Claire Lötter

Claire Lötter (board member since 2024). Claire Lötter is a senior executive with more than 20 years of leadership experience across fire services, engineering, logistics, and strategic business development. She currently leads Supporting Fire Services (SFS-SA), where she drives national strategy, public–private partnerships, and sustainable capacity-building initiatives to strengthen South Africa’s fire and emergency services sector. SFS focuses on addressing capacity gaps within municipal fire services, facilitating collaboration between government, private sector, and civil society, and developing scalable support models aligned to national disaster management priorities. Claire previously served as the first CEO of Volunteer Wildfire Services (VWS), where she led a full organisational transformation. Under her leadership, VWS expanded to more than 370 active volunteers, formalised partnerships with municipalities and disaster management agencies, and established itself as a nationally respected wildfire response NGO. In 2024, she was appointed to the Board of the International Association of Wildland Firefighters, contributing to international wildfire leadership dialogue and collaboration. With strong financial acumen, operational discipline, and a proven ability to lead organisational transformation, Claire brings both strategic oversight and practical execution to strengthening resilience in South Africa’s emergency response landscape.