In the News
Echo Research grows Advisory Board
24 January 2023
Echo Research, global reputation research specialists, today announced the appointment of four new members to its client Advisory Board. Former Body Shop Activism Director Kate Levine, ex McDonald’s Corporate Vice President Julian Hilton-Johnson, Life Sciences entrepreneur and Non-Executive Company Director, Liz Shanahan and global business adviser Jan Dauman.
Sandra Macleod, Group CEO of Echo Research said, “Echo’s 19-strong Advisory Board brings together senior specialists with expertise in specific sectors, geographies or strategic communications areas such as crisis, ESG, investor activism and major change. We are building our Advisory Board to work alongside Echo’s specialist research teams to deliver pragmatic counsel based on their experience and our evidence-based insights to support leaders aiming for better.”
Echo’s new Advisory Board members:
As the former Global Activism and Communications Director at The Body Shop, Kate Levine and her team led the iconic brand’s activism and campaigning and its corporate and brand communications, including the award-winning Forever Against Animal Testing campaign, achieving mass consumer engagement and delivering 8.3 million signatures of support to the United Nations. Kate is now an independent strategic communications and corporate activism consultant, working for a range of corporates, think tanks, campaigning organisations and NGOs, including SYSTEMIQ, The Climate Coalition, the Better Business Act, IKEA, AB InBev and Sime Darby Plantation. Kate will support Echo Research’s work for clients looking for board-ready stakeholder insight across Environmental and Social Governance programmes.
Now a global business adviser and executive coach, Julian Hilton-Johnson led McDonald’s reputation and communications strategies in the UK, Europe and on a global basis for twenty one years. He was the principal media spokesperson in the UK and represented the company externally with a wide range of stakeholders in the EU, the UK and at the UN. As Chief of Staff to 3 successive Presidents of McDonald’s Europe, he was closely involved in the transformation of the business. A lawyer by training, Julian started his career as a Research Assistant at the House of Commons before joining Burger King and from there MacDonald’s. His deep experience across the Quick Service Restaurant and more broadly food and drink sectors will be invaluable to Echo’s clients in these markets.
Liz Shanahan is a life sciences entrepreneur with extensive experience advising leading global pharmaceutical and healthcare organisations. Liz is a Non-Executive Director of two AIM listed businesses in the UK, Celadon Pharmaceuticals PLC and Inspiration Healthcare Group PLC. She is also Chair of a private business in Ireland, Akusus and founder of a start-up biopharmaceutical company, Kingdom Therapeutics. She is a Director & Trustee of a hospital charity, CWPlus, the charitable arm of Chelsea & Westminster Foundation Trust Hospital in London and a member of the organisation’s Innovations Advisory Board. Previously, she was a Non-Executive Director of the FTSE250 business, UDG PLC, which was acquired by CD&R in 2021 for £2.6bn. Until 2014, Liz was Global Head of Healthcare & Lifesciences at the NYSE-listed management consultancy, FTI Consulting Inc., who had, in 2007, acquired the communications business, Santé Communications, which she had founded in 1995.
Also a highly experience Board-level business adviser, Jan Dauman has 45 years of practical experience in international business, corporate finance, emerging markets, cross-cultural management, corporate governance and ESG. He is Co-Founder and CEO of InterMatrix Group a business advisory firm with subsidiaries/affiliates in 15 countries and working with Fortune 200 multinational corporations (including, inter alia, Xerox, Merck, IBM, Cisco, GSK, PMI, BAT, Coca-Cola, Philips). He is Partner at CET Capital Partners, an advisory financial services consultancy offering companies advice with mergers, acquisitions and capital raising strategies. He is an Advisory Board member of Ocean14 Capital (Impact fund), Chairman of Island Beverages UK Ltd and is a mentor in the Imperial College Venture Mentoring Service.
