Anna Blandford
Assistant director of regeneration and economic development, London Borough of Haringey
Blandford is passionate about placemaking, working with local communities and on the delivery of social housing and sustainable design. She has more than 10 years’ experience as a senior leader in development and the delivery of major schemes, and in harnessing and recognising the strengths of the places and communities that she works with. Blandford is currently assistant director of regeneration and economic development at the London Borough of Haringey, leading on Opportunity Haringey, the borough’s new inclusive economy framework, and vital placemaking programmes in Tottenham and Wood Green. She was previously head of development at Haringey, responsible for its housing delivery programme, overseeing the council’s ambitious commitment to build 3,000 high-quality council homes by 2031. Blandford’s leadership saw more than 2,000 new council homes get underway on sites in every ward across the borough. To deliver these new homes, she established a high-performing, national award-winning team. She is also a cinephile and film-maker and believes in the importance of sharing stories to understand ourselves and others. She has run a number of film projects with communities and young people to help enable them to share their own stories through film.