scaled up their multi-billion dollar sustainability consulting practice. He’s now an independent Operations Adviser for private equity firm Advent International. Andy has sat on advisory boards for WWF, Sainsburys, the Global Innovation Fund, and the Mayor of London, and was a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader.
Ed Mitchell
Chief Executive; WSUP Advisory Chairman
Ed Mitchell
Chief Executive; WSUP Advisory Chairman
Ed joined WSUP as CEO in June 2022. Previously, he was a Director at Pennon Group, the owners of South West Water, Bournemouth Water, Bristol Water, and Viridor, and Executive Director of Environment and Business at the Environment Agency for nearly a decade. He was also the Director of Environment and Corporate Responsibility at Thames Water. Ed holds a Master of Science (MSc) in Water and Wastewater Engineering from Cranfield University and was previously involved with WSUP as a non-executive director following its foundation in 2005.
Anzo Francis
Director of Finance