The National Lottery Heritage Fund has appointed a new Chief Executive, Eilish McGuinness, who currently serves as Executive Director of Business Delivery.
In the new year, McGuiness will become the Chief Executive of both The National Lottery Heritage Fund and the National Heritage Memorial Fund (NHMF).
McGuiness joined The National Lottery Heritage Fund in 1996 and has held a number of both operational and strategic roles. Prior to joining The National Lottery Heritage Fund, McGuiness worked with Historic Scotland, Historic Monuments & Buildings Branch, Northern Ireland and in the heritage sector in Dublin.
She will take over from Ros Kerslake, who is stepping down at the end of this year.
The Chair of The National Lottery Heritage Fund and National Heritage Memorial Fund, Simon Thurley made the announcement.
“The Trustees were presented with an extremely strong field for one of the best jobs in heritage and we are delighted to appoint someone with wide experience, outstanding management and leadership ability and a strong strategic sense,” he said.
McGuinness said the promotion was “an enormous privilege”.
She continued: “Over the past year the Heritage Fund has played a vital role in helping organisations impacted by the pandemic, and I want to pay tribute to Ros Kerslake, our trustees, our committees and our brilliant staff for all their work in delivering not only National Lottery funding but also emergency funding on behalf of government departments in three countries.”
