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Incoming Charted Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) President, Sarah Pinch, has announced the full line up of the Institute’s new Board of Directors.

The new Board will consist of five women and five men from a diverse range of professional backgrounds and locations across the UK. Four of the ten will be joining the Board for the first time when it takes office from 1 January 2015.

The four Honorary Officers are directly elected by the entire membership, four further Directors are elected by the CIPR Council and two are nominees of the President, co-opted by the elected Board members.

Commenting on the announcement Sarah Pinch said: “I am proud to serve the membership of the Institute as President in 2015.  The new Board of Directors is drawn from a broad range of professional backgrounds.  We are also represented equally by men and by women.  We will build on the work led in 2014 by President Stephen Waddington and the new CIPR CEO, Alastair McCapra. 

“Our ambitions for 2015 are to make membership more meaningful to clients and employers, for the CIPR to stand up for a profession confident in its high standards and able to demonstrate its value, and for the Code of Conduct and the CIPR’s CPD system to be positioned as assets that build trust in our practice, reaching audiences beyond the industry.”

The full composition of the Board of Directors is as follows:

2015 President – Sarah Pinch FCIPR, Accredited PR Practitioner

Sarah is the founder of Pinch Point Communications and served on the CIPR Board in 2014. She was previously Chair of the CIPR SouthWest Group 2011-14.  Sarah is a Non-Executive Director of the Health and Safety Executive and is also a trustee of Send a Cow.

Past President – Stephen Waddington Chart.PR MCIPR

Stephen will lead on strengthening links with academia and the development of global professional standards. He was CIPR President in 2014 and previously chaired the CIPR’s Social Media Panel. He is Digital and Social Media Director, Ketchum Europe and Visiting Professor at the University of Newcastle.

President Elect – Rob Brown FCIPR, Accredited PR Practitioner

Rob will lead on diversity initiatives and is also chairing the Editorial Board which is determining the brief for our new member communication. Rob is a founding Director at Rule 5 in Manchester. He is co-editor of the social media and PR handbook “Share This Too”.

Honorary Treasurer – Grant Thoms MCIPR, Accredited PR Practitioner

Grant is Head of Strategy and Policy at Ingeus. He is also Treasurer of CIPR Scotland and a Board member of the Scottish Fire & Rescue Service.

Chair of the Professional Practice Committee – Jason MacKenzie FCIPR*, Accredited PR Practitioner, FCIM, Chartered Marketer

Jason is Managing Director of Liquid and Visiting Lecturer at Birmingham City University.

Chair of the Professional Development & Membership Committee – Lindsey Collumbell MCIPR*, Accredited PR Practitioner, MCIM

Lindsey owns Bojangle Communications Ltd.

Chair of the Policy & Campaigns Committee – Matt Appleby Chart.PR FCIPR*

Matt is Managing Director at Golley Slater PR in Cardiff and was previously Chair of CIPR Cymru Wales.

Sarah Hall FCIPR, Accredited PR Practitioner

Sarah will lead on initiatives to improve the gender pay gap. She is Managing Director at Sarah Hall Consulting Ltd. She served on the CIPR Board in 2008-9 and again in 2014.

Eva Maclaine Chart.PR FCIPR

Eva is the owner of Maclaine Communications, Chair of CIPR International and served on the CIPR Board in 2014.

Laura Sutherland FCIPR

Laura is Managing Director of Aura PR. She served on the CIPR Board in 2014 and was Chair of CIPR Scotland 2012-14.

*Committee Chair positions are subject to ratification by the CIPR Council.