Speakers

Speaker profile

Joanna thrives on bringing people together to address complex challenges and deliver change. The Space Partnership, which equally represents industry, academia and government, enables shared priorities to be identified and collective action agreed so that the ambition contained within the National Space Strategy is delivered. Joanna started in the role in March 2023 after nine years working across the space and innovation ecosystems, first at the Satellite Applications Catapult and then at the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC, part of UK Research and Innovation).

As the Harwell Space Cluster Development Manager, Joanna worked with stakeholders to grow the Cluster from 80 organisations to over 100 today that collectively employ over 1,400 people (up from 800 in December 2017). As STFC’s Skills Factory Director, Joanna led the development of STFC’s Skills Factory proposal to address national technical skills shortages, resulting in a doubling of the STFC apprenticeship scheme.

With a first career in investment banking at UBS and Credit Suisse, a PhD in particle physics, Joanna has a strong financial and scientific background.