Three new directors have been elected to the Board of The European Sponsorship Association (ESA) at today’s online AGM.

Rebecca Martin of O2 Telefonica, Khadeen O’Donnell of English National Ballet and Daragh Persse of The Brand Fans were elected by their fellow ESA Members, adding significant diversity as well as professional credibility to the 15-strong Board.

Existing board directors, Sophie Morris of Millharbour Marketing and Matt Stevenson of BT were also re-elected after ESA chairman Andy Westlake unveiled an adjusted mission statement – “to inspire, unite and grow a welcoming and diverse sponsorship industry”.

The new-look Board comprises an increased female contingent of five, with arts & culture represented alongside sports and a greater proportion (20%) of Directors from outside the UK.

ESA would like to offer its heartfelt thanks to Matthew Leopold of LexisNexis, who has been a highly active Board member for six years.

ESA Chairman Andy Westlake says, “I’m very proud of how our organisation has adapted to a global pandemic to continue its mission to inspire, unite and grow the sponsorship community with an increasing focus on inclusivity, and this morning’s AGM gave us the chance to reflect on this success.

“I’m delighted to welcome Rebecca Martin, Khadeen O’Donnell and Darragh Persse to the Board of Directors. We are all looking forward to working with them and it’s great that we have an increasingly diverse Board with broad experience of the sponsorship industry across Europe, arts and culture representation and improved gender balance.