Meet the BRE Trust board

Position: Trustee

Linda Chandler is the Chief Digital Officer for the Olympia Estate bringing her wealth of technology experience over 30+ years to the built environment to make Future Olympia the most connected human-centric place globally.
Prior to joining Olympia, Linda had a Microsoft career spanning 12 years in total – most recently as an Industry Advisor for Smart Places at Microsoft UK focused on the role of digital in local government place leadership and with that, the convergence of adjacent industry sectors of transport, built environment and energy. Linda was a returner to the company having been the Smart Cities Lead for Microsoft Services both in the UK and APAC for 10 years.
In between her Microsoft roles, Linda was an independent smart cities advisor, working on a portfolio of projects across the pillars of built environment, energy and mobility. Prior to Microsoft, she was Chief Information Officer for the London Development Agency. Linda has experienced many facets of the technology industry in her extensive career, having worked for systems integrators, large independent software vendors, an analyst firm and a number of start-ups.
Linda is also a part of the Design Council Expert network and a Member of the IET.

David Reid is an executive leader in the science, engineering, and not-for-profit sectors with significant experience of leading complex global communications and stakeholder engagement to help progressive organisations achieve policy goals and maximise their impact.

An expert in strategic communications, he is currently a member of the executive leadership team of Lloyd’s Register Foundation, a global charity that supports education, research, and innovation to make the world a safer place. His role at the Foundation is to lead on creating global campaigns to raise awareness of the world’s biggest safety challenges and to build partnerships with major international organisations and UN agencies.

Having led corporate communications and advocacy for a number of high-profile organisations with a strong social purpose, he has developed innovative global campaigns that tackle major societal challenges such as climate change, sustainable development and public safety.

He was the Director of The Times Cheltenham Science Festival and led public engagement for various organisations including the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC). He is the founder and executive chairman of Matter PR, one of the world’s only communications agencies specialising in helping science and engineering organisations. He is also a Board Trustee of The Oxford Trust and the head rowing coach for St. Peter’s College, Oxford.

Ashley is CEO at MHS Homes which owns c. 10,000 affordable homes in the Thames Estuary and will build over 900 new homes in the next three years. Ashley is a chartered surveyor by background and has worked in the regeneration and housing sectors for over 30 years. Ashley is also a Chartered Director and has extensive boardroom experience in a number of commercial and not for profit organisations.

Vicky had a long and successful career in the UK Met Office in a variety of roles – as a climate science researcher, programme manager, communicator of publicly important science, and partnership developer. She is now building a portfolio career that focuses on the issues that she particularly cares about and where she can make a tangible difference. These include protecting and enhancing the environment, improving scientific literacy in decision making and improved access to STEM careers.