The Trustees

Kim Williams has had a long involvement in the arts, entertainment and media industries in Australia and internationally.

In addition to his role as chair of the board of Thomson Reuters Founders Share Company, he is currently chair of the boards of The Upper Hunter Economic Development Corporation, VidCorp, and the Richard Gill School and Co-chair of the State Library of NSW Foundation. He is also a current board member of Myer Family Investments; Executive Channel International; the University of Western Sydney Foundation; The Whitlam Institute and Australian Schools Plus.

Kim has previously held numerous Board Chair positions including at the Australian Film Finance Corporation, the  Sydney Symphony Orchestra; Musica Viva Australia; and the Sydney Opera House Trust.

Kim has held various executive leadership positions since the 1970s, including as chief executive at each of News Corp Australia, FOXTEL, Fox Studios Australia, the Australian Film Commission, Southern Star Entertainment and Musica Viva Australia. Mr. Williams was the chief executive of the subscription broadcaster FOXTEL for the decade up until November 2011. At FOXTEL he pioneered many of the major digital broadcast innovations in Australia and received the 2012 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Australian Subscription Television Association (ASTRA) for his diverse contributions.

He was appointed as a member in the Order of Australia in June 2006 for his services to the arts and public policy formulation in the film and television industries.  His first book, Rules of Engagement, was published by Melbourne University Press in 2014.

Steven Turnbull practiced as a lawyer in the City of London for over 30 years, specializing in public and private M&A, equity offerings and corporate advisory work. He retired in 2013, after spending 5 years with Shepherd and Wedderburn. Prior to that, he was a partner at Linklaters from 1985 to 2008. In addition to his client-facing role, Mr. Turnbull was responsible for legal information and knowledge management at both firms, having been involved in this field for over 20 years. He sat on the Company Law Committee of The Law Society of England and Wales from 2003 to 2012.

Mr. Turnbull was a Trustee and Director of Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF), the UK affiliate of the US-based Type 1 diabetes charity JDRF International from 2011 to 2017. He was a Trustee and Director of international youth volunteering charity Lattitude Global Volunteering from 2005 until 2014. He was a director of Press Association Pension Fund Trustee Limited from 2015 to 2018.

Mr. Turnbull was educated at Oxford University (BA Modern History and Modern Languages).

Vikram Singh Mehta, Executive chairman and Distinguished Fellow of Center of Social and Economic Progress (CSEP, formerly of Brookings India) has spent most of his career in the petroleum sector. In 1980, after working with the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) for two years, Mehta joined Phillips Petroleum in London as a senior economist. In 1984 he returned to India to work for the government company Oil India Ltd. as advisor for strategic planning. Four years later, he went back to London to work for Shell International in different capacities (managing director of Shell Markets and Shell Chemical Companies in Egypt starting in 1991 and chairman of the Shell Group in India starting in 1993), retiring from Shell in 2012.

Mehta was chairman of the Hydrocarbon Committee of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and a member of the CII’s National Council. In addition to his positions at Brookings India and the Brookings Institution, Mehta is an independent director of several companies including Larsen & Toubro Ltd. (the leading engineering and construction conglomerate in India), Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. (the largest tractor and SUV manufacturer in India, among other activities), Thomson Reuters Founders Share Company, Colgate Palmolive India Ltd., and Jubilant FoodWorks Ltd. He has a regular column in the Indian Express and Financial Express (two leading Indian newspapers), he is the author of many published papers and the editor of the recently published book, “The Next Stop: Natural Gas: India’s journey towards a clean energy future”.

He was honored as Asia House’s Businessman of the Year in 2010, and he received the Asia Centre for Corporate Governance and Sustainability’s Best Independent Director award in 2016.

Mehta is a member of the Board of Advisers of The Fletcher School. He was formerly chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Duke of Edinburgh’s award for India and a member of the Board of Governors of Doon School.

He holds a B.A. mathematics honors degree from St. Stephens College, Delhi University, a B.A./M.A. economics honors degree from Magdalen College, Oxford University, and a postgraduate degree from The Fletcher School at Tufts University.

