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The Board of Trustees is the governing body of CMI, meeting 6 times a year under the chairship of the President. It is the Board’s role to agree the overall direction and development of the organisation through good governance and effective strategic planning.
The Board is also responsible for safeguarding the overall financial health of CMI, identifying its principal business risks and ensuring that appropriate systems are in place for their management and mitigation.
It is supported in these roles by the Committees of the Board. CMI members play a pivotal role in the governance of the Institute, through service on the Board and its various committees. As a CMI member you can find out more about serving on the Board.
It is the role of CMI’s Executive Team to implement the strategic direction set out by the Board.
Our Executive Leadership Team
President
Fiona Dawson is an experienced NED and Chair. She currently sits on the Boards of LEGO A/S, Marks and Spencer PLC and Kerry Group PLC, and is a member of Remuneration, Nomination committees and Chair of the Kerry Group Sustainability committee. Fiona's full profile
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Fiona worked for family-owned Mars, Incorporated for over thirty years, and retired in July 2021 to focus on her Board Portfolio. During her career, she held a wide range of leadership roles including European Marketing Vice President of Global Retail and Mars Chocolate UK. Her last role was as Global President for Mars Foods’ portfolio of household brands, the various Multi-Segment markets in Mars, Incorporated, and the Global Customers, sitting on the Mars, Incorporated Leadership team. Mars, Incorporated has global annual revenues of more than US$40 billion.
Previously Fiona has been President of the IGD, Vice President of the UK’s Food and Drink Federation (FDF), served on the Economic Development Advisory Group to the U.K’s Department for International Development (DfID) and an expert member of the Independent review into Labour shortages in the Food Industry (DEFRA). She has recently finished her term as Chair of the Women’s Business Council, and sits on a number of advisory Boards including Trinity Business School in Dublin, and The Social Mobility Foundation.
Fiona holds a BBS degree in Business and Economics from Trinity College, Dublin and has received many awards over the years including a CBE for services to Women and the Economy, and a Lifetime achievement award for Women in Business.
Chief Executive Officer
Ann Francke is Chief Executive of the Chartered Management Institute. She started her career at Procter & Gamble and has held senior executive positions at Mars, Boots, Yell and BSI. Ann's full profile
Ann Francke is Chief Executive of the Chartered Management Institute. She started her career at Procter & Gamble and has held senior executive positions at Mars, Boots, Yell and BSI. In 2020, Ann was awarded an OBE for services to workplace equality.
Ann is an expert on gender balance in the workplace and speaks frequently in the media and conferences on this and other management topics. Her book on gender balance - Create a Gender-balanced Workplace, published in September 2019. Ann also authored the ‘Financial Times Guide to Management’ and has been named in the top 100 women to watch in the 2015 Female FTSE Cranfield report. She was awarded the MemCom award for outstanding leadership of a UK professional body in 2016.
Ann holds several Board positions and five Honorary Doctorates for her work in management and leadership
Bob became the youngest Vice-Chancellor in the UK when he took up his current post as Vice Chancellor of the University of Huddersfield, in January 2007 Bob's full profile
Professor Bob Cryan CBE was appointed to his first Professorial Chair at the age of 30 and at the time he was the youngest Professor of Engineering in the UK. He then went on to become the youngest Vice-Chancellor in the UK when he took up his post at his hometown University, the University of Huddersfield, in January 2007, a University that now has over 22,000 students from over 120 countries. Bob holds two first class honours degrees (Engineering, Mathematics), an MBA and two doctorates (PhD, DSc) and he is a Chartered Engineer, a Fellow of the Institution of Engineering Technology and a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. Bob is a Deputy Lieutenant for West Yorkshire and in 2013 he was awarded The Guardian Inspiring Leader Award. In 2014 he was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the Queen's Birthday Honours and made a Companion of the Chartered Management Institute. In 2015 he received The Daily Telegraph Educate North Inspiring Leader Award and was included in the group of 50 World leading Engineers appointed as Fellows of the Royal Academy of Engineering.
Kate leads Sapphire Partners, a London-based executive search boutique. Her firm was awarded the inaugural “Recruiter of the Year” recognition by HMTreasury in June 2017 for their work with women in finance. Kate's full profile
Kate leads Sapphire Partners, a London-based executive search boutique, with a broad reach working with Chairs, boards and CEOs with a unique expertise in searching for senior candidates who are not simply “the usual suspects”, for executive and non-executive roles. Sapphire Partners was one of the early advocates of a code of best practice for executive search firms and has been quoted in ten books on career transitions. Prior to founding Sapphire Partners in 2005, she held senior roles at JPMorgan and McKinsey where she had a particular focus on strategy and creating high performing teams. Kate is a thought leader and change maker for her work promoting better management of human capital, diversity and mentoring women and regular commentator on the issues of corporate governance, talent management, diversity & inclusion, women on boards, women’s careers and the progress of women in business and flexible working. Her firm was awarded the inaugural “Recruiter of the Year” recognition by HMTreasury in June 2017 for their work with women in finance. She was included in Cranfields’ 100 Women to Watch report in 2012 and 2013.
