EWGA appoints four non-executive directors

PRESS RELEASE ISSUED BY ENGLISH WOMEN'S GOLF ASSOCIATION
The English Women’s Golf Association is pleased to announce the appointment of four non-executive directors to its management board.
They are:

Andrew Kean, an entrepreneur and company managing director.
Chrissie Owens, a sponsorship and marketing consultant.
Sylvia Perrins, the national director of a National Skills Academy.
Bill Richards, a partner in a business law firm.

Sue Whittaker, the EWGA management board chairman, said: “We are delighted to announce these appointments. Our new non-executive directors will bring invaluable business skills and wide experience to our board and we look forward to working with them to drive forward women’s golf.”
Andrew Kean returned from a soccer scholarship in the USA to found and become managing director of FirstPoint USA, which places British athletes on sports scholarships with American universities. He is also managing director of WhatCollege.com, helping students in China, India and Japan with admission to American universities and colleges.
Additionally he is a director of a business consultancy and property development firm. He has been a finalist in the ‘Scotsman of the Year’ Award; the Royal Bank of Scotland/Prince’s Scottish Youth Business Trust Entrepreneur of the Year; and a Scottish finalist in the Shell LIVEwire Entrepreneur of the Year.
Chrissie Owens set up her independent sponsorship and marketing consultancy three years ago after a highly successful business career with Coca-Cola and Diageo. Her portfolio of clients includes Smirnoff, the Hotel Es Vive in Ibiza, Sainsbury’s and Weetabix through the marketing agency Cosine, and the high-profile global dance brand, the Cream Group.
Chrissie, who is based in Norfolk, first trained as a professional musician, playing the French horn. Arts cutbacks thwarted her ambitions but she continues to play in local orchestras. She’s also a volunteer worker at a nursing home, a keen squash player and a passionate golfer.
Sylvia Perrins is the national director of the National Skills Academy for Financial Services, an employer-led organisation which delivers world-class education and training to the industry’s workforce. She took up her position in January 2007 having previously held senior posts in education.
Most recently she was vice principal at Westminster Kingsway College of Further Education in London, responsible for business development and planning. Sylvia started her working life as a financial and business analyst. She is a non-executive director of an NHS Trust in London. She enjoys golf as part of a healthy lifestyle.
Bill Richards is a partner in the London-based business law firm, LG. For much of his career he practised as a commercial litigation lawyer before becoming LG’s managing partner in 1995. In 2002 he was elected senior partner and, when he retired from that position early last year, became the firm’s head of risk and compliance.
Bill is a school governor, a charity trustee, a non-executive director of The Solicitors’ Independent Mutual insurance Association and a community mediator, helping to resolve neighbour disputes. He enjoys sport in general and is a particularly keen golfer.
Visit the EWGA website to read biographies of the non-executive directors: www.englishwomensgolf.org
EWGA’s voting members will be asked to approve the appointments of the non-executive directors later in the year.
Lyndsey Hewison
Press & PR Officer