Lawton joined the board of Reuters in 2004 and continued to serve as a Thomson Reuters director from 2008 until May 2014. She also served as Secretary (CEO) of the Royal Academy of Arts in London from 2002 to 2005. Prior to that, she was an investment banker with Goldman Sachs & Co., where she became a partner in 1994 and a managing director in 1996. She is a director of Ciena Corporation, The Carlyle Group, The Progressive Corporation and Microfocus International PLC, as well as several not for profit organizations.

Lawton earned an A.B. degree from Brown University and an MBA from the University of Virginia.

Nicholas Lemann was born, raised and educated in New Orleans. He began his journalism career as a 17-year-old writer for an alternative weekly newspaper there, the Vieux Carre Courier. He graduated magna cum laude from Harvard College in 1976, where he concentrated in American history and literature and was president of the Harvard Crimson. After graduation, he worked at the Washington Monthly, as an associate editor and then managing editor; at Texas Monthly, as an associate editor and then executive editor; at The Washington Post, as a member of the national staff; at The Atlantic Monthly, as national correspondent; and at The New Yorker, as staff writer and then Washington correspondent.

On September 1, 2003, he became dean of the Graduate School of Journalism at Columbia University, at the end of a process of re-examination of the school's mission conducted by a national task force convened by the university's president, Lee C. Bollinger. During Lemann's time as dean, the Journalism School launched and completed its first capital fundraising campaign, added 20 members to its full-time faculty, built a student center, started its first new professional degree program since the 1930s, and launched significant new initiatives in investigative reporting, digital journalism, executive leadership for news organizations, and other areas. He stepped down as dean in 2013, following two five-year terms.

Lemann continues to contribute to The New Yorker as a staff writer. He has published five books, most recently "Redemption: The Last Battle of the Civil War" (2006); "The Big Test: The Secret History of the American Meritocracy" (1999), which helped lead to a major reform of the SAT; and "The Promised Land: The Great Black Migration and How It Changed America" (1991), which won several book prizes. He has written widely for such publications as The New York Times, The New York Review of Books, The New Republic, and Slate; worked in documentary television with Blackside, Inc., "FRONTLINE," the Discovery Channel, and the BBC; and lectured at many universities.

Lemann serves on the boards of directors of the Authors Guild, the National Academy of Sciences' Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education, and the Academy of Political Science, and is a member of the New York Institute for the Humanities. He was named a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in April, 2010. His most recent book is entitled "Transaction Man: The Rise of the Deal and the Decline of the American Dream,".

Until recently, Ory was the Managing Director, Omidyar Network and Luminate Group in Africa, both part of The Omidyar Group.

She serves on the Board of Directors of several organisations including the Thomson Reuters Founders Share Company, East African Breweries Limited, the Board of Trustees of the Van Leer Group and is the Chair of the Stanbic Bank Foundation. She is also an Aspen Global Leadership Network (AGLN) Fellow and has in the past served as advisory board member to Twiga Foods, Global Witness, Amnesty International Africa and Endeavor Kenya among other organisations.

Prior to this, Ory was Google’s policy and strategy manager for Africa. Ory was also at the forefront of developing technology innovation as a founding member of Ushahidi. She was the organization’s Executive Director from inception until December 2010. Ory is also the co-founder of Mzalendo, a website that tracks the performance of Kenyan MPs. In 2011 Ory was named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum, and one of Africa's most Powerful Women by Forbes Magazine. In 2014 she was named Time 100's most influential people in the world.

Ory earned a J.D. from Harvard Law School and a B.A in political science from the University of Pittsburgh.

Ron Close has led a distinguished career as a senior executive at several companies, from smaller start-ups to large corporations.

