Greening Australia appoints new CEO Heather Campbell

Greening Australia is pleased to announce the appointment of its new Chief Executive Officer, Heather Campbell.

Heather has significant experience in strategic leadership spanning the not-for-profit, private and public sectors, and a lifelong passion for conservation and sustainability. She has also been a member of Greening Australia for many years, and has contributed her safety and risk management expertise to the organisation in the past.

Heather Campbell (pictured) has been appointed as Greening Australia’s new CEO.

Heather joins Greening Australia following a 4.5 year stint as CEO at Bush Heritage Australia where she led the organisation through a period of growth, driving the development of its 2030 strategy with a focus on collaboration with farmers and other land managers for a more sustainable future.

Heather also holds current and previous board and leadership positions at organisations including Sustainability Victoria, ALCA, Zoos Victoria, CSIRO, Landcare, and Amcor.

As the first female Greening Australia CEO since the environmental enterprise adopted a national structure, Heather is joining the organisation at a time of rapid growth as it innovates to scale onground action on climate change and biodiversity loss.

“Greening Australia’s enterprise structure and emphasis on delivering large-scale, tangible environmental, economic and community impact present an opportunity and a challenge I knew I needed to be a part of,” says Ms Campbell.

“I’m looking forward to building meaningful relationships with Greening Australia staff, partners, supporters, landholders and the many other collaborators that contribute to the organisation’s mission. Greening Australia has ambitious goals to 2030 as an official Actor in the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, and we can’t do it alone.”

The appointment of a new CEO comes at a time of rapid growth for the environmental enterprise, as it innovates to scale onground action for ecosystem restoration. Photo: Jesse Collins.

Greening Australia continues on a growth trajectory with its subsidiary organisations – Canopy, a nature-based solutions business producing high quality environmental credits; Nindethana, a native seed supply business; SeedX, a native seed producer; and NatureCo, an internationally focused advisory and project development firm.

“Greening Australia has a proud 40-year history as Australia’s leading environmental restoration organisation, backed by the best science. Through the combined power of our subsidiary businesses, we remain committed to restoring Australia’s unique landscapes with a holistic, end-to-end view from native seed supply through to restoration, to environmental markets,” says Greening Australia Chair Stephen Dunne.

“Following an extensive search across Australia and internationally, the Board is delighted to announce the appointment of Heather Campbell as Greening Australia’s next CEO. Heather is well placed to lead Greening Australia through its growth journey towards our 2030 goals.”

High quality native seed supply is crucial to scaling ecosystem restoration. Photo: Nick Wood.

Heather will be commencing in the role in July and will work with outgoing CEO Brendan Foran on a controlled transition. Mr Foran recently announced he would be stepping down as CEO following 11 years at the helm of Greening Australia, leading the organisation through significant change including dissolving its federation structure and transitioning from an organisation reliant on government funding to an environmental enterprise.

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