Our Board | CIPD Asia

Our Board sets the broad strategic framework for the CIPD, providing insight and advice on priorities and assuring itself on progress in delivering the strategy. In doing so, the Board monitors and reviews all identified risks and tests the assumptions presented. As the CIPD is a charity, Members of the Board are also Trustees, which includes the requirement to ensure the CIPD is carrying out its purposes for the public benefit.

The Chair of the Board is elected by the CIPD's advisory Council. Council also elects seven other members of the Board, all for three-year renewable terms. The President of the CIPD is elected by CIPD Members at AGM. Other AGM elected posts are the Honorary Treasurer (who has a particular role in monitoring financial performance, planning and control systems) and the Vice President Membership and Professional Development, who provides leadership in the definition, development and promotion of the Institute’s professional standards.

Valerie Hughes-D'Aeth, Chartered FCIPD, Chair

Valerie has over 35 years’ experience of working in HR and OD across a broad range of industries and in both private and public sectors. She is currently a Non-Executive Director for the Department for Work and Pensions and provides business advice, consulting and mentoring support through her own consultancy, alongside contributing regularly to debates on topical commercial and people-related issues. She is a Fellow of the CIPD and is passionate about improving organisational capability and business value while enabling better work and working lives.

At EDS in the Netherlands, she led recruitment across Europe and headed up HR for Northern Europe before returning to the UK as their European Reward Director and then as UK and Ireland HR Director. She later became Group HR Director and Executive for technology company Xansa, and when it was acquired by Steria, Valerie led the 20,000 people integration and became their Group HR Director, based in Paris. As Group HR Director at Amey, she took on broader responsibility for Marketing/Communications, Sustainability and Health and Safety, before joining the BBC Executive as their Chief HR Officer. In 2019, she was recognised with an HR Lifetime Achievement Award.

She was appointed as the Chair of the CIPD Board in April 2021 and is Chair of the Nominations Committee and a member of the People, Culture and Remuneration Committee.

Shakil Butt, Chartered FCIPD, FCCA, Honorary Treasurer

Shakil has worked in the humanitarian sector in a number of senior leadership roles for over 20 years, having started as a volunteer in the early 1990s. He is a qualified accountant, beginning his career in finance before moving into HR in 2009, when he became HR and OD director of Islamic Relief Worldwide.

He now runs an HR solutions, OD interventions, executive support and a public speaking consultancy.

Shakil is currently a member of the regional leadership team for Mosaic, a mentoring charity founded by HRH the Prince of Wales, working with young people from deprived communities to realise their talents and potential. Shakil was elected as Honorary Treasurer of the CIPD in December 2016 and is Chair of the Audit and Risk Committee, a member of the People, Culture and Remuneration Committee and Board race champion.

Peter Cheese, Chartered FCIPD, Chief Executive

As chief executive of the CIPD, Peter is the only executive member of the CIPD Board and is responsible for the strategic development and operational management of the CIPD, within the framework agreed by the Board.

Peter writes and speaks widely on the development of HR, the future of work, and the key issues of leadership, culture and organisation, people and skills. He is a Fellow of the CIPD, a Fellow of AHRI (the Australian HR Institute) and the Academy of Social Sciences. He’s also a Companion of the Institute of Leadership and Management, the Chartered Management Institute, and the British Academy of Management. Peter is a visiting Professor at the University of Lancaster and sits on the Advisory Board for the University of Bath Management School. He holds honorary doctorates from Bath University, Kingston University, and Birmingham City University.

Prior to joining the CIPD in July 2012, he was Chairman of the Institute of Leadership and Management and a member of the Council of City&Guilds. Up until 2009 he had a long career at Accenture holding various leadership positions and culminating in a seven year spell as Global Managing Director, leading the firm’s human capital and organisation consulting practice.

