Meet the GGI Communications team
04 December 2022
This month we introduce the GGI communications team.
Jaco Marais – The communications director who rebranded governance. Jaco’s been working in public sector governance for 20 years. His mission, when he started, was to translate the jargon-filled world of governance into plain language to build engagement and common understanding. His creativity and passion for the arts and storytelling has been a great benefit to GGI, who have become known for their colourful and engaging communications. As the director of the Festival of Governance, Jaco has been able to take risks, innovate and do things that are now often copied but seldom bettered elsewhere. Jaco is the ultimate guardian of the GGI brand, leading a team that brings together art, music, design, story-telling and creative thinking, and overseeing the communication activities that make GGI a pioneer in this exciting and transformative age of good governance.
Sarah Cornwell – Sarah is that rare combination of being patient, kind, forgiving, as well as extremely competent. These are all essential attributes for the best events managers. Did you know that being an events manager is one of the most stressful jobs. This year the Good Governance Institute hosted 162 events bringing together mental health trust chairs, NHS non-executive directors, newly appointed integrated care system directors, estate managers, university governors, a number of regional networks and, of course, the 500+ people who registered for this year’s annual lecture.
Roisin Jenkins – After a lifetime of organising events that required venues, catering, AV equipment and a host of other logistics nightmares to resolve, Roisin helped GGI adapt to a new virtual reality. Roisin has been able to build trust with scores contributors and thousands of delegates to share their ideas in this new format. She’s also one of those rare people who can calmly bring together a team in times of crisis. Roisin has also been helping to develop GGI Academy training courses, which are shaping the way organisations train their staff.
Leonore Lavorel – Leo is Jaