Community Profile
Mark Spelman
Board MentorCriticaleye
Mark has more than 20 years' experience at Board level and, in December 2020, he was appointed Non-executive Director at the global engineering consultancy, Buro Happold. He has worked closely with the Executive Chair of the World Economic Forum to shape its agenda and was specifically responsible for the Future of the Digital Economy Initiative. He is currently a strategic adviser on its accelerating digital transformation initiative.
Mark’s Board roles cover business, sport and the charity sectors. In addition to his work at WEF, he sits on the Advisory Board of Sutherland, a US-based customer engagement company; he is a Council member of Chatham House, sitting on its finance and digital committees; is Chair of Leap Confronting Conflict, a charity specialising in helping young people understand the causes and consequences of conflict; and Chair of Trustees at Ridley Hall, Cambridge College, offering a range of theological degree and lay ministry courses. His most recent Chair appointment is for Kabunu, an immersive experience company centered on education. Mark was also a NED at the Future Cities Catapult, a global centre of excellence on city innovation, backed by the UK Government and large corporations, where he chaired its Remuneration Committee.
In his former executive career, Mark was Global Managing Director and Global Head of Strategy at Accenture, where his diverse international experience covered; international growth strategies, talent management, digital technology, innovation and new business models. Mark also ran Accenture’s global macro-economic and political think-tank, the Accenture Institute for High Performance.
In sports, Mark was a NED at Harlequins RUFC, where he chaired the Growth Committee. He is a former NED at Sports England, where he sat on its Project Finance and Market Insights committees – the latter providing analysis of the shifting patterns of sport participation.
Mark has extensive international experience; he was a former Chair of the Brussels-based AmCham’s (American Chamber of Commerce) Executive Council, which is proactively consulted by the EU Commission, EU member states and MEPs for its advice on EU-US economic relations; and has finished a role as Chair of an EU-China expert group, studying the future of the digital economy.
Mark has an MA in Economics from Cambridge, an MBA from INSEAD, and in the summer can be found representing Kent County Cricket Seniors.