Professor Sir Cary Cooper CBE, Academic FCIPD, President

Cary Cooper is 50th Anniversary Professor of Organisational Psychology and Health at Manchester Business School, University of Manchester. Cary is the author/editor of over 120 books on occupational stress, women at work and industrial and organisational psychology. He has written over 400 scholarly articles for academic journals and is a frequent contributor to national newspapers, TV and radio. He holds Honorary Doctorates from several universities. In 2001 Professor Cooper was awarded a CBE by the Queen for his contribution to occupational health. He was Chair of the UK’s Academy of Social Sciences and in 2010 was awarded the Lord Dearing Lifetime Achievement Award by the Times Higher Education for his distinguished contribution to higher education. In 2014, HR Magazine voted him The Most Influential HR Thinker in the UK and he was awarded a Knighthood by the Queen for services to the social sciences. Cary is President of the Institute of Welfare, Past President of the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy, President of RELATE and President of the British Academy of Management. Cary was elected as President of the CIPD in December 2015.

Dr Andrea Cooper OBE, Hon DCL, FRSA

Andrea has built an international reputation for leading digital, organisational and cultural transformation across large, complex organisations. She was the founder and head of the Cabinet Office’s Policy Innovation Unit before recently joining Connected Places Catapult as Director of Human Centred Design.

Andrea has been a board member for a number of high-profile initiatives including the European Commission’s Design Leadership Board and the Office for the Harmonisation of the Internal Markets. She also supported the United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Finance, Management and Reform in New York to develop future HR policies and establish an agile, people-centred approach to corporate capability. With a PhD in digital, Andrea is a regular speaker and writer on how new technologies are changing public service delivery and has over fifteen years’ experience of commissioning digital programmes. She maintains close links with academia through fellowships at Cambridge and Northumbria Universities and is a faculty member of Nesta’s States of Change.

Andrea was appointed to the CIPD Board in June 2020.

Professor Nelarine Cornelius, Chartered FCIPD, Vice-President Membership and Professional Development

Nelarine is Professor of Organisation Studies at the School of Business and Management at Queen Mary, University of London. She has made a number of contributions to us in her capacity as an academic and has taught on many CIPD accredited courses. She has served as a Trustee and Director on the boards of a housing association, international societies, social enterprise, development trust, regeneration committee and national charities.

The VP MPD role is for someone who can provide thought leadership, academic insight and a membership perspective to the development of the profession and its standards. Nelarine was appointed at the CIPD’s AGM in December 2018.

Jonathan Ferrar, Chartered FCIPD

Jonathan Ferrar is a respected consultant, speaker, author and business advisor in HR strategy, workforce analytics, and the future of work. He is the Co-founder and CEO of Insight222 Limited.

He advises clients on how to establish human resources strategies that will improve business performance and help HR leaders become more analytical and digital in their decision-making. He was listed as one of the 2019 Top 100 HR Tech Influencers globally by Human Resource Executive, and one of the Top 20 Experts in People Analytics in 2017 by Sage People, amongst other accolades. Before he started his own consultancy business, Jonathan worked for more than 25 years in corporate business (most recently IBM) in both the United Kingdom and the United States and has worked and travelled advising business leaders all over the globe. He holds degrees from the University of Cambridge and a postgraduate diploma in Human Resources Management from Kingston Business School.

Jonathan was appointed to the CIPD Board in April 2018 and is a member of the Audit and Risk Committee and our champion for Asia.

Caroline Nugent, Chartered FCIPD

Caroline is the HR Director and part of the Executive team at the Financial Ombudsman. Prior to this she was Director of HR, OD & Business Development at oneSource, London Boroughs’ of Havering and Newham and has also worked as a Company Director with VineHR and the Public Services People Managers’ Association. Caroline has a significant work history of improving performance in organisations through leading transformation and change programmes.

Caroline was awarded national HR Most Influential Practitioner Awards in 2017, 2018, 2021 and 2022 and has presented at numerous conferences, written articles and featured in the national press, including MJ for Local Government, People Management, Personnel Today, HR Excellence, Local Government Chronicle. She is the immediate past president of the London Public Services People Managers’ Association. She was appointed to the CIPD Board in April 2019 and is a member of the Audit and Risk Committee.

