Executive director initially stops current disturbances (6)
I believe the answer is:
eddies
'current disturbances' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'executive director initially stops' is the wordplay.
'initially' indicates taking the first letters.
'stops' becomes 'dies' (as in a machine stopping or dying).
The initial letters of 'executive director' is 'ed'.
'ed'+'dies'='EDDIES'
(Other definitions for eddies that I've seen before include "troubled waters" , "Continued in circulation" , "current disturbances" , "The flow in a circular current" , "Turbulent movements" .)