Centrica – Senior Leader Development Programme

Facilitators

Facilitators

Kathleen O’Donovan is a mentor, lecturer and presenter, drawing on extensive experience of executive and non executive responsibility on a global scale, serving on major UK and overseas boards including multi-sector businesses. She has a deep understanding of boardrooms and their dynamics, with broad-based experience of the City, financial strategy, M&A and restructuring. Kathleen is currently Chair of the Invensys Pension Scheme and Founder Partner of Bird & Co Board & Executive Mentoring Ltd. Formerly, she has held Non-Executive Director roles at ARM Holdings Plc, DS Smith plc, Prudential plc, O2 Plc, Great Portland Estates plc, EMI Group plc, and the Bank of England. Kathleen was also co-Chair of the International Rescue Committee UK, a charity supporting conflict zone refugees. Kathleen trained as a Chartered Accountant and her previous roles include CFO of BTR plc/Invensys plc and Partner at Ernst & Young. She became the FTSE 100’s first female executive director and its youngest-ever CFO. Chris has worked in equity markets for over two decades in both the UK and the US and is a chartered financial analyst. He started his career as Investor Relations Manager at BT before moving to Nomura as a Senior Equity Analyst, where he was in charge of analysis for European and North American telecommunications and technology companies, and the in-house valuation methodology. A Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (HEA) he has directed an MSc in Finance as well as facilitating sessions on financial analysis, valuation, portfolio management, investor relations, corporate finance and operational management. Chris is currently Head of Finance at a start-up, consults with a range of companies, including a hedge fund.

Melanie’s experience in Media sales and advertising working with clients like DWA, IDG and Kantar led her to launch her own venture, Sales Associates Ltd a recruitment and training company in 2002. Since then she has launched two further companies of her own as well as working on the strategic and commercial aspects of several start-up businesses in a variety of industries including media, smart building technology and natural language generation. She is an expert speaker and mentor on the government’s Help to Grow programme for SME’s as well as running her consultancy business facilitating Leadership, Innovation Management, Strategic Planning and Organisational Behaviour programmes. Pietro Micheli is a Visiting Professor at Cranfield School of Management and a Professor of Business Performance and Innovation at Warwick Business School, where he is also the Head of the Operations Management group, and formerly the director of the Executive and Global Online MBA programmes. Over the past 20 years, Pietro has worked as a consultant, mentor and facilitator with over 60 organizations, including Astra Zeneca, British Energy, BP, Emirates, Jaguar Land Rover, KLM, Poste Italiane, Shell, Vopak, Wartsila, United Arab Emirates Government, Council of Europe, UK Cabinet Office, and Department of Health. His work focuses on three main areas: strategy implementation, performance management and improvement, and innovation management, particularly in relation to design thinking, agile, and digital transformation. Pietro has lectured in over a dozen European academic institutions and has been awarded nine teaching awards over the past four years. He speaks fluent English, Italian, French and Spanish.

Kathleen O’Donovan Writing an Effective Board Paper and Preparing for Board Meetings

Melanie Roberts Emotional Intelligence and Delegation Skills

Pietro Micheli Strategy Execution and Performance Management

Chris Ansell Understanding Financials

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