Press release:

To mark its 75th anniversary, the CMI convenes diverse new Council to help UK ‘level-up’ leadership in the 21st century

Friday 29 October 2021

CMI is bringing together a ‘who’s who’ of the UK’s brightest business minds to address the key challenges and opportunities for management in the UK

  • CMI brings together 18 of the UK’s leading diverse business voices to shape 21st century leadership, including Trevor Philips, Euan Blair and Dame Julia Unwin
  • The council will conduct deep dives into five key fields of under-representation in UK management and leadership
  • CMI’s new council will work to ‘level-up’ the UK’s management and leadership culture - which is critical to the country’s future success

To mark its 75th anniversary, the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) is bringing together a ‘who’s who’ of the UK’s brightest business minds to address the key challenges and opportunities for management in the UK in the 21st Century.

CMI President Lord (Mark) Price - former MD of Waitrose, Government minister, and himself a leadership expert - will head up the 18-strong council, sitting alongside some of the UK’s most accomplished CEOs, entrepreneurs, peers, creatives, writers and broadcasters.

Over the coming months the council will conduct ‘deep dives’ into five key areas that the CMI believes need to be addressed if management and leadership opportunities are to be shared by all; ethnicity, socio-economic background, gender, disability and age.

CMI has chosen to focus on these topics as they are key fields of under-representation in management and leadership positions. The council will produce hard-hitting, practical advice on how each of these topics affect management and leadership - alongside recommendations on what can be done to transform management and leadership to improve opportunities for all across the UK.

The advisory council members are: Euan Blair, Monica Chadha, Sherry Coutu CBE, Baroness Falkner of Margravine, Dame Jayne-Anne Gadhia, David Grayson CBE, Jeanette Lichner, Dr Alice Maynard CBE, Angela Noon, Teddy Nyahasha, Trevor Philips OBE, Lord Shinkwin, Jackie Stevenson, Dame Julia Unwin, Elizabeth Uviebinené and Avivah Wittenberg-Cox. Also joining the Council along with Lord Price will be CMI CEO Ann Francke OBE.

Lord Price commented: “We know that certain groups are underrepresented in management and leadership positions. I, and my colleagues at CMI, want to change this.

"It is fitting that CMI uses its 75th anniversary to address why these imbalances exist and what we can do to solve them.  Given the rapid economic and workplace changes of the previous year it has never been more important to not only build back better but to ‘build back inclusive’.

“I look forward to working with the advisory council to help answer the big questions as to where we need to take the UK’s management and leadership in the years ahead”.

Ann Francke, CEO of CMI added, “The people we have assembled for our 75th council are a truly remarkable group. Their management and leadership experience, knowledge and insight are second to none. I know that their input will help CMI transform leadership and management here in the UK - and across the world.”

For more information visit our 75th Anniversary page:

CMI's 75th Anniversary

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Notes to editors

In 2022 the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) will turn 75.

CMI represents leadership and management across the UK and as it approaches its 75th anniversary it has launched a new initiative headed by CMI President Lord Mark Price.

A high-level President’s Advisory Council  has been set up to focus on the future of management and leadership in the UK- with particular focus on five key areas (gender, age, disability, sexual orientation, socio economic) to help the UK achieve ‘levelled-up’ leadership as it moves forward beyond into the 21st century.

CMI Advisory Council Members list and brief biographies;

Euan Blair
Euan is the Founder & CEO of Multiverse, a technology company building an outstanding alternative to university and corporate training through apprenticeships. Prior to founding Multiverse, Euan was the UK CEO of Sarina Russo Group, an employment and training provider with more than 1,500 staff worldwide and a turnover exceeding £100 million.

Monica Chadha
Monica was appointed an ambassador for Women on Boards in 2018 and a ‘Super NED’ by FDS Director Services and the University of Salford in the same year. She was recognised in the 2019 Female FTSE Board Report as one of the top 50 Women to Watch in the UK. She is an Ashridge-trained coach.

Sherry Coutu CBE
Sherry Coutu is a serial entrepreneur and angel investor who serves on the boards of companies, charities, and universities. She is currently a non-executive Director of Pearson plc, London Stock Exchange plc, DCMS, Workfinder and raspberry pi trading.

Baroness Falkner of Margravine
Baroness Falkner serves as the Chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission. In the  House of Lords she is a CrossBench member, also serving on the Bank of England’s Enforcement Decision Making Committee.

