Quartet, the community foundation covering Bath and the West of England, has appointed its philanthropy director Ronnie Brown as interim CEO following the departure of Sue Turner.
Sue, pictured, who has led the organisation for more than five years – a period in which she helped more than double its endowment to £50m – has begun a Masters’ degree in Artificial Intelligence and Data Science at the University of Hull. 
Quartet was set up in 1987 and has since awarded more than £50m to local projects across the West of England – around £3.5m a year.
During lockdown it launched an emergency fund in response to a massive increase in pleas for financial support from small, grass-roots community organisations.
Quartet has since announced a Recovery Plan for the West of England to steer urgently needed funding towards small charities that are addressing inequalities and social cohesion.
The launch comes as just over a fifth of the region’s charities fear they will be forced to close unless they get the help they need.
Sue’s role in leading the organisation over the past five years – and particularly during the unprecedented funding crisis triggered by the coronavirus pandemic – has earned widespread praise.
Quartet chair Sue Mountstevens lead tributes, saying: “We’ll miss Sue’s indomitable commitment, her passion to bring about lasting change in our disadvantaged communities and her energy and enthusiasm.
“We’ve been lucky to have Sue in post for the past five years and she will be missed. We wish her good luck with her new academic adventure.”
Sue joined Quartet after a career that spanned 10 years as regional director of the CBI, five years as director of communications at The Bristol Port Company and five years as consultant at Bristol specialist recruitment firm Wheale Thomas Hodgins.
She said: “I’d like to thank the staff team, our trustees and above all you, our fundholders, donors, grant recipients and all the thousands of people involved in making our communities a better place, for supporting me in my time with Quartet. 
“We have succeeded because of everyone’s contributions. I will continue to be involved with Quartet not only as someone who has left a gift in my Will to Quartet – that was one task that was easy to complete during the lockdown! – but also as a huge fan of this charity, which does more than any other I have ever come across to make life fairer for people here.”
Quartet is now undertaking a recruitment campaign to find a replacement CEO while Ronnie Brown, pictured, leads the organisation in the interim.
Sue Mountstevens added: “I’m delighted we now have Ronnie in place to continue to inspire philanthropy to help our small charitable causes through Covid-19.
“I trust that the organisation is in safe hands while we actively recruit for Sue’s successor, who will lead the organisation into the future.”
Ronnie has stepped up during a significant time for Quartet as it continues an unprecedented period of grant-making and is implementing its Recovery Plan for the West of England.
To read more about Quartet’s Recovery Plan click here
Pictured: Quartet interim CEO Ronnie Brown with Sue Turner
