Development Trusts Association (DTA)

The Development Trusts Association is a dynamic UK-wide movement – bringing together over 450 community-led organisations which use self-help, social enterprise, and community asset ownership to bring about long-term social, economic and environmental renewal to transform their communities for good. The DTA – in common with many of its members – generates over half its income from trading activities, and the rest from governmental and independent grant-makers.

Annemarie Naylor is the DTA’s Asset Programmes Manager. Since 2008, she has worked to establish a government funded Asset Transfer Unit (ATU) within the DTA, working with 25 public and third sector partners, to promote and support the community asset transfer agenda throughout England in the wake of ‘Making Assets Work: The Quirk Review of Community Management and Ownership of Public Assets’ [2007]. She oversees delivery of the Advancing Assets for Communities demonstration programme, working with one third of top tier local authorities in England, to support the transfer of publicly owned assets to the third sector as well as managing the DTA’s support contract for the ?30m Community Assets Programme.

In the past, Annemarie worked for the East of England Development Agency (EEDA) and East of England Regional Assembly (EERA) to support social inclusion policy development and related programme delivery – latterly, managing EEDA’s Building Communities Fund, which supported asset based development across the region to promote social enterprise development through third sector capital investment. She also established and delivered an education programme in North East Essex working with teachers and young people to promote a range of agendas connected to international development priorities.

Policy expertise includes international development, spatial and economic regeneration, and socio-economic inclusion traversing the public, private and third sectors. Looking ahead, Annemarie is set to explore the contribution of urban design and community infrastructure to the built and lived environments, as well as community asset innovation underpinned by technological advancements.