London, 30 January 2019 – ICSA: The Governance Institute is pleased to announce the appointment of Sara Drake as a successor to Chief Executive Simon Osborne, who is due to step down at the end of June. Sara will join ICSA in early March as CEO Designate before formally taking over as Chief Executive on 1 July 2019.
Sara was previously the chief executive of the Association for Project Management and has also held managing director roles at the Royal Town Planning Institute and the Homebuilders Federation. In her new role at ICSA, she will be responsible for members and students in the UK, Crown Dependencies, Republic of Ireland, sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, Mauritius, Sri Lanka, the Caribbean and further afield.
Commenting on the appointment, John Heaton, President, said:
‘Sara has a wealth of experience working with professional bodies and we have appointed a person who I am confident will build on Simon’s achievements as Chief Executive. For the past seven years, Simon has done much to modernise our professional body, enhance its reputation and build a strong management and support team. Following a significant change programme to strengthen member engagement and reinvigorate the branch network; extend the range of ICSA’s qualifications and training; and raise the institute’s profile to reflect the increasing global importance of good governance, ICSA is in a substantially stronger position now than it was.
‘I look forward to working with Sara to further extend the reach and voice of ICSA: The Governance Institute, working with current and future members and all those involved in the field of governance to further strengthen our position as the leading professional body for governance professionals.’
Sara Drake said:
‘It is a great privilege to be appointed Chief Executive of an institution which has been at the heart of good governance for 128 years. I look forward to helping the Institute drive governance policy forward, as well as ensuring that ICSA continues to meet the needs of the modern governance professional. The complexity of the global governance landscape means that the demand for high-calibre individuals to lead good governance is greater than ever. I am delighted to be joining an institution with such a proud history of training and supporting those who perform such a crucial role.’
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For further information, please contact Maria Brookes, Media Relations Manager:
mbrookes@icsa.org.uk
+44 (0)20 7612 7072
+44 (0)7890 649 143
Notes to Editors:
- ICSA: The Governance Institute is the professional body for governance. We have members in all sectors and are required by our Royal Charter to lead ‘effective governance and efficient administration of commerce, industry and public affairs’. With over 125 years’ experience, we work with regulators and policy makers to champion high standards of governance and provide qualifications, training and guidance. Website: www.icsa.org.uk
- Sara Drake biography
Sara studied law at the University of Cambridge and has spent much of her career working in the media sector for both publishing and television companies and as a writers’ agent. In recent years she has worked with professional bodies in the built environment and construction sectors as managing director of the Homebuilders Federation and the Royal Town Planning Institute. She was appointed Chief Executive of the Association for Project Management in 2015, which was awarded a royal charter in 2016 and launched its new chartered standard for the profession in 2018. Sara is an Honorary Fellow of Kingston University, a board member of the Quality Assurance Agency and holds non-executive directorships in the private and charity sectors.