Governance Through Two Lenses: Lessons from the Boardroom and the Trustee Board

Andy Mackay-Sim is chief of staff at the General Optical Council (GOC), a professional regulator and registered charity. He is the principal governance advisor for the Council and provides strategic capacity for the Chief Executive and Registrar. Prior to his role at the GOC, he held senior governance positions in several local authorities, including Hackney and Waltham Forest. He is in the process of completing the Chartered Governance Qualifying Programme. He is a published poet and critic under his previous name, Andy Spragg.

om’s work includes cultural strategy, strategic and business planning, finance, change management and governance. Tom has worked as a consultant with clients including Royal Exchange Theatre, Eden Project, Tate, V&A Dundee, Nasjonal Museet Oslo, Kunsthal Aarhus, Royal Armouries, People’s History Museum, De La Warr Pavilion, DACS, Clore Leadership Programme, Royal College of Music, London International Festival of Theatre, Rambert, The Hepworth Wakefield, Nottingham Contemporary, Welsh National Opera, British Council, Arts Council England and British Postal Museum & Archive. Before founding Counterculture, Tom worked as Managing Director at Whitechapel Gallery from 2003 until 2010 where he led a £14m expansion and the Gallery’s finance, HR, business planning, IT, operations and commercial activities. He was previously at Arts Council England, the Poetry Society and Siobhan Davies Dance Company. Tom trained at PricewaterhouseCoopers in the Public Sector/Charities department. He was a Governance Associate on the Clore Board Development Programme for 12 years and was a visiting lecturer at Chelsea College and Goldsmith’s College. Tom is a Fellow Chartered Governance Professional, also holding a Diploma in Charity Accounting from the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. He is a Fellow of the Association of Charity Independent Examiners.