Meet the Team: Erin Connolly

Tell us about your career so far, how did it lead you to where you are today?

I started my sustainability career at a multidisciplinary consultancy in New Zealand, where I had the opportunity to work across a broad range of climate, sustainability and engineering projects. That exposure, both to different sectors and scales of work across Australasia, helped me build a strong technical foundation and understand how sustainability challenges play out in different contexts.

Over time, I became particularly interested in climate risk. Living and working in New Zealand, you see so clearly how climate change is already affecting infrastructure, communities, and businesses, so I developed a real focus on adaptation planning and understanding future impacts.

When I moved to the UK, I transitioned into an in-house role, where I was working on carbon footprinting, decarbonisation planning, and climate risk reporting. That experience was really valuable because it gave me insight into how this work lands in practice, what’s useful for decision-making, how organisations prioritise, and the practical challenges of implementation.

Overall, that combination of consultancy and in-house experience has led me to where I am today, working at the intersection of climate risk, adaptation, and strategy, with a strong focus on delivering practical outputs for clients.

What does your role at Accelar involve and what do you find most rewarding about it?

My role at Accelar is focused on supporting clients to understand and respond to climate risk, particularly around resilience and adaptation. That can involve anything from technical analysis through to helping shape strategy and what it means in practice for their assets or portfolios. What I find most rewarding is taking quite complex climate risk information and turning it into something that’s actually useful for decision-making. A lot of organisations know this matters, but they’re not always sure what to do next, so helping bridge that gap is really satisfying. I also really value the collaborative aspect of the role. Working with a team that has such a broad mix of experience means you’re constantly learning, and it makes the work more interesting and impactful.

“It’s been really rewarding to take a step back and think strategically about how we can provide the most value to clients—not just assessing risk, but helping them build resilience in a more holistic way.”

What do you value most about being part of the Accelar team?

What I value most about being part of the Accelar team is the shared sense of purpose. Everyone is really aligned in terms of values and genuinely motivated to deliver meaningful, high-quality work for clients, which creates a really positive and focused environment. At the same time, everyone brings their own unique experience and perspective, so there’s a constant opportunity to learn from each other and broaden your thinking. It’s also a very supportive team, people take the time to recognise each other’s efforts and celebrate progress, whether it’s a big milestone or a smaller win. That makes a big difference day-to-day and creates a culture where people feel valued and motivated.

So far, which moments or achievements stand out as highlights of your time at Accelar?

I think one of the biggest highlights for me has been contributing to how we’re shaping and building out our climate resilience work. It’s been really rewarding to take a step back and think strategically about how we can provide the most value to clients—not just assessing risk, but helping them build resilience in a more holistic way. That includes thinking about things like nature-based solutions, but also how adaptation can deliver wider benefits—whether that’s social value, community resilience, or longer-term outcomes beyond just managing risk.

I’ve also really enjoyed getting stuck into new types of work along the way. While my focus has been on climate resilience, I’ve had the chance to broaden my skillset and try new approaches, which has been both exciting and really fulfilling.

Where would you love to see Accelar heading in the future?

I’d really love to see Accelar keep building on its strength in climate risk and adaptation. It’s such a growing area, but a lot of organisations are still figuring out how to turn risk into something practical and actionable so I think there’s a real opportunity for us to stand out by helping bridge that gap.

I also think there’s huge potential for us to lead on nature-based adaptation solutions. And more broadly, I’d be excited to see us continue bringing together climate risk, carbon, and nature into more integrated offers, so we’re not treating them separately, but helping clients think about them in a more joined-up, strategic way.