Executive Member for Clean Air, Environment and Transport,
Manchester City Council
Chair, Manchester Food Board

Tracey leads on areas including biodiversity, climate emergency and tackling climate change, food sustainability, and zero carbon.

CEO, Healthy Me Healthy Communities

Rich is Vice-Chair of the Manchester Food Board.

Rich is CEO of Healthy Me Healthy Communities (HMHC), a social enterprise focusing on communities within disadvantaged areas of Central Manchester. HMHC co-produces health and well-being services that empower, educate and inspire the local communities in which they work.

Partnerships Director,
CityCo

Alex King is the Partnership Director for CityCo, The City Centre Management Company. Alex’s career has spanned live music and contemporary arts, hospitality and conferencing, food and beverage retail, and operational & resilience planning for over 25 years. Alex now works to support a ranges of business sectors in Manchester city centre, as they meet the multiple challenges and opportunities of a modern thriving city.

Chair,
Manchester BME Network CIC

Atiha is currently Chair of the Greater Manchester BAME Network, the Manchester BME Network, and the Manchester Equalities Hub. She is also a Board member for Manchester Health and Care Commissioning, the Centre for Local Economic Strategies, the Manchester Partnership, and the Greater Manchester Centre for Voluntary Organisation. Atiha’s consultancy firm is called Equal Access Consultancy, and she has worked on many commissions locally, nationally and at an international level.

Strategic Lead, Policy and Partnerships,
Manchester City Council

David studied Geography at the University of Leicester and has worked in local government for 17 years, in Cheshire and in Manchester. Since 2013 he has worked within Manchester City Council's City Policy team leading on economic, social, environmental and international policy work. More recently, he has led the development of the Our Manchester Strategy 2025-30 and Manchester City Council's Climate Change Action Plan 2025-30.

Senior Lecturer in Nutritional Sciences,
Manchester Metropolitan University
Founder, MetMUnch

Haleh Moravej is a Senior Lecturer in Nutritional Sciences at Manchester Metropolitan University, and founder of MetMUnch, a student-led programme that sets the standard for sustainability, nutrition, and entrepreneurship across Manchester Metropolitan, local communities, and further afield. Prior to teaching, Haleh was a commercial entrepreneur with her own nutrition clinic.

Head of Communities, One Manchester

(AWAITING BIOGRAPHY)

Jemma is the Founder and Strategic Director of Fork, a food systems consultancy. Her work focuses on policy, strategy and place-centric design thinking around how we use food to deliver transformation in places. Past projects have included food-led economic development, procurement, healthcare food service optimisation, policy influencing strategies to tackle childhood obesity, urban agriculture feasibility studies and asset development. Jemma’s background in food technology and sustainable food coupled with her experience working in the built environment enables her to enhance the role of food within business and communities. Jemma’s previous role as CEO of FoodSync (who drafted the Manchester Food Strategy) brings continuity, partnerships and a deep understanding of the food landscape in Manchester and beyond. 

Director of Facilities, Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust

(AWAITING BIOGRAPHY)

University of Manchester

(AWAITING BIOGRAPHY)

Co-founder Manchester Urban Diggers CIC (MUD)

Sam Payne trained and worked as a Systems Engineer before re-training in market gardening, co-founding Platt Fields Market Garden and later Manchester Urban Diggers CIC. MUD is working to transform our profit-driven food system to one centred around empowered communities, greater personal wellbeing and a healthier planet. They do this by creating grassroots, people-led farming projects with agroecological principles where they grow and cook food to share, eat or sell.

Director,
Manchester Climate Change Agency

Sam brings more than 20 years’ experience with a proven track record in the climate sector to MCCA. Previously, Sam was Zero Carbon Manager at Manchester City Council, and prior to this, she was Head of Low Carbon and Manufacturing at GC Business Growth Hub.

Managing Director,
Organic North

Sean is the Managing Director of Organic North, the largest wholesalers of certified organic produce in the north. Based at New Smithfield’s Market in Manchester, Organic North focuses on local, seasonal produce and is strongly committed to its no-waste model.