Ofcom Board

Michael Grade has had a long career in broadcasting, encompassing London Weekend Television, the BBC, ITV and Channel 4. He has chaired the BBC, ITV and Pinewood/Shepperton Film Studios.   He is co-founder of the GradeLinnit company, which produces for the theatre.

He is Chairman of the Arora Group’s Heathrow Expansion Advisory Board, having also been Chairman of Ocado, First Leisure Corporation, Camelot, the Charity Fundraising Regulator and Bradford’s Media Museum as well as being a member of the former Press Complaints Commission and a trustee of the Science Museum.

Michael Grade sits in the House of Lords as a non-affiliated Peer. His Peerage was created in January 2011.

Michael Grade joined the Ofcom Board on 1 May 2022. His appointment runs until 30 April 2026.

Dame Melanie Dawes joined Ofcom as an Executive Board Member and Chief Executive on 2 March 2020.

Prior to joining Ofcom, Melanie was Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (2015-2020). She has held senior roles across the Civil Service, working in partnership across the public and private sectors. She became the overall Champion for Diversity and Inclusion in the Civil Service in 2019.

She started her career as an economist and spent 15 years at the Treasury, including as Europe Director. She was Director General of the Economic and Domestic Affairs Secretariat at the Cabinet Office between 2011 and 2015, and prior to that she served on the Board of HMRC as Head of Business Tax. She was Director General for Business Tax from November 2007, which involved responsibility for all the business taxes and duties as well as leadership of the department’s relationships with big business. From 2009, she also led the development of HMRC’s overall strategy as a department.

She has held non-executive roles including with the consumer body Which? and has also been a trustee of the Patchwork Foundation, which promotes the participation of under-represented young people in democracy

Lindsey Fussell joined in Ofcom in 2016 and is Group Director for Networks and Communications, leading Ofcom’s work in the telecoms and postal sectors, where we aim to protect consumers’ interests, promote competition and ensure that networks are secure and resilient. She was appointed to the Ofcom Board in December 2020.

Before joining Ofcom, Lindsey held a range of senior leadership roles in the Civil Service. She was Public Services Director at HM Treasury, where she led on devolution, education and culture, defence and criminal justice, and was responsible for delivering key aspects of the 2013 and 2015 Spending Reviews. She is a non-executive director (Sufficiently Independent Director) for NGED, National Grid’s electricity distribution network for Wales, the South West and the Midlands.

Ben is currently a General Partner at investment fund Keen Venture Partners and holds various Board positions, including at Akamai in the US and Renewi Ltd, a major player in the circular economy in the BeNeLux and the UK. He is a former Chief Executive of BT, KPN in the Netherlands, and Alcatel Lucent. He has also served as a Chairman of Endemol, and as a Board Member of AkzoNobel in the Netherlands and of the mobile operator Bharti Airtel in India.

Ben Verwaayen joined the Ofcom Board on 1 January 2016.   His appointment runs until 31 December 2025.

Bob Downes was appointed to the Ofcom Board with effect from 1 February 2018. He is a member of the Content Board and the People Committee. Bob was Chairman of the Scottish Environment Protection Agency until 2023. He chairs the Commission for Communications Regulation’s Independent Oversight Body, which oversees the implementation and operation of an enhanced Regulatory Governance Model in Ireland by Eir. Bob is an advisor to a number of small technology businesses, including Kube Networks in Glasgow. He has a background in telecommunications, arts and culture organisations and with business and technology universities.

Bob Downes joined the Ofcom Board on 1 February 2018. His appointment runs until 31 January 2026.

Born and brought up in the South Wales Valleys, Clive Jones spent most of his working life at ITV as a journalist, producer and editor with YTV and TV-AM and later as CEO of both Central Television and the Carlton Television Group. He also served as Managing Director of the ITV Network and was the first CEO of ITV News and Regions, following the creation of ITV plc.

He trained as a journalist with the Yorkshire Post after graduating from the LSE.

Clive also chairs Sightsavers, the UK’s sight loss charity, the Runnymede Trust, the race equality think tank and is the Ombudsman for the National Council for the Training of Journalists.  He chaired the Disasters Emergency Committee, was on the board of S4C and its commercial arm S4C Masnachol for six years and is a former chair of both the Wales IP Fund and National Theatre Wales.

