Active Gloucestershire is delighted to announce the appointment of Kirsty Dunleavy-Harris as its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO).

Last month, Gloucestershire charity, Active Gloucestershire announced the departure of their Chief Executive Tom Beasley, who has led the organisation for the past 7 years. After a rigorous recruitment process, they are pleased to announce the appointment of their new CEO, Kirsty Dunleavy-Harris

Since joining Active Gloucestershire in 2012, Kirsty has been a driving force for change across the county. She has led community initiatives like Beat the Street, established and grown important local networks, including Glos Girls Can and the Active Ageing forum, and pioneered cross-sector, place-based collaboration. Her unwavering passion for inclusion and strength-based working has helped to inspire collective action across the county and shape the charity’s evolution.

Creative, astute and with a wealth of senior leadership experience, Kirsty is well positioned to lead the charity into its next chapter. As Deputy CEO and prior to that, as Director of Physical Activity, Kirsty has helped to steer the charity through growth, change and strategy renewal.

Her values-led leadership has also transformed the charity’s work around equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI). Her commitment to embedding psychologically safe and inclusive practice across the organisation and reducing inequalities by engaging diverse and unheard voices from across the health, education and voluntary and community sector, has attracted national recognition and strengthened the charity’s reputation as a system leader within the EDI sphere.

Kirsty Dunleavy-Harris, new CEO of Active Gloucestershire, said:

“I’m excited and proud to lead an organisation that’s so close to my heart. Active Gloucestershire has been my home for more than a decade, and I’ve seen first-hand the power of working together to remove barriers and make being active part of everyday life.

“My focus is on building on our strong foundations, keeping inclusion and collaboration at the heart of everything we do. Working with organisations from across Gloucestershire, we want to create a county where physical activity is the norm – a place where everyone can benefit from a more active lifestyle and can be active in a way that works for them.”

With around one in five adults in Gloucestershire still inactive, the charity’s mission remains clear: to make Gloucestershire a more active county, where everyone is able to move more and in a way that suits them.

Emma Owen, Chair of Active Gloucestershire, added:

“Kirsty’s energy, compassion and commitment to tackling inequalities make her the perfect person to lead us into the future. She embodies the values that make Active Gloucestershire special – authenticity, collaboration and a deep belief in people.

“I have no doubts that under Kirsty’s leadership, Active Gloucestershire will continue to thrive.”

To learn more about Active Gloucestershire’s work and how you can get involved, visit www.activegloucestershire.org.