The British & Irish Lions has appointed Nuala
Walsh and David Jones as Independent Non-Executive Directors.
Both Nuala and David will join Board of Directors and support Chairman
Ieuan Evans, CEO Ben Calveley and the wider leadership team on the
delivery of key strategic priorities.
Their focus will include providing expert advice
on all matters of Board business and they will begin their roles
as INEDs on Wednesday, 26 April 2023.
“We are delighted to welcome Nuala and David to The British
& Irish Lions board as Independent Non-Executive Directors,”
said leuan Evans, Chairman of The British & Irish Lions Board. “Nuala
and David will bring a wealth of knowledge, expertise, and
real-world experience from their many roles at the very top of
global business which will be invaluable in delivering our key
strategic objectives. The British & Irish Lions is at an exciting
juncture. Our end destination and long-term strategic ambition is
to be the most successful and admired sporting brand. To achieve
our ambitions, we need to surround ourselves with the very best
people and both Nuala and David fall into that category. I look
forward to working closely with them in the coming months and
years.”
has significant experience serving as
an Independent Non-Executive Director and strategic advisor, with
a strong global commercial and governance background.
Recognised
among the Top 100 Most Influential Women in Finance, her expertise
lies in reputation management, culture, communications, behaviour
and decision science.
Nuala is currently Founder CEO of MindEquity
Consulting, and President of the Harvard Club of Ireland.
As a Non-Executive, her board appointments span business, sport,
research and non-profit organisations including Council Member and
Vice-Chair of The Football Association’s Inclusion Advisory Board;
Founding Member of the Global Association of Applied Behavioural
Scientists; former Vice-Chair at UN Women (UK); Trustee at the
Innocence Project; Non-Executive Director at Basketball Ireland;
Advisor at World Athletics and JD Haspel executive search.
Nuala
spent three decades at global investment firms including
Blackrock, Merrill Lynch, and Standard Life Aberdeen where she served as Chief Marketing Officer.
A behavioural scientist and
lecturer, Nuala publishes in Forbes, Inc, and Psychology Today on
leadership decision-making.
“I feel privileged to join the board
of The British & Irish Lions as an Independent Non-Executive
Director at this exciting time,” said Nuala. “Having operated across a diverse
range of global sports and industries, I see tremendous
opportunity and look forward to contributing in a meaningful way.
As a sporting brand, The British & Irish Lions is simply peerless.
I appreciate first-hand how much its values and heritage represent
the best of rugby. It continues to inspire generations of fans,
players, stakeholders, and communities, leaving an enduring legacy
wherever it goes. The countdown is on for Australia in 2025.”
is a highly experienced business leader and
entrepreneur, with significant expertise in digital marketing.
He
is the founder and CEO of The Brandtech Group, a marketing
technology holding company employing more than 8,000 people
worldwide.
Prior to creating The Brandtech Group in 2015, David
was the youngest global CEO in the history of advertising, heading
both Havas and Havas Worldwide and the only British CEO of a
French publicly listed company.
David is also the co-founder and
Chair of the Board of Trustees of One Young World, a non-profit organisation that provides young leaders with a global platform
through which to effect positive change. He was a member of both
the Anheuser-Busch InBev and L’Oréal sustainability boards.
“It is a
tremendous honour to be appointed as an Independent Non-Executive
Director at The British & Irish Lions,” David said. “I have a huge passion for
rugby, have followed the Lions all my life and I cannot wait to
get started. I am really excited at what the future holds, and the
strong vision CEO Ben Calveley has for the organisation. The Lions
already has a large captive and engaged audience globally and I
look forward to lending my expertise and exploring ways in which
we can further enhance this strong connection with our fan base.”
