John Kinsella - Chair Expand John leads the Board as Chairman, taking over the role in May 2018. John studied at Cambridge University where he rowed for CUBC reserve boat in 1982 and 1983. Then during the Boat Race in 1984, his crew famously sank before the start because they hit a barge during the warm up. He moved to Putney and joined London Rowing Club, rowing there for five years. John became Vice-Captain in 1992 and led the team as Captain in 1993 before getting married.
Jim Downing - President (non-voting) Expand Jim Downing founded LYR in 2004 and is now President of LYR. Jim also serves as a Non-Executive Chairman for Native Land Ltd while participating as a Non-Executive Director and adviser to a number of other companies including Andrew Martin Ltd, Cydar Ltd and Essex Group Asia Pacific Ltd. Until July 2016 he was Non-Executive Director and Acting Chairman of Winsway Enterprises. From 2001-2003, he was Deputy Head of JP Morgan Chase & Co's European Investment Banking group. Prior to the merger of JP Morgan & Co. with Chase Manhattan Bank in 2000, he worked as their Co-Head European Investment Banking. Jim obtained an MBA from Yalein 1982 and a BSc. from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1976.
Alan Skewis Expand Alan is the Director of the renamed London Stadium in Stratford. He has overseen the re-opening of the venue following its transformation as the former Olympic Stadium built to host London 2012. Since then, the venue has hosted the 2015 Rugby World Cup, premier league football and even motor racing. It will host Usain Bolt's final Athletics World Championship appearance this summer. Before joining the Stadium, Alan worked for the London Borough of Newham with remit for maxmising the community opportunities from London's staging of the London 2012 games. Prior to that, he worked for Sport England in various roles including distributing community lottery grants and managing the development of elite sport facilities. He was the lead for the Caversham Lakes rowing facility. Outside work, Alan is a keen footballer and runner. He describes himself as an enthusiastic beginner at rowing!
Krystyna Nowak Expand Krystyna is Managing Director of Board Practice at Norman Broadbent PLC. She joined the company in 2011 and focuses on Board appointments across all sectors. She has a wealth of board search experience in listed and private companies ranging from small, medium and FTSE 250 and FTSE 100 corporates. As well as being a Trustee of LYR, she is Non-Executive Director of Aberdeen Asian Income Fund Ltd. She studied physics at Oxford University and gained a law degree in 2003.
Jon Grussing - Senior Independent Director Expand Jon is a Managing Director of Credit Suisse in the Investment Banking and Capital Markets Division in London. He has been an LYR Trustee since 2012. Jon studied at Dartmouth College in the United States and rowed throughout his undergraduate studies. Three of his four children are rowers and two learned to row with LYR. Jon is the Senior Independent Director of LYR.
Iain Edmondson Expand Iain is Head of Major Events at London & Partners, the Mayor of London's offical promotional organisation for the capital. He has more than 20 years business, operational and marketing experience across public and private sector organisations. Prior to this role, Iain was part of the bid team that secured the 2012 London Olympic and Paralympic Games for London and has delivered a number of multi-million pound private/public partnership projects for sport facilities and events. Iain's passion for sport often involves participating in physical challenges. This includes the London Marathon, RideLondon-Surrey 100 mile challenge and rowing. He learnt to row at the University of Salford, winning an event at Henley Regatta while at Cambridge University and coaching Loughborough University. He obtained a MBA degree from Cambridge University.
Sophie Hosking Expand Sophie Hosking MBE, joined LYR's Board in May 2018. Sophie is a retired rower, having won a Gold medal for Great Britain in the Lightweight Double Scull at the London 2012 Olympic Games. In the 2013 New Year's Honours, Sophie was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire for services to rowing. Sophie originally studied for her undergraduate degree in chemistry and physics at Durham University, but has since qualified as a Solicitor. She continues to be a member of London Rowing Club, where she served as the first female Captain from 2014 to 2016.
Karen Morris Expand Karen Morris has over 25 year’s experience in sponsorship both in media (at Classic FM as Head of Sponsorship), WPP and brandmeetsbrand, which she founded in 2003, and later taking over Sponsorship Consulting to expand further into European sponsorship. Karen has a wealth of experience in sponsorship strategy and acquisition across all sectors including arts, entertainment, charity, not for profit, media and sport.
Nick Baker Expand Nick is a high performance coach with the GB Paralympic squad, and part of the highly successful coaching team that oversaw all four Paralympic boats winning medals at the Rio games. He found direction through rowing at a state school and after representing GB as a junior went on to attain a degree in Biology from Oxford Brookes University. After moving on from competing himself he built a career in coaching at the National High Performance centre. With 18 years of involvement in rowing and witnessing first hand its power to positively shape lives he wants to help ensure the opportunities the sport offers are available to people from all walks of life.
Sarah Robinson Expand Sarah is a chartered civil engineer with over twenty years’ experience in project management working primarily in the construction and maritime sectors. Sarah graduated from Bradford University in 1997 having spent time as a postgraduate researcher in Japan for a civil engineering firm and went on to work in private consultancy and for the Environment Agency. She spent ten years between Cumbria, Lancashire and the Thames Barrier working in flood risk management before moving to the Port of London Authority (PLA). Most recently Sarah was the PLA’s Asset Strategy Manager and during her time there developed a love of rowing, primarily in the PLA’s traditional cutters. Sarah has recently become director of Hawkshill Consulting Limited, a multidisciplinary consultancy offering project management and organisational change management services.
John Sage Expand John started his career as a journalist, working in regional newspapers before becoming Editorial Director of Teletext on ITV and Channel 4, the national interactive TV service, for 10 years. He is now a leader in the Corporate Responsibility field, leading CR for Tideway, the company building London’s ‘super-sewer’ underneath the River Thames. He has significant experience in community partnerships and in companies delivering social value. John’s sporting passion is cricket - he is still playing, just – and he has discovered the challenges and joys of rowing through Tideway’s Oarsome Challenge charity marathons along the Thames.
Dr. Ian Pickup Expand Dr. Ian Pickup is Chief Operating Officer at the University of East London, where he is responsible for the leadership, development and effective delivery of all student-facing professional services. Prior to this, Ian was Deputy COO at SOAS University of London, Head of the Student Experience at University College Cork, Ireland, and was Director of Student Affairs and Director of Sport and Wellbeing at the University of Roehampton. He holds a PhD in Education from the University of Roehampton, where he also worked as a Principal Lecturer, becoming a National Teaching Fellow of the Higher Education Academy in 2007. Ian contributed to a range of national and international initiatives, including being the UK partner in an EU project relating to early years teacher education, and the training of NGO staff in the use of sport as a tool for social development in post disaster contexts. A teacher and coach, Ian has authored key texts to support initial teacher education in physical education and remains a passionate advocate for the educational benefits of sport and physical activity. Ian was among the first wave of professional rugby players with the Harlequins Rugby Club in the mid-1990s and maintains an active interest in a range of sports today.
Akash Burrun Expand Akash is a Corporate Banking Analyst at Citi in the Global Subsidiary Group in London. He is an avid sailor, sailing regularly off the English and Irish coast. Akash holds a Bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Sciences from King’s College London and rowed for his university team. Originally from Mauritius, he enjoys spending time snorkelling and being on the water.