Jo Negrini is chief executive of Croydon Council, becoming the first woman to take the role at the south London borough in June 2016. She joined Croydon Council in early 2014 as its executive director of place, overseeing regeneration and planning and has been instrumental in driving the borough’s growth and devolution agenda, which has secured a £350m programme of infrastructure improvements. Jo has also established the council’s new housing company, Brick by Brick, to deliver a thousand new and affordable homes across the borough over the next three years Originally from Australia where she trained as a Town Planner, Jo has been a regeneration practitioner in the UK for more than 20 years. She has a wealth of experience in bringing investment to neglected areas of the capital, gained in her previous roles at Newham and Lambeth - two inner London boroughs with similar opportunities to Croydon. As the Director of Regeneration at Lambeth, her responsibilities took in a range of regeneration programmes, including leading the Clapham One development, Windrush Square in Brixton, Streatham Leisure development and improvements on the South Bank. In her previous role as Newham’s Director of Strategic Planning and Olympic Legacy, she led Newham’s £1billion regeneration programme which included redevelopment of Canning Town, Royal Docks and Stratford.