Ann Beynon OBE is the Chair of the Wales Governance Centre External Advisory Board. Ann is the Senior Adviser Welsh Affairs for Severn Trent Water and is the Wales Commissioner for the Equality and Human Rights Commission.

Ann is the former BT Director of Wales and was their strategic and development representative for Wales.

Her career background includes a number of senior Business Development roles and she is currently Chair of the Wales Advisory Board for Business in the community.

Ann was awarded an OBE in 2008 and was the Prince of Wales’s Ambassador in the Community for Wales from 2005-2006.

Joanne Foster is currently Head of Communications for the Ministry of Sound Group Ltd. Prior to this role, Joanne was Head of Political Strategy at PHA Media, heading up a team of professional political and corporate communication consultants operating at UK and international level. Joanne was Chief Executive of the Welsh Liberal Democrats between 2008-2011, and played a key role in the cross-party ‘Yes’ campaign in the 2011 Welsh referendum. In 2011, Joanne was recruited to the role of Deputy Chief of Staff for Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg. This was a key role at the centre of the coalition government with day to day responsibility for the effective running of the Deputy Prime Minister’s political operation.

John Jeans became Chair of Cardiff University Council in January 2012. He has had a successful career in the Medical Devices, Pharmaceutical and Diagnostic industries and served the Medical Research Council (MRC) as its first Deputy CEO and Chief Operating Officer from January 2009 to July 2011.

He has held senior roles at GE Healthcare and at Nycomed Amersham International PLC (which later became GE Healthcare), including Chairman of GE Healthcare Limited and President, Life Sciences Commercial Operations. During his time at the company he was responsible for driving significant cross-business growth initiatives in the UK. He also launched several new business enterprises, including a clinical imaging service for the pharmaceutical industry.

As the most senior operational leader in the MRC, Mr Jeans was directly accountable for all corporate functions, regional management, major projects and certain intramural programmes. He helped restructure the Council’s interactions with industry and led the MRC’s involvement in creating the Francis Crick Institute, including the securing of Government funding.

Mr Jeans has held senior positions in general management, as well as sales, marketing, manufacturing, research & development and operations functions, including board appointments in Japan, USA and Europe.

He is currently Chair of MRC Technology and a member of the Scientific Advisory Council for Wales.

In 2012 he was appointed a CBE for services to Life Science, Healthcare and Science.

Eluned Morgan was elected as the youngest MEP of the European Parliament in 1994 and served a full three terms before stepping down at the 2009 election. She became one of the most experienced MEPs in Europe, with vast experience in relation to specific policy sectors – such as energy – and more generally in terms of the institutional evolution of the European parliament over a critical 15 year period. Ms Morgan was Labour European spokesperson on Energy Industry and Science and she authored the European Parliament position on the Energy Green Paper and the Electricity Directive. In relation to Wales, Eluned was a key driving force in the parliament in the decisions that helped Wales obtain £2.2 billion of European Funding for West Wales and the Valleys (Convergence funding). Eluned Morgan has also been a highly influential figure in terms of the history of Welsh politics. Thus, she was appointed by the Secretary of State to be a Member of the National Assembly Advisory Group, establishing the Rules of the Welsh Assembly. She was a key member of the Yes For Wales cross party group campaigning for the Welsh Assembly.

Richard Rawlings is Professor of Public Law at University College London. He has written widely in the subject, with works including Law and Administration (1st edn 1984) and Pressure through Law (1992) (both with Carol Harlow), and Delineating Wales: Constitutional, Legal and Administrative Aspects of National Devolution (2003). Edited volumes include Law, Society and Economy (1997), Law and Administration in Europe (2003) (with Paul Craig), Devolution, Law-Making and the Constitution (2005) (with Robert Hazell), and The Regulatory State: Constitutional Implications (2010) (with Dawn Oliver and Tony Prosser).

Professor Rawlings has held research grants from a range of funding organisations such as ESRC and Nuffield, and was recently involved in CONNEX, a pan-European circle of national experts working on the theme of ‘Accountability in Network and Multi-Level Governance’. His present research and teaching interests centre on key topics in both UK and European public law; these include the design of administrative procedures, devolved governance, regulation and public contracting, and judicial review. Honorary Bencher at Middle Temple, Professor Rawlings is currently Legal Adviser to the House of Lords Constitution Committee.

Dr Dafydd Trystan Davies is Chair of Plaid Cymru . He has held various elected offices and staff positions within Plaid Cymru, including most recently the National Treasurer and Deputy Chairman. He is a former Parliamentary and Assembly candidate, and was Chief Executive of the Party between 2002-2007 .

His professional career in the world of higher education began with a position as lecturer in Welsh Politics at the Department of International Politics at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth . Currently, he is Registrar and Senior Academic Manager at Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol, and within that role, has acted on a range of committees and national groups involved in higher education, including most recently the Ministerial Group on Digital Learning .

In a voluntary capacity, Dafydd Chairs one of Wales’ most successful social enterprises , Cycle Training Wales, and is a director of recycling charity Toogoodtowaste . He is also a member of the Advisory Board of Sustrans Cymru .

In his spare time he enjoys running, cycling and yoga.

Laura McAllister is Professor of Governance at the University of Liverpool’s School of Management and is currently Chair of Sport Wales. She is a graduate of the London School of Economics and Cardiff University where she completed a PhD in politics.

Laura was a member of the Richard Commission on the Powers and Electoral Arrangements for National Assembly for Wales that reported in March 2004. Laura’s principal academic interests centre on public administration and politics, specifically: devolution, the role of commissions in policy-making, Welsh politics and elections, sport and public policy, gender and politics. She has written extensively on these areas and her recent books include Plaid Cymru, The Emergence of a Political Party (2001), Women and Constitutional Politics in Wales (2007), and a forthcoming biography of Lord Dafydd Elis Thomas, Presiding Officer at the National Assembly (2012). She is Honorary Visiting Professor at Cardiff University, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia and the China National School of Administration, Beijing. Laura has worked as a political analyst for BBC Wales and is a regular commentator on Welsh and British politics and elections.

A former Wales football international and national team captain with 24 caps, Laura was a Board Member of UK Sport from 2002-5. She has been a member of the Sports Council for Wales since April 2006 and was Vice Chair of the Council from March 2007 to January 2010. Laura was appointed Sport Wales Chair with effect from 1st February 2010.

Laura is also a Board Member of the Welsh Football Trust. She is project sponsor for sport at the University of Liverpool, and chairs the Sport Liverpool Strategy Group. She is also a member of the judging panel for BBC Wales Sports Personality of the Year.

Professor George Boyne is the Pro Vice-Chancellor and Head of the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences. He is Professor of Public Sector Management and former dean of Cardiff Business School and co-editor of the Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory. Professor Boyne is also Chair of the Public and Non-Profit Division of the Academy of Management and a member of the Welsh Government’s Financial and Professional Services Sector panel.