For over a decade Kate has served on the advisory board of Rare Recruitment which promotes the careers of young black and ethnic minority students. She has recently become a companion of the Chartered Management Institute. She has also been appointed to the Gender Equality Advisory Group at City University London. She is said to be one of the best connected women in the UK, Kate is a board member of the new Institute of Imagination in London and previously served for 17 years on the board of an international medical charity, the Prader-Willi Syndrome Association as well as having served as their international Treasurer.
She received her MBA with honours from The Tuck School at Dartmouth College where she was a Tuck Scholar.
Tamara is the former managing partner for Europe and the Middle East and a leading lawyer in Reed Smith’s Structured Finance Team, as well as sitting on the global board of the firm. Tamara's full profile
Tamara is the Managing Partner, Europe & Middle East and a member of the senior executive team at Reed Smith, as well as sitting on the global board of the firm. She is the former chair of the firm's largest practice group, the Financial Industry Group, and a leading lawyer in our Structured Finance team. Tamara is a founding member of the Steering Committee of the 30% Club, an influential group seeking to enlist Chairs and CEOs to bring more women into senior management and onto boards.
Trevor Phillips is a writer and television producer. He is the co-founder of the data analytics consultancy Webber Phillips, and Chairman of Green Park Interim and Executive Search. He is a Times columnist, shortlisted for Comment Writer of the Year in 2020. Trevor's full profile
Trevor Phillips is a writer and television producer. He is the co-founder of the data analytics consultancy Webber Phillips, and Chairman of Green Park Interim and Executive Search. He is a Times columnist, shortlisted for Comment Writer of the Year in 2020.
He is the Chairman of the global freedom of expression campaign charity Index on Censorship; a Senior Fellow at the Policy Exchange think tank; and a Vice-President of the Royal Television Society.
Trevor is a non-executive director of the AIM-listed behavioural science consultancy Mind Gym; he was the President of the John Lewis Partnership Council until 2018, and founding chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission.
Tim started his career as a management trainee in the Unilever group before moving to the business education sector with BPP. Tim has run various educational businesses in the UK and Poland as well as holding specialist education roles. Tim's full profile
Tim started his career as a management trainee in the Unilever group before moving to the business education sector with BPP. Tim has run various educational businesses in the UK and Poland as well as holding specialist education roles. Tim is a chartered management accountant, a chartered manager, a companion of the CMI and a professor of business education. Tim was part of the CMI led trailblazer group for the development of the CMDA. Tim has also worked with the QAA in the development of the benchmark statement for business management and the higher education code for student engagement. Tim is currently Vice-Chancellor of BPP University: an institution that focuses on vocational degrees in management, law, accounting , technology and nursing. Tim chairs the CMI’s Finance and Audit Committee and is a Trustee.
Gareth Rhys Williams is Chair of the Highways Agency. He was previously the UK Government Chief Commercial Officer. He sits on the Cabinet Office ExCo, where he co-chairs the Performance and Risk committee. Gareth's full profile
Gareth is an experienced CEO and NED, with a consistent record of driving transformational change in both listed and private equity backed companies.
Before joining the Civil Service, Gareth was Chief Executive Officer of PHS Group, a leading provider of outsourced workplace services. Prior to which he was CEO of Charter International, the FTSE 250 engineering group until its successful sale to Colfax Corporation in 2012, and CEO of Capital Safety Group, since sold to KKR. His first public company CEO role was at Vitec Group, the supplier of broadcast and photographic equipment and services.
After graduating as an engineer, his early career was in operations management at STC and Lucas. Gareth gained his MBA from INSEAD in 1989, following which he joined Bowater (latterly Rexam) for his first managing director roles. After a spell in the US, he joined BPB as Director of Central Europe in 1996, based in Dusseldorf.
Gareth is a Companion of the Chartered Management Institute, where he has recently been elected a Trustee, a Fellow of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers and a Fellow of the Institution of Engineering and Technology. He is a Vice-President of FFI, the world’s oldest international conservation organisation, having served for 8 years on its Council.
John is the Chair of the Oversight Board of the Chartered Management Consultant (ChMC) programme, jointly formed by the CMI and the Management Consultancies Association. John's full profile
Terry Corby is the Founder and CEO of Good Business Pays, a nationwide campaign group with a mission to bring an end to late and slow payments. He is also Chair of the CMI South-West Board and a Non-Executive Director at a number of organisations. Terry's full profile
Bridget is a qualified accountant with over 20 years extensive financial experience achieved through various roles at Visa and Guardian Media Group. Bridget's full profile
She is presently a lecturer at Kaplan Financial, a global organisation, whose mission is rooted in providing equal access to education and opportunities for people of all backgrounds. Her role is to build and empower apprentices into achieving great success by becoming fully fledged qualified accountants upon completion of their apprenticeship programme. As an EDI Champion, she is responsible for developing and promoting an inclusive environment for all learners. She also sits on the Diversity, Equality and Inclusion (DEI) Steering Committee, dedicated to fostering a culture of inclusion by creating a great place to work for its diverse workforce. She has served as a member of the CMI Finance and Audit Committee. Additionally, she mentors young people within her local community sharing her knowledge and experience to support their development.
Jo is Business Director of Rail South, West & Wales at Arcadis. She has over 25 years of engineering leadership experience across highways, rail, infrastructure, energy and natural resources sectors. Jo's full profile
Jo is Business Director of Rail South, West & Wales at Arcadis, delivering sustainable design, engineering and consultancy solutions in the rail sector. She has over 25 years of engineering leadership experience across highways, rail, infrastructure, energy and natural resources sectors.
With a technical background in bridge engineering, Jo has held senior roles in operational leadership, business development and strategic transformation. She is recognised in industry as a Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers and Companion of the Chartered Management Institute.
Jo is also a qualified executive coach and experienced mentor. She is a Member of the Board of Trustees at the Chartered Management Institute, on the Advisory Board for ED&I consultancy Human ED&I Ltd and was recently recognised as winner of the Everywoman in Transport & Logistics Industry Champion Award.
With her engineering leadership and executive coaching experience, Jo is passionate about driving change in business culture with a focus on delivering results by creating an environment that enables people to perform at their best, both individually and with each other.
The Committees of the Board consider detailed policy across all areas of CMI activity and have delegated powers to act on the Board’s behalf, for example in making recommendations on membership subscriptions, awarding the Institute’s Gold Medal and issuing the Code of Conduct.
The Committees of the Board are:
Charity law requires the trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year. These can be viewed in the form of our annual reports.
There are 11 Committees of the Board: three corporate governance committees (the Finance and Audit Committee, the Nominations Committee, the Remuneration Committee) and eight advisory committees.
The advisory committee structure aligns with business priorities. It ensures our members have the opportunity to engage in discussions on strategic developments agreed by the Board. Written reports on advisory committee discussions are provided to each Board meeting, with Committee Chairs speaking to those reports and ensuring a two-way flow of information and feedback.
The Finance and Audit Committee provides an independent review of internal controls and financial reporting as well as reporting to the Board, on a quarterly basis, on risk management issues.
The Nominations Committee nominates, for ratification by the Board, the President Elect, co-opted Board members and members of the Finance and Audit Committee. It also manages the process of election of members to the Board and coordinates the process of appointing the Chief Executive.
The Remuneration Committee determines the terms and conditions, including annual remuneration, of the Chief Executive and Executive Directors of the Institute. It also reviews and advises upon the overall remuneration strategy, headcount and payroll costs, and sets the annual pay award for Institute staff. In undertaking this work, the Committee takes into consideration the Institute’s charitable mission, individual and collective performance, together with independent data on remuneration levels at comparable organisations.
The Board of Companions provides a sounding board on key policy issues and keeps the Companion offer under review. It also oversees the award of the Institute’s Gold Medal.
The Complaints and Investigations Committee administers investigations and disciplinary procedures for member complaints, supported by an Investigation Panel.
The IC Advisory Committee develops the Institute of Consulting’s strategy and vision, ensuring that they meet member and stakeholder interests and needs.
The Regulation Compliance Committee is responsible for all issues relating to the Awarding Body and the national regulators: Ofqual, SQA, CCEA and Qualifications Wales.
The 9 Regional/Devolved Nation Boards are made up of appointed members. These Boards are important for our governance, as they help central strategy to be cascaded to the Regions and for regional strategies to be in alignment, whilst reflecting local priorities.
The Regional/Devolved Nation Advisory Committee is a forum for the Regional/Devolved Nation Board Chairs to meet regularly to share good practice and report on member and stakeholder engagement at local level.
The CMI Women Advisory Committee considers strategy and policy development for all issues relating to CMI Women.
CMI is working in partnership with the Management Consultancies Association (MCA) to develop a new chartered award for Management Consultants. The Oversight Board oversees the development of this award.
The Regulation Compliance Committee provides oversight of the Awarding Body and its operational functions in compliance with all regulatory requirements. It approves CMI's annual statements of compliance to the regulatory bodies Ofqual, SQA Accreditation, CCEA and Qualifications Wales.
Browse our Annual Reports and AGM Minutes
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