Appointed Chief Executive in 2006, Michael's leadership has seen ICAEW embrace a vision of 'a World of Sustainable Economies', transforming itself into a professional accountancy body with a truly global identity and reach. Michael regularly meets ministers, policy-makers and regulators around the world, and is a frequent media commentator on economic and business issues. Michael qualified as an ICAEW Chartered Accountant in 1986.

A former external and internal audit Partner with PwC, Carolyn combines more than 25 years of experience as an auditor and advisor to a wide range of organisations, with in-house experience as a FTSE 30 Head of Audit, Risk and Control and as a member of the Senior Leadership Team. Carolyn founded BRAVE, a consultancy focused on: Changing Governance. From Within. For Good.

Simon is the Chair of the ICAEW Corporate Governance Committee – a committee that actively supports the ICAEW’s Corporate Governance Department and the ICAEW Technical Strategy Board, as well as the wider membership on Corporate Governance matters. Simon is an audit partner and has over 27 years of experience providing audit and assurance services to financial services and infrastructure clients. He has led a number of listed company audits (including FTSE 100), and is accredited under both International and PCAOB auditing standards. He specialises in infrastructure asset, structured asset finance and retail financial services industry sectors.

Tim is the founder of KPMG's UK Audit Committee Institute and Board Leadership Centre. He has operated as KPMG UK’s Centre for Corporate Governance Excellence since 1993 and is responsible for overseeing a programme of over 40 seminars for senior board members each year; and for developing thought-leadership, tools and guidance to assist directors in fulfilling their duties.

Luis is a Partner and Chair of Oxera, he holds a doctorate in Economics from the University of Oxford and leads the Finance & Valuation and Regulation teams at Oxera. He has over 25 years of experience of applying his expertise in economics and finance to competition, regulation and policy issues across a wide range of industries. He provides advice at the board and executive level to companies, regulators and governmental departments in Europe across many sectors, including asset management, banking, communications, energy, securities markets, transport, water and others.

Aleen is a Consultant on Boards and Governance at Eversheds Sutherland. Aleen was a Corporate Partner at Eversheds for 30 years and retired in 2019 to pursue a portfolio career. While a partner she specialised in M&A advising both quoted and large private companies and latterly on governance issues, becoming a trusted adviser to boards of companies she acted for. Following retirement as a partner, Aleen has pursued a portfolio career. Aleen joined the board of Macfarlane Group plc in October 2021 as Chair of RemCom and became Chair of the Company in October 2022.

Andrew leads EY’s EMEIA Public Policy team which works with key stakeholders, including in Brussels, to strengthen the working relationship between the public and private sectors in policy and regulatory matters on topics such as sustainability, technology, corporate governance (including reporting and assurance) and skills.

Athanasia works closely with the research team across equities and funds. She is also a member of the Investment Association Stewardship Committee and the FRC’s Stakeholder Insights Group. With more than 15 years of experience in the responsible investment industry, Athanasia has worked for a range of different actors such as a proxy advisor, investment manager, ESG service provider and a global investor network. Before joining RBC Brewin Dolphin in 2022, Athanasia was the Director of Corporate Governance and Research at the Principles for the Responsible Investment (PRI). Her other experience includes positions at HSBC Global Asset Management, Sustainalytics and PIRC.

Andy commenced his plural career in July 2021 after 39 years with PwC. He was an audit partner in the Firm for 27 years, and he was the lead audit partner on FTSE 100 companies across a number of sectors including communications, aviation, FMCG and pharmaceuticals. Andy also chaired PwC's Non-Executive Director Programme for 7 years, and was a member of the Audit Executive Board. Andy is currently the Audit Committee chair at The Berkeley Group Holdings plc, the FTSE 100 house builder. He is also Audit Committee chair at Irwin Mitchell Holdings Limited.

David is a high performance boardroom coach, executive and career strategy coach. He is an expert in corporate governance and leadership development, and works with boards and senior executives as a coach, trainer, advisor and facilitator. 

Richard has over 25 years of board level experience across a range of regulated sectors. Prior to joining the FRC, he was CEO of the UK’s Civil Aviation Authority and before that the CEO of the Legal Services Board, which oversees the regulation of the legal professions. Earlier in his career he held senior roles in the regulation of social housing, communications and energy.

Nisha is a Partner within Ashurst Risk Advisory and head of the Regulatory, Governance, Operational Risk & Resilience team. With over 18 years of consultancy and in-house commercial experience, Nisha is renowned for her product and business knowledge. Her experience includes providing board level executives with deep technical governance and risk insights as well as leading complex regulatory projects. Nisha’s client base includes top-tier and publicly listed Wealth & Asset Managers, Fund Managers, Investment Banks, Broker Dealers, Platform Firms, Custodians, Outsource Providers, Private Equity, Start-ups, Real Estate, Government, Energy, Digital Asset and Fintech Firms.

Mala runs EY UK’s Regulatory and Public Policy team. Her team identifies, tracks and influences regulatory and policy developments in the fields of corporate reporting, audit, governance, sustainability and climate change among others. It informs EY UK’s overarching strategic position on key policy matters in these areas and provides EY UK teams and their clients insights on these matters. In her role, Mala engages with FTSE 350 boards, audit committees, company secretaries and reporting teams; policy officials in government; and the Financial Reporting Council. By background, Mala is a Fellow of the ICAEW and has audited a number of multi-national companies in the industrial and chemical sector. 

Elisabeth has been the Chair of Edinburgh Investment Trust (EIT) plc, a FTSE 250 listed investment trust, since July 2022, having been a non-executive director of EIT since 2019. Since December 2022 she has been on the board of NYSE (S&P 400) listed REIT W. P. Carey, Inc. and since April 2021, she has been an external member of the Audit and Risk Committee of Multilateral Development Bank AIIB (Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank). Until recently Elisabeth was an external member of the Bank of England’s Financial Policy Committee (FPC) and an external member of the Bank of England’s FMI (Financial Market Infrastructure) Board.