Four new directors have joined the board of IAPI following its AGM which was held this week.
The new directors are Aoife McCleary, In the Company of Huskies, who will be joining the Creative Council; Robert McDermott, IPG Mediabrands Ireland, who will become the new IAPI Treasurer; Stha Banks, Core, who will lead the Diversity & Inclusion Council and Jamie Fulham, Spark Foundry who will become the new IAPI Futureheads Chair.
The four vacancies on the IAPI board emerged as Charlotte Barker, ex MD, Dynamo; Mark Nutley, Creative Partner, Goosebump; John Mathews, Financial Director, In the Company of Huskies and Gemma Gilmore, Business Director, Spark Foundry had to step down on reaching the end of their time on the IAPI board.
The candidates for the main board put their names forward for election by the MDs of each member agency and, the Futureheads Chair nominees put themselves forward for public vote by all IAPI members, in which 573 members cast their vote.
“We were delighted to have such quality candidates to choose from and we would have been very happy to serve with any one of the nine nominees. The level of interest in IAPI has never been greater and I would like to offer my huge congratulations to all four and look forward to working with them and the rest of the Board over the next year,” says Shenda Loughnane, Group Managing Director, Dentsu Aegis and President of IAPI, speaking at the AGM.
“There is no doubt that 2021 will be another challenging year. However, the industry is in a positive mindset, in no small part, thanks to the hard work that the IAPI executive and board has put in,” adds Loughnane.
“ We have continued to promote and celebrate our work through initiatives like our Behind Closed Doors series and Ireland: Where Creative is Native. We are pushing to elevate our standards wherever possible resulting in a new guide for Media Agency Pitching. We continue to encourage our members to embrace a more diverse & inclusive industry through educational events (Advertising needs to Stand up to Racism), and bursaries such as the Female Futures Fund sponsored by Diageo. And most importantly, this year we have considerably amplified our EAP wellbeing programme, smash, which enables all IAPI member staff to take free counselling sessions with qualified counsellors, provided by Spectrum Life,” she concludes.