Most recently, he served as the CEO of Pelmorex Media (The Weather Network). He was also Executive Entrepreneur-in-Residence at The Ivey School of Business and at MaRS Discovery District. He has been a director on several boards including Pelmorex, The Globe and Mail, Canada Media Fund, CTVglobemedia, MaRS Discovery District and MaRS Innovation. In addition to his role as a Trustee of Thomson Reuters Founders Share Company, he currently serves as a director of Maple Leaf Foods and is President of RGC & Associates Inc., an executive advisory firm.

Mr. Close holds an HBA degree from the Ivey School of Business. He is past-Chairman of the Ivey Entrepreneurship Council , Ability Online, the Toronto Chapter of Young Presidents Organization (YPO), and is a current member of World Presidents Organization (WPO).

Linda Robinson has had a long career in the financial services industry spanning 30 years at Fidelity International. She held a number of senior roles including Chief Risk Officer and Head of Fund Accounting and Investment Services Operations for UK and Continental Europe. She was a Director of Fidelity Investments Services Ltd and a Pension Trustee for the FIL UK Pension Plan.  In addition to these business responsibilities she was also the chair of the company’s Kent Corporate Fund Raising Committee.

Linda embarked on a non-executive career in 2018 and is currently a Pension Trustee for the PA Pension Fund, Chair of the Risk and Audit Committee for Smith and Williamson Fund Administration Ltd as well as a non-executive Director for Smith and Williamson Administration Ltd. Linda is also the Honorary Treasurer for the Edenbridge and Oxted Agricultural Show, a charity and company established to provide education on the  countryside, agriculture and horticulture way of life and the activities that thrive in that environment.

Linda was educated at Tonbridge Grammar School and De Montfort University ( LLB).  She has a keen interest in all equestrian activities and is a coach/instructor for a local branch of the Riding for the Disabled Association, a UK based charity that is focused on providing horse riding lessons to people with development and physical disabilities.

Pawel Dangel is an independent business advisor and coach. He is currently a Member of the Advisory Council for the Department of Liberal Arts at the University of Warsaw and most recently held the role of Artistic Director at Theatre Ateneum, one of Warsaw’s leading dramatic theatres from 2017 to 2020.

With extensive experience in financial services and the insurance industry, Mr. Dangel served as CEO and Chairman of the Management Board of Allianz Insurance Group of Companies in Poland from 1997 to 2013. Prior to his role at Allianz, he was Vice President of the Management Board, Sales and Marketing Director of Nationale-Nederlanden Polska (ING Group) from 1994 to 1997.

Mr. Dangel has also held a number of non-executive positions over the years including as a Member of the Supervisory Board for Pramerica Life Insurance from 2014 to 2017 and a Member of the Supervisory Board and Chairman of the Audit Committee of Bank Pekao SA from 1999 to 2015. In addition, he served in non-executive positions at the Polish Chamber of Insurance, Allianz Pension Fund Company, Polish Confederation of Private Employers Lewiatan, Member of the Chapter of Orders (nominated by the President of the Republic of Poland) and Polish National Sales Awards.

Mr. Dangel has a strong interest and background in theatre, having worked as a theatre producer, director, broadcaster and lecturer across Poland and in London for the Rose Bruford College of Speech & Drama, Guildhall School of Music & Drama, Riverside Studios, The Polish Speaking Theatre, BBC Radio and Radio Free   Europe. He holds a Masters of Arts, Directing   and Theatre Production from the State Academy of Theatre Arts in Moscow (GITIS).

Anne Bouverot is Chairperson of the Board of Technicolor, a world leader in visual effects and animation services and supplier of broadband communication gateways. She is also co-founder and chair of Fondation Abeona which studies social impacts of artificial intelligence and data.

Ms. Bouverot previously was Chair and CEO of Morpho, a world leader in security and identity solutions, employing more than 8,600 people in 55 countries. Prior to Morpho, she spent four years as Director General of GSMA, the international association of mobile network operators. She began her career as IT project manager with Telmex in Mexico before spending over 15 years with Orange in various positions.

Ms. Bouverot is a graduate of Ecole Normale Supérieure Paris in mathematics and holds both a Masters in telecommunications engineering and a PhD in artificial intelligence. She has received the awards of Chevalier de l’Ordre National du Mérite and Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur.

