The Board & Subcommittees

Dame Laura Kenny

President

Dame Laura Kenny was appointed President of Commonwealth Games England in March 2025.

Kenny carries on a lineage of female leadership of Team England, succeeding Dame Denise Lewis and Dame Kelly Holmes in the role.

It is her first role since retiring from a glittering cycling career that saw her become the most decorated British female Olympian of all time.

She said: "I love the unique feel of the event and I'm thrilled to work with and support England's athletes as their prepare for Glasgow and future Commonwealth Youth Games too.

"I have devoted my life to cycling and while that sport will always be my passion, it is great to have the opportunity to pass on some of my experience to athletes from a wider range of sports."

Kenny won five Olympic golds and one silver across three Olympic Games and added a further seven world and 14 European golds to her collection during her career. She also represented Team England at three Commonwealth Games, winning two golds and a bronze.

Kenny made her Team England debut at Delhi 2010 and won points race gold at Glasgow 2014, before winning the final medals of her career at Birmingham 2022, with team pursuit bronze and scratch race gold.

John Steele OBE

Chair

• Nominations, Remuneration and Corporate Governance Committee Chair

John has a blend of experiences in creating and leading high performing teams and boards, developed as an army officer, professional athlete, sports coach, Chief Executive and NED in the private, public, and not for profit sectors. After playing international Rugby Union, John turned to coaching and successfully led Northampton Saints to become European Champions. He also served on the England Rugby Board during the successful World Cup campaign of 2003 and as CEO of the Rugby Football Union.

The London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics saw John take up post as CEO of UK Sport. He has had leadership roles in ten different Olympic and Paralympic games. In 2015 he took up the post of Group Chief Executive of the Youth Sport Trust, before he was recruited to join the team at Loughborough University, as the Executive Director of Sport which he held until September 2023.

John has sat as a NED or Chair on eleven Boards and chaired UKSI for eight years before
joining CGE. He is now a Visiting Professor in Sports Leadership and Performance at
Loughborough University and Executive Chair and founder of Unforgiving Minute, a leadership
consultancy that supports Senior Leaders to navigate the new and demanding challenges of
modern-day leadership.

John was awarded an OBE for Services to high performance sport in The Queen’s Birthday Honours list 2021. 

David Ellis

Non-Executive Director

• Commercial and Communications Committee Chair
• Nominations, Remuneration and Corporate Governance Committee member
• Sustainability Committee member

David Ellis is a Non-Executive Director and Chair of the Commercial and Communications Committee.

After an early career in technology, David served as Group Business Development and Marketing Director Catalyst Housing Group, a social housing trust spanning London and the Southeast. He then joined Premiership Rugby Club, Harlequins, in 2011 as Chief Executive where he served for almost 9 years. 

Currently he is Chief Executive and founder of Maikai Group, an impact agency focussed on enabling business and sports brands to deliver meaningful change/results against the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Donna Fraser OBE OLY

Non-Executive Director

• ED&I and Social Impact Committee Chair
• Nominations, Remuneration and Corporate Governance Committee member
• Safety and Welfare Lead

Donna Fraser joined the Commonwealth Games England Board as Chair of the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Committee, with over 10 years of corporate experience within business, sport, leadership and well-being. 

Awarded an OBE in 2021 for her services to equality, diversity and inclusion in the workplace, Donna served as a Board member in organisations such as the Women’s Sport Trust, the London Marathon Charitable Trust and the British Athletes’ Commission. During the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games, Donna worked for the Organising Committee as Head of Inclusion and Engagement and has since continued a similar role at the Professional Cricketers’ Association. 

Alongside her corporate experience, Donna also brings an elite sporting background, having competed for Team England as a 200m and 400m runner, winning bronze at the Kuala Lumpur Commonwealth Games.  

Robert Rodger

Non-Executive Director

Robert Rodger is a career security professional with over 30 years’ experience within finance & banking – cyber & information security. With a proven track record of building high performance teams to deliver a high quality and effective security practice, his focus is enabling the business to do security for themselves not doing it to them. 

Robert is the former deputy CISO at HSBC and Global Head of Security operations, and currently Chief Information Officer & Head of Technology Risk and Business Resilience at Admiral Insurance UK. He is also an Advisor to the Government of Bermuda on National Cyber Security strategy, member of the Cyber Oversight Board for Bermuda, and a Cloud Security Alliance UK Board member.

Diane Edwards MBE

Non-Executive Director

• Sports Committee Chair 
• Nominations, Remuneration and Corporate Governance Committee member

Diane Edwards MBE is co-founder of a registered charity (2010 -2022) using sport as a catalyst to develop life skills.

Diane is Head of Inclusion England Talent Pathway at Sport England, working in partnership to ensure athletes development pathways are more accessible, inclusive and genuinely representative of the nation and all its diversity.

In June 2020 the Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, announced his appointment of Diane Edwards as Chair of the new Youth Task Force, which will help to develop a Young Person’s Guarantee in Greater Manchester.

As a decorated athlete, Diane is one of Britain’s most successful 800m runners, taking a clean sweep of gold, silver and bronze at three Commonwealth Games (1986, 1990 and 1998) and competed at four Olympic Games. She was unbeaten by any other British athlete over six consecutive seasons and held the English, British and Commonwealth records for both 800m and 600m.

Jonathon Riall

Non-Executive Director

• ED&I and Social Impact Committee member
• Sports Committee member

*Temporarily stepped off the Board whilst acting as Chef de Mission for Glasgow 2026*

Jonathon Riall joined Commonwealth Games England as an expert in parasport, and is a member of the Sport and ED&I Committees.

