Beatrice Okonkwo
Deputy Chair & Senior Independent Director
- Appointed
- 2016
- Status
- Independent
- Committees
- Member: Audit & Risk; Remuneration; Nomination & Governance; Editorial Independence
- Skills & experience
- Public law, regulation, ombudsman practice, board governance
Deputy Chair & Senior Independent Director
Beatrice Okonkwo spent thirty years in public-interest law and regulation before moving to non-executive work, including nine years as Deputy Ombudsman of Coravia, where she handled complaints against public bodies and, on occasion, against the press.
As Senior Independent Director she chairs the meetings of independent directors held without the Chairman present — three of them in 2025 — and acts as the route through which shareholders may raise concerns that they do not wish to take to the Chairman or the executive.
She leads the Board’s annual review of the Editorial Independence Charter and is the only director who sits on all five standing committees, a structure adopted deliberately so that one independent voice carries context between them.
Other appointments
- Non-executive director, Coravian Water Authority
- Visiting Fellow in public law, University of Ostergard
Other directors
- Aldric Montlior — Founder & Chairman
- Naoko Vaudrey — Group Chief Executive
- Rohan Mehta — Group Chief Financial Officer
- Anton Lindqvist — Independent Non-Executive Director
- Elena Rivas — Independent Non-Executive Director
- Julian Abara — Independent Non-Executive Director
- Kai Sato — Independent Non-Executive Director