Dr Sue Round, Chartered FCIPD

Dr Sue Round has more than 25 years’ experience of the full spectrum of people development across multiple sectors, including Aviation, Telecoms, Retail, Financial Services and Energy. She has led large, complex global teams with responsibility for Learning in all its aspects, Leadership Development, Talent Management and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. She started her working life as a stewardess with British Airways then moved into Training where she trained cabin crew in all aspects of their role and pilots in Crew Resource Management. It was at this time that she learnt the power of potential and the impact of development for individuals and organisations.

Sue has a master’s degree from the University of Surrey, is a qualified coach, is trained in MBTI, FIRO B, Hogan, the LDF and NEO and has recently completed a doctorate from Oxford Brookes University. She has served on the UK Government’s Employee Engagement Task Force, on the boards of the Learning Skills Improvement Service and Working Chance and has been a Silver Line Friend since 2015.

She was appointed to the CIPD Board in April 2021 and is our champion for the Middle East.

Siobhán Sheridan CBE, Chartered FCIPD

Siobhán joined the field of HR almost 30 years’ ago as a Learning and Development specialist in NatWest Bank. Since then, she has worked across the private, public and third sectors, in Capital One, DEFRA, DWP, NSPCC and most recently the Ministry of Defence, leading HR, L&D and OD teams to deliver a range of challenging portfolios. As a volunteer herself from a very young age, Siobhán is an advocate for volunteering, and in awe of what can be delivered through committed individuals with a shared purpose in mind. She has been a volunteer with Crisis at Christmas and a Trustee for several charities for many years.

She recently moved on from her role as Civilian HR Director in the Ministry of Defence, where her team achieved CIPD People Development Partner Status, and joined the Financial Conduct Authority as their Chief People Officer. Describing herself as a ‘life-long learner’ she has recently been upgraded to Chartered Companion, holds a Masters in Coaching and Mentoring and a Masters in Organisational Change, with her dissertation covering the subject of ‘Humanising HR’.

Siobhán was appointed to the CIPD Board in April 2021 and is a member of the Nominations Committee.

Sharon Whitehead, Chartered FCIPD

Sharon is a Global HR professional with over 20+ years’ international experience in strategic human resources management. She is an expert in Leading Organisational Change, Building talent strategies, emerging markets and helping Organisations grow.

Currently, Sharon is the Group Chief HR Officer for Smurfit Kappa, a FTSE 100 company, where she sits on the Group Executive Team and is responsible for the People & Culture agenda for over 46,000 employees across the globe. Prior to joining Smurfit Kappa Group, she worked at Kerry Group plc. in various roles over a 20 year career there, most recently as the Global Vice President HR. Her previous roles included HR Director, Global Director of Change and Communications, EMEA Vice President HR and Asia Pacific Vice President HR. She is a key member of the Strategic Council for the Irish Management Institute and a member of the Institute of Directors, Ireland. She was appointed to the CIPD Board in April 2019 and is Chair of the People, Culture and Remuneration Committee and our champion for Ireland.

Nicholas Williams

Nicholas is an established HR and OD&D consultant working with global clients across HR and portfolio-level change management. He is currently at EY within the People Advisory Services, working with clients in the government, infrastructure, and transport sectors. Nick has extensive experience in working with senior HR board executives to support organisation-wide transformation and strategic HR matters.

Nick started his career in policing before successfully transitioning into the HR and OD field five years ago. He has extensive experience working in central and local government departments – including the Department for Education, Ministry of Defence and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy – on high profile people change and HR technology initiatives. He is currently studying for a Level 5 CIPD qualification, bringing the voice of a current CIPD student member to the CIPD board for the first time.

Nick was appointed to the CIPD Board in June 2020.