The local infrastructure umbrella body Navca has named Maddy Desforges as its next chief executive.
Desforges, who will join in March from the top job at infrastructure body Voluntary Action Sheffield, will succeed Jane Ide, who stepped down last month to become chief executive of the cultural sector support charity Creative & Cultural Skills.
Desforges, who has been at VAS since 2016, previously spent more than 20 years working in various government departments, including the former Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, the Department for Education and the Department for Work and Pensions.
Judy Robinson, chair of Navca, said: “Maddy impressed the recruitment panel with her work at the local level as chief executive of Voluntary Action Sheffield – one of Navca’s members – and with her experience as a senior civil servant.
“We were impressed by Maddy’s understanding of the vital role of communities, voluntary organisations and VCS infrastructure to make life better and fairer.
“She also has extensive management experience in the Civil Service at a senior, national level managing teams and programmes.”
Desforges said: “While I will miss VAS hugely, the opportunity to lead Navca into its next phase of development, as we move from pandemic through vaccination into recovery, is really exciting.
“I’m really keen to build on the relationships and connections Jane Ide and others have fostered, to be an influential and persuasive voice at national level, setting out the critical nature of local infrastructure at national level, demonstrating the importance of local infrastructure support for resilient communities as the best path to recovery.”
In October, Navca reported a surplus in its annual accounts for the first time since 2013.