WACL NED Talk – What is hot in ESG, and why is it important for corporate governance

As we emerge from three torrid years of Covid and face into continuing geopolitical conflicts, boards increasingly want to steward companies to a sustainable future. With financial market pressures, and regulatory, reporting, and technology changes coming at speed, how best can boards prioritise their focus here and ensure that ESG is front and centre, not an add on.

For our first NED talk of 2024 we have lined up a stellar cast of contributors to tell us what is hot in ESG, and why is it important for corporate governance.

Please join us to hear from Susan Hooper, founding Director of Chapter Zero, Amanada Makenzie, ex-CEO of Business in the Community, and Rachel Slattery, Partner in the Board Practice of Odgers. The discussion will be chaired by seasoned Portfolio NED, Francesca Ecsery.

Please let us know on [email protected] if you would like us to save you a spot.

Speaker Biographies

Susan Hooper

Susan is Chair of Tangle Teezer and sits on the Boards of Moonpig plc (Chair of the Remuneration Committee), EUROWAG plc (ESG and workforce Lead), and Uber UK.  She is Chair Designate of Inter.Earth, and a Founding Director of Chapter Zero, an organisation dedicated to providing education, insight and support on climate change to Non-Executive Board Directors and Chairs.  She is involved in several start-ups in carbon capture and sustainability and is also an Ambassador for the World Travel & Tourism Council.

Prior to her plural career, Susan was Managing Director of British Gas Residential Services, a £1.8bn revenue division, leading the Service and Repair, Central Heating Installations, Electrical Services, and Dyno-Rod business units.  She joined British Gas from the Acromas Group where she was Chief Executive of the Travel division, responsible for Saga Holidays, Hotels and Cruises, the AA Travel division, and Titan Travel. Previously, she held senior roles at Royal Caribbean International, Avis Europe, PepsiCo International, McKinsey & Co, and Saatchi & Saatchi, living in over seven countries worldwide.

She was previously Chair of Carbon Gap and of Caresourcer.com in Edinburgh and has held several non-executive directorships including: Department for Exiting the European Union (DExEU), Wizz Air plc, Courtaulds plc, Royal & Sun Alliance plc, Transcom, First Choice Ltd., S.C Johnson, Whitbread plc, Affinity Water and The Rank Group plc.  Susan was also a member of the Advisory Board of the LUISS Business School in Rome.  

Susan has a BA from the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD, and an MA from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (S.A.I.S.) in Washington DC. She is fluent in German and Italian.

Susan lives near London with her husband.  She loves being outdoors and enjoys mixing sailing, travel and photography.

Amanda Mackenzie LVO OBE

Amanda has a portfolio of roles; she sits on the boards of British Land and Lloyds Banking Group where she Chairs the Responsible Business Committee. She is an Advisory board member of the Impact Investment Institute and the Institute of Business Ethics; she Chairs The Queens’s Reading Room a new Charity set up by HM The Queen in 2023.

Amanda stepped down after 6+ years as Chief Executive of BITC at the start of 2023. BITC/ The Prince’s Responsible Business Network innovates, encourages and shares best practise in Responsible Business for hundreds of businesses which amount to a combined workforce of 20% of the UK’s working population.

Before joining BITC Amanda was on loan from Aviva to Project Everyone a Richard Curtis campaign for the UN to launch the Sustainable Development Goals.

Previously Amanda was a member of Aviva’s Group Executive Committee for 8 years as CCMO. She led the name change and transformation from Norwich Union. Amanda has held director roles at BA Airmiles, BT, Hewlett Packard, British Gas.

She was a trustee of the National Youth Orchestra for 10 years and a member of Lord Davies Review steering group to increase the number of women on boards.

Amanda is a Fellow and Past President of the Marketing Society. She received an LVO in the New Year’s Honours 2023, OBE in 2014 and holds two Honorary Doctorates

Rachel Slattery

Francesca Ecsery

WACL member since 1996 and Digital Officer on the WACL Executive Committee between 2002 to 2016, Francesca is currently Chairs the NED programme at WACL and is working as a Portfolio Non-Executive Director with expertise in Marketing and 30+ years’ experience in directing in both blue chip companies and start-ups in the Digital / Retail / FMCG / Leisure Travel industries. Currently, Francesca is a Non-Executive Director on 5 boards, Air France, Henderson HIgh Income Trust plc., Haffner Energy, CT Automotive plc. and the AIC ( Association of Investment Companies). She also works as a Mentor and Commercial Coach to several entrepreneurs.

Prior to going plural, Francesca worked as Global Business Development Director and UK General Manager at Cheapflights Media for 4 years. She has extensive experience encompassing consultancy with McKinsey and Co, marketing with PepsiCo, general management in a range of blue-chip travel companies including STA Travel, ThornEMI, Thomas Cook and Going Places, through to entrepreneurial activity working with VCs to set up, establish and exit internet-based travel businesses such as IfYouTravel.com.

A graduate of Geneva University in Political Science and International Relations, Francesca also holds an MBA from Harvard Business School. She speaks 6 languages: French, English, Portuguese, Spanish and Hungarian fluently and Italian conversational.She lives in London and Provence with her husband Tim.