Bringing 20 years of experience working in performance sport, Jonny is currently the Head of Performance Services at the British Paralympic Association having previously served as Head Coach for the Paratriathlon Programme at British Triathlon.

Founder of the Paratriathlon Performance programme in 2009 and Head Coach since 2013, Jonny was Team England’s team leader for paratriathlon at Birmingham 2022 and also led the British team through their debut Paralympic Games at Rio 2016.  

Kristian Thomas

Sports Committee member

Commonwealth Champion Kristian Thomas enjoyed a glittering gymnastics career that saw him win a full set of Commonwealth medals including men’s team gold at Glasgow 2014. 

Since retiring, Thomas has undertaken roles with the British Elite Athlete Association, the Premier League and Team England at Birmingham 2022. 

Thomas joins the Board as Athlete Non-Executive Director, an important role in bringing an athlete perspective

Liz Mulkerrin

Nominations, Remuneration and Corporate Governance Committee member

Seasoned HR professional Liz Mulkerrin, is Commonwealth Games England’s Non-Executive Director - People.

Mulkerrin has over 25 years’ experience in the media, broadcasting, sports and travel sectors.

She is joining us from a post as Chief People & Culture Officer for Palatinate group and previously worked as People Director at Harlequins Rugby.

Orlan Jackman

Sports Committee member and ED&I Committee member

Commonwealth champion Orlan Jackman Jackman joins the Board in a newly-formed Board Apprentice role.

Jackman played a starring role in one of Team England’s biggest moments at Birmingham 2022 as the men’s 3x3 basketball team won gold in dramatic fashion.

Jackman is Commonwealth Games Legacy Project Officer at Basketball England and is passionate about ensuring athletes are represented at every level of sport.

Sharjeel Suleman

Non-Executive Director

• Audit and Finance Committee Chair
• Nominations, Remuneration and Corporate Governance Committee member
• ED&I and Social Impact Committee member

Sharjeel joins the Board as chair of Commonwealth Games England’s Audit and Finance Committee. Sharjeel brings expertise in financial & cash management, as well as a strong understanding of working in the creative and media sector.

A keen cricketer, he is never happier than when playing cricket for his local village club, or increasingly now watching his son play. During his 19 year stint at ITV Sharjeel has been the Director of Group Finance, as well as CFO for ITV Studios, covering globally recognised production and distribution. Sharjeel is currently the Chief Financial Officer for Future plc which connects audiences to their passions through the content across it 200+ brands including TechRadar, Tom's Guide, PC Gamer, The Week, Wallpaper*, Country Life, Homes & Garden and Go.Compare.

Mark Osikoya

Chief Executive

Mark Osikoya took up his role as CEO at Commonwealth Games England in March 2023. 

He joined the team after eight years at the National Basketball Association where he headed up the global partnership team in the EME region. Prior to working at the NBA, he headed up sponsorship at Barclays, Coca-Cola and The Football Association in addition to prior experience at the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games and adidas. 

Mark is currently a trustee at StreetGames UK.

Lindsey Eckhouse

Non-Executive Director

Lindsey Eckhouse is a commercial executive with 19 years of experience leading global partnerships, brand strategy, and revenue growth across sport, entertainment, and fan ecosystems. She currently serves as Chief Commercial Officer at Mercury13, where she is building scalable commercial infrastructure spanning sponsorship, licensing, retail, and digital products across a multi-club European women's football portfolio.

Previously, Lindsey was Director (SVP) of Licensing & Digital Products at McLaren Racing, where she delivered significant growth in licensing revenue and led the brand's fan engagement and direct-to-consumer strategy. She has also held senior commercial roles at G2 Esports, where she grew the team's DTC ecommerce and partnership business, and at the NFL, where she led International Partnerships and drove the league's first stadium partnership outside the US.

Across her career, Lindsey has managed large global teams and negotiated landmark partnerships with iconic properties including Formula 1, the NFL, and McLaren. She holds an MBA and Master's in Sports Administration from Ohio University and a Bachelor's degree in Communications from the University of Missouri.

Tim Hollingsworth OBE

Senior Non-Executive Director

• Chair, Sustainability and Public Affairs Committee

Tim joined the Board of Commonwealth Games England in May 2026.

Recognised as one of the country’s leading sports administrators, he has enjoyed a 20 year career across high performance and grassroots community sport including significant experience of the Paralympic, Olympic and Commonwealth Games.

He currently serves as Professor of Practice (Sport) at the University of Bath, as a Global Advisor at leading sports consultancy Think Beyond and as Vice Chair of the British Paralympic Association. He is also a Trustee of the National Paralympic Heritage Trust and the Komedia Theatre in Bath.

From November 2018 to August 2025 he was Chief Executive of Sport England, the Government agency responsible for growing and developing grassroots and community sport and activity. For seven years prior to this, Tim was Chief Executive at the British Paralympic Association, also serving as Secretary General for ParalympicsGB at four Paralympic Games including London 2012. During his tenure ParalympicsGB secured record medal hauls for the modern era in both the summer and winter Paralympic Games - at Rio 2016 and Pyeongchang 2018 respectively.

Before that, Tim was for six years first Director of Policy & Communications and then Chief Operating Officer at UK Sport. Tim served as the Government’s Disability & Access Ambassador for Sport and Physical Activity from 2022-2026, reporting into the UK Government Cabinet Office. He has been a Trustee and Board Member of the Football Foundation and Youth Sport Trust and a Council Member of the University of Bath. He was awarded an OBE in 2016 for services to sport.