Aiko Doden is Special Affairs Commentator on international affairs and Senior Director at NHK World TV.  She has expertise in reporting on a wide range of issues from hard security to human security.   

Ms Doden currently presents “NHK World Newsline In Depth” and comments on global affairs with a focus on sustainable growth, global health, gender, education, and human rights.  She is a popular face on TV having anchored key news program as “NHK News at 9 PM”, “NHK World Network” and “NHK Asian Voices”.  She was a correspondent based in Thailand covering ASEAN countries extensively with over 50 visits to Myanmar.

In three decades in journalism, her work has taken her from Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami evacuation shelters to international summit meetings and from covering the release of Aung San Suu Kyi to interviewing Malala Yousafzai.  Most recently her interviews to Yuval Noah Harari, Jacques Attali, Audrey Tang, and Denis Mukwege were featured in the “Crisis Interviews: Looking beyond Pandemic” on NHK.

She is a member of the Japanese Foreign Ministry’s Development Projects Accountability Committee and the Japanese National Commission for UNESCO.  She is also on the board of governors of UNESCO Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace and Sustainable Development, and sits on the board of trustees at The International House of Japan.  She is a member of International Institute of Strategic Studies, UK.

She holds an MA in international affairs from Columbia University, New York, USA, and a BA in foreign studies from Sophia University, Tokyo, Japan.  She spent her childhood in London, UK. 

Murilo Portugal has had a lengthy career in the Brazilian public and private sectors and in international organizations. From 1980 to 1984, he was an adviser at the Office of the Chief of Staff to the President of Brazil and from 1990 to 1992 he was Chief Economic Advisor at the General Secretariat of the Presidency of the Republic of Brazil. From 1992 to 1996, he was Secretary of the National Treasury and participated in the implementation of the Real Plan of economic stabilization. He served in the Ministry of Finance, as Deputy Finance Minister from 2005 to 2006.

From 1996 to 2000, Mr. Portugal served as an Executive Director at the World Bank Group. Between 1998 and 2011, he served as an Executive Director of the International Monetary Fund and later as Deputy Managing Director. As Deputy Managing Director of the IMF, his portfolio included overseeing the Fund relations with 81 developed countries, emerging market countries and developing countries in all 5 continents, overseeing topics such as financial standards and codes, statistics, budget, personnel, technical assistant, Fund relations with international organizations, organization of the Annual Meetings, and chairing the Board meetings on these countries and topics.

Mr. Portugal served as President of the Brazilian Federation of Banks and on the boards of Banco do Brazil, Caixa Econômica Federal, Electrobras and IRB Brazil RE.

He holds degrees in law and economics by the Fluminense Federal University in Brazil, and the Universities of Cambridge and Manchester in the United Kingdom. 

Nikiwe Bikitsha is a media and communications professional with 25 years of experience in South Africa. She has worked in various media, including radio, television, and digital media. She currently advises corporates and multilateral organizations on strategic communications and content creation.

Ms. Bikitsha has served on the Nelson Mandela Foundation's Board of Trustees and the Deloitte Africa board, as well as being a member of the Deloitte Global board’s advisory council. She has also been a member of the President of South Africa's National Planning Commission, where she has contributed her expertise on issues such as transformation, communications, and reputation. 

Mark Thompson has spent four decades in the media industry in major roles at the BBC, where he rose to be Director General, and more recently as Chief Executive at The New York Times. His experience covers the spectrum of media delivery technologies with a profound understanding, and in many ways a unique perspective, of news and current affairs in the world today. He is currently the Co-Chair of IFPIM (International Fund for Public Interest Media), which aligns with his personal belief in the importance of independent information for a global audience.

Mr. Thompson has extensive board experience, currently serving as the Chairman of Ancestry.com, Deputy Chair of the Royal Shakespeare Company, as well as being an Advisor to the Supervisory Board of Axel Springer.