Dame Jayne-Anne Gadhia
Dame Jayne-Anne is the Founder and Executive Chair of Snoop. From 2007 to 2018 she was the CEO of Virgin Money and from 2016 to 2021 she was the UK Government’s Women in Finance Champion and continues to support and promote the Women in Finance Charter as an advisor.

David Grayson CBE
David is Emeritus Professor of Corporate Responsibility at Cranfield University School of Management and an independent commentator, author, adviser and speaker. He chaired the national charity Carers UK for eight years, and is currently Chair-Designate of the international, pan-disability charity Leonard Cheshire.

Jeannette Lichner
Jeannette has a diverse portfolio career which includes serving as a non-executive director, supporting clients as an executive coach, providing corporate governance and strategic advice, and teaching leadership and governance. Her non-executive roles currently include being on the board of the UK Financial Conduct authority; Chair of Elucidate GmBh, a data-driven financial crime ratings company; a trustee of Local Trust, a community empowering charity funded by the UK Community fund; and a member of the Global Advisory Board of the McIntire School of Commerce of the University of Virginia, of which she is an alumnus.

Dr Alice Maynard CBE
Dr Maynard  is an experienced Non Executive Director (NED) currently holding positions at HMRC and the FCA where she chairs the People committees, and at a small grant giving charity. She also acts as an advisor to a number of nonprofit ventures.

Angela Noon
Angela Noon was appointed CFO and Executive Director of Siemens UK on 1 January 2018. In August 2021 Angela was appointed as Chair of the UK Skills and Productivity Board, an expert committee providing independent, evidence-based advice to ministers at the Department for Education on matters relating to skills and their contribution to productivity.

Teddy Nyahasha
Teddy was appointed Chief Executive Officer of OneFamily on 1st January 2020, having previously held the role of Chief Finance Officer since joining the Group in 2016. He also sits on the Board of Trustees for St Mungo’s, a charity that tackles homelessness and rebuilds lives.  Teddy joined CMI’s Board of Trustees as an elected member in September 2021.

Trevor Phillips OBE
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 was the President of the John Lewis Partnership Council until 2018, and founding chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission.

Lord Shinkwin
Lord Shinkwin has been a member of the House of Lords since November 2015. He has spent much of his career in charity public affairs and campaigning, working for charities such as Macmillan Cancer Support, Cancer Research UK and The Royal British Legion.

Jackie Stevenson
Jackie Stevenson is founding partner & CEO of global award-winning creative agency, The Brooklyn Brothers.  One of London’s few female founders and creative CEO’s Jackie is a pioneer for female entrepreneurship and a champion of gender equality. She is 20/21 President of Women in Advertising & Communications (WACL), a leading member of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Women in Business committee and a trustee of Lawrence Dallaglio’s Rugby Works.

Dame Julia Unwin
Dame Julia Unwin was the Chief Executive of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation from 2007 until the end of 2016. She is an experienced non-executive, speaker, consultant and mentor.

Elizabeth Uviebinené
Elizabeth Uviebinené is a multi-award winning author, and columnist at The Financial Times. Her new book, The Reset: Ideas To Change How We Work and Live is a manifesto that investigates our urge to work in a way that suits more parts of our lives. Her debut groundbreaking bestseller Slay In Your Lane: The Black Girl Bible which she co-authored in 2018, was nationally and critically acclaimed for giving a ‘voice to the next generation of young black British women’ by Vogue.

Avivah Wittenberg-Cox
Avivah Wittenberg-Cox is a global expert on all things gender and generational balance. She is the CEO of 20-first, a global consulting firm working with companies interested in capturing the competitive advantage of gender, nationality, and generational balance.

Lord Mark Price
Mark is a life peer who has previously served as Minister in the Department for International Trade, Managing Director of Waitrose, and Deputy Chairman of the John Lewis Partnership.  He is the founder of WorkL.

Ann Francke OBE
Ann Francke is Chief Executive of the Chartered Management Institute. She has worked for 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.

About the Chartered Management Institute (CMI)

The Chartered Management Institute (CMI) is the Chartered professional body for Management and Leadership, counting over 168,000 managers and leaders in its membership community. There are currently over 12,500 Chartered Managers and growing.

Backed by a unique Royal Charter, CMI is the only organisation able to award Chartered Manager status - the ultimate management accolade, which is proven to boost individuals’ career prospects, management capability, and impact in the workplace.