Governance and Advisory
A4S is part of the King Charles III Charitable Fund (KCCF) group of charities. In October 2021, all A4S activities moved across into a new Charitable Incorporated Organization (CIO) and the Board of Trustees was appointed to provide governance and oversight. Before this CIO, A4S was housed within The Prince of Wales’s Charitable Fund (PWCF) (the previous name for KCCF).
Since His Majesty The King first established A4S, it has been fortunate to have an outstanding level of support from an influential and diverse group of companies and individuals.
This has been provided by senior representatives from the finance and accounting world through a number of advisory committees. A4S continues to receive exceptional strategic support from globally recognized leaders on its A4S Advisory Council, alongside technical support from members of the A4S Expert Panel. Communications support is provided through our Communications Group.
An overview of each group and their current members is provided below.
Join our Governance and Advisory Groups
We are currently recruiting new representatives to join each of our governance and advisory groups. This includes trustees to join the board, members of the Advisory Council and Expert Panel, and a new chair and members for our Communications Group. Find out more.
To register your interest, please email governance@a4s.org sharing your CV and a covering letter summarizing what you would bring to A4S and how you will help us achieve our mission. The team are reviewing applications now, but we still encourage interested parties to apply. Due to the varying terms of current governance and advisory group members, we also encourage applications from individuals who may wish to be considered at a future date.
Board of Trustees
Members of the Board of Trustees comprise globally recognized leaders from the finance, accounting and sustainability worlds. They are unpaid volunteers who play an important role in the governance and oversight of A4S as a charity, ensuring A4S delivers on its charitable goals effectively, and providing support and guidance to the Executive Chair and Senior Management Team.
They are responsible for agreeing A4S’s strategy, plans and policies based on advice from senior management. Day-to-day operations are delegated by the trustees to the Executive Chair, who leads the Senior Management Team.
The development of our strategy is informed by dialogue with our global networks and the wider finance and accounting community. Trustees play a key role in expanding these networks and leverage resources and relationships to further A4S’s mission to make sustainable business, business as usual.
Trustees are appointed by The Prince of Wales’s Charitable Foundation. They are typically appointed for a three year term and can serve a maximum of two terms.
Our Trustees
Robin Stalker (Chair)
Robin was previously CFO and a member of the Executive Board of adidas AG, and in that capacity, was a member of A4S’s CFO Leadership Network and Advisory Council. Born in New Zealand, Robin qualified as a Chartered Accountant and has worked extensively in different parts of the world including Asia and the US. Currently Robin is Chair the Audit Committees of Schaeffler AG, Hugo Boss AG and Schmitz Cargobull AG.
Paul Druckman
Paul Druckman is a passionate global leader in capital market reform, bringing about significant advancements in corporate governance and corporate reporting to enhance accountability for responsible business and sustainability. He is currently Chair of the World Benchmarking Alliance Supervisory Board and a Board member of Shift. Paul was previously President of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales and a Board member of the UK’s Financial Reporting Council, where he chaired its Corporate Reporting Council. He was CEO of the International Integrated Reporting Council from 2011 until 2016 , and then member of the SASB Board, making a major contribution to the integration of sustainability into corporate reporting. Paul is also an Honorary Professor of Durham University Business School.
Javier Echave
Javier joined Heathrow in 2008 and has served as Chief Operating Officer since 2024. Prior to this role, Javier served as Chief Financial Officer (since 2016). Outside Heathrow, Javier is an executive mentor and teaches on strategy and change management at the CFO programme of London Business School (UK) and at the MBA programme of UNIR Business School (Spain). Prior to joining Heathrow, Javier led across different financial roles within Ferrovial, a Spanish-based global operator of sustainable infrastructure.
Dame Caroline Mason
Dame Caroline Mason is the Chief Executive of Esmée Fairbairn Foundation. Before joining Esmée, Caroline was Chief Operating Officer at Better Society Capital and preceding that, Charity Bank. Caroline was also the co-founder of Investing for Good, a social investment advisory firm and one of the first Community Interest Companies. Before joining the social sector, Caroline had an eighteen-year track record of creative and innovative product development in the financial services sector, including with Reuters – where she managed the global development of real-time news and television services and then pioneered the introduction of web technology products – and through her own consulting company. She a member of the Advisory Council for the Impact Investing Institute and also Chair of the Foundations Forum, and was previously on the Board of the Environment Agency where she chaired the Environment Agency Pension Fund investment committee.
Russell Picot
Russell Picot is a chartered accountant and former HSBC Group Chief Accounting Officer with deep experience in pensions. He is currently Chair of the Trustee Board of the HSBC Bank (UK) Pension Fund and Deputy Chair of the Universities Superannuation Scheme, where he is also Chair of the Investment Committee, and a member of the Audit Committee. Russell is a Special Advisor to the Taskforce on Climate Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), a Senior Associate of the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership and an Honorary Professor of Durham University Business School. In addition to being an A4S trustee, Russell is currently co-chair of A4S’s Asset Owners Network of pension fund chairs.
Sandra A. Urie
Sandy Urie is retired Chair Emeritus and former CEO, Chairman, and COO of Cambridge Associates. Prior to assuming her management positions, Sandy was a member of the firm’s investment team, work for which included supporting nonprofit institutions with long-range financial planning and investment planning, implementation and oversight. Before joining Cambridge Associates Sandy worked as a member of the faculty at Phillips Academy (Andover), where she taught Russian language, and served on the School’s development office staff supporting capital fund raising – eventually assuming the position of Associate Secretary of the Academy with responsibility for annual giving and alumni programmes. Among other former and current board positions, including for several esteemed academic and responsible investment institutions, Sandy was vice-chair of the Investors' Committee of the U.S. President's Working Group on Financial Markets (2007-2010). Sandy was awarded the 2015 Investor Lifetime Achievement Award from Institutional Investor.
Advisory Council
The A4S Advisory Council brings together the most senior representatives from A4S’s key global stakeholder communities across the whole finance system to support engagement and outreach, shape strategic direction, and mobilize resources to deliver on A4S’s mission.
Members are appointed in both an individual and organizational capacity, pledging to support the work of A4S and accelerate progress towards its mission and aims by:
1. Providing advice on the strategic direction of A4S.
2. Contributing to the development of A4S communities and networks.
3. Promoting the work of A4S through relevant channels.
4. Mobilizing resources and relationships to advance A4S’s work.
Advisory Council members
- Larry P Bradley, Global Head of Audit, KPMG
- Emma Howard Boyd, Chair of the Green Finance Institute and the London Climate Resilience Review
- Dr. Hubert Danso, CEO, Africa Investor
- Jane Diplock AO, Company Director, IFRS Foundation
- Jack Ehnes, Former CEO, CalSTRS, Chairman, GRI Supervisory Board
- Julien Gattoni, CFO, World Economic Forum
- David Hackett, Partner, Baker McKenzie
- Andre Hoffman, Vice Chair, Roche Holdings
- Catherine James, Treasurer, Royal Household
- Philippe Joubert, Founder and CEO, Earth on Board
- Andrew Karolyi, Dean, Cornell SC Johnson College of Business
- Jens Madrian, Executive Director, NEOM Energy
- Hiro Mizuno, UN Special Envoy on Innovative Finance and Sustainable Investment
- Justin Mundy, Extra Equerry, the former Prince of Wales
- Veronica Poole, Global IFRS and Corporate Reporting Leader, Vice Chair of Deloitte UK
- Mary Schapiro, Vice Chair, Bloomberg
Expert Panel
The Expert Panel provides outstanding finance, accounting and sustainability expertise from globally recognized experts to support delivery of A4S’s aims on a global scale. Members play a critical role helping A4S keep abreast of developments and shape A4S’s practical guidance, research and thought leadership publications. Members help A4S to maintain the highest technical standards through review of guidance and outputs. Members also leverage their networks to support the delivery and reach of A4S activities, and identify additional sources, expertise and leading practice examples on which A4S can draw.
Expert Panel members
- Will Oulton, Chair, Columbia Threadneedle Investments
- Noha Abdelrahman, Lecturer of Accounting, London Metropolitan University
- Carol Adams, Professor of Accounting, Durham University Business School
- Alex Ashby, Group Treasurer, WPP
- Aaron Baker, Strategic Partnerships Lead, Plan A
- Helle Bank Jørgensen, Chief Executive Officer and Founder, Competent Boards
- Wim Bartels, Partner, Deloitte
- Tom Beagent, Sustainability and Climate Change Partner, PwC
- Vania Maria da Costa Borgerth, Head of CBARI, The Brazilian Network of Integrated Reporting
- Anthony Cheung, Managing Director and Head of ESG at Polymer Capital Management
- Maura Hodge, Audit Partner and US ESG Assurance Leader, KPMG
- Aled Jones, Director, Global Sustainability Institute, Anglia Ruskin University
- Karin Kemper, Senior Advisor, (former World Bank Global Director Environment, Natural Resources and Blue Economy)
- Svetlana V. Klimenko, Global Lead for Sustainable Finance, The World Bank
- Tjeerd Krumpelman, Partner, Grant Thornton Impact House
- Rosemary McGuire, Vice-President, Research, Guidance and Support, CPA Canada
- Jeanne Ng, Adjunct Professor at the University of Hong Kong
- Jeremy Nicholls, Assurance Framework Lead, UNDP SDG Impact Standards
- Corinne Raux, Managing Director, The Environmental and Social Agency for Financiers (ESAF)
- Josephine Richardson, Managing Director, Head of Research at Anthropocene Fixed Income Institute
- Emily Shuckburgh, Director, Cambridge Zero, University of Cambridge
- Marie Sigsworth, Board Member Mission Beyond | Trustee East Anglian Air Ambulance | Executive Coach
- Ines Faden da Silva, Non-Executive Board Member and Chair of Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Committee, Environment Agency
- Richard Thorpe, Former Director of Trustee Activities, IFRS Foundation
- Jeannette Vinke, in transition, former COO/CFO, American University of Sharjah
- Nicoleta Voicu, Head of Sustainability, Cooper Parry
Communications Group
The Communications Group draws on senior communications experts with global expertise. Members help to shape the overarching communications strategy as well as annual communications objectives and plans, supporting the delivery of overarching A4S strategy and goals. Members act as strategic advisers, contribute resources and leverage their networks to further the work of A4S.
Communications Group members
- Judith Batchelar OBE (Chair), Deputy Chair, UK Environment Agency, Brand Director Sainsbury’s (2004-2021)
- Mike Davies, Director of Global Communications, PwC
- Joanne Kenrick, Non Executive Director
- Anthony Marlowe, Head of Communications & Public Affairs, Rothesay Life
- Jo Ouvry, Director of Corporate Affairs, Deloitte
- Sallie Pilot, Director of Research and Strategy, Black Sun
- Ed Taylor, Managing Director of Corporate Affairs, Weber Shandwick