Clive Jones joined the Ofcom Board on 12 February 2024. His appointment runs until 11 February 2028.

Karen has a distinguished 30-year policing career, retiring as Commander from the City of London Police in 2020. She commenced her service as an officer in Northern Ireland and has extensive experience across a wide range of complex investigations including, safeguarding, homicide, counter-terrorism, serious and organised crime. As a result, she has a strong understanding of the unique needs of communities living in Northern Ireland.

More recently as Commander and National Coordinator for Economic Crime, she had oversight for the most serious financial investigations in the United Kingdom. Karen was also the Police executive lead for Cyber Crime Prevention working with key stakeholders and the third sector to address emerging risks in the online space.

In 2020 Karen joined UK Finance as the Managing Director for Intelligence Strategy working across the banking sector to review the use and management of intelligence. More broadly her role involved multiple sector engagement in respect of the online harms threat and proposed legislative changes.  Karen stepped down from this role in November 2021.

In September 2022 Karen joined the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) as Director of Strategy, Policy, International and Intelligence in the Enforcement Team. In this role, Karen leads the specialised functions that support the breadth of the FCA’s enforcement and market oversight activities, helping ensure it has the tools it needs to do its work effectively.

Karen Baxter joined the Ofcom Board on 28 March 2022. Her appointment runs until 27 March 2026.

Angela is currently a trustee of York Museums Trust and Chair of its Capital Projects Board. She is a Senior Independent Panel Member for Public Appointments. She has been non-executive director of a number of not-for-profit organisations including Chair of International House Trust, Vice Chair of the Council of King’s College London, trustee of the National Lottery Heritage Fund and a member of the Museums, Archives and Libraries Council.

Angela's executive career was in international finance, mainly as a Managing Director of Morgan Stanley where she headed its global technology research team. She was a member of the Working Group of the United Nations Global Compact for corporate social responsibility issues in investment.

Angela Dean joined the Ofcom Board on 30 September 2018. Her appointment runs until 29 September 2026.

Will has almost 30 years’ experience in the media industry. He started his career as a management consultant with KPMG, before spending five years at BBC Worldwide (now BBC Studios) where he worked across the BBC’s commercial and international operations.

He later helped to launch ask.com in the UK before moving to Sky, where he became Commercial and Operations Director of its new media business. He joined GCap Media plc in 2006 as Group Strategy Director.

Following Global Media & Entertainment Ltd’s acquisition of GCap Media in 2008, he was appointed Global’s Chief Strategy Officer and joined the main Global board. During his time at Global, Will was responsible for establishing the Global Academy, a state school for young people from all backgrounds wanting to start a career in the creative industries. Will stood down from the Global Media and Entertainment Ltd board in December 2020.

Since 2021 he has been a Non-Executive Director of Primedia, the leading Africa-focused media and advertising group, and was a Trustee of the Baker Dearing Educational Trust from 2021 to 2024. He became a Trustee of the Education and Employers charity in 2024.

Will Harding joined the Ofcom Board on 3 October 2022. His appointment runs until 2 October 2026.

Richard has nearly 30 years of experience in the development of communications and technology policy. Since 2010 he has been an unelected Member of the House of Lords, after he was created a life peer as Baron Allan of Hallam, of Ecclesall in the county of South Yorkshire. He has been a non-affiliated member since 2 October 2024 and was previously affiliated to the Liberal Democrat party.

He started his professional career with the NHS, as a Systems Developer, building computer networks and information systems for Avon FHSA. Between 1997-2005 he was the Member of Parliament for Sheffield Hallam, also holding the position of Chair of the Information Select Committee until 2001. He joined Cisco Systems in 2005, holding the role of Director Public Policy until 2009, during which he led company work on all telecoms policy issues with politicians and regulators. Then between 2009-2019 he worked at Facebook (now Meta) as VP Public Policy; leading a team of 70+ policy experts across EMEA, acting as a senior decision maker on sensitive policy questions.

He currently holds Non-Executive Board roles with Community Interest Companies New Automotive and the Centre for Public Data. Former Non-Executive roles include being a Board Member at the European Digital Media Observatory, Chair of the Power of Media Taskforce and a Board Member at the Sheffield City Trust.  

  Richard Allan joined the Ofcom Board on 1 November 2024. His appointment runs until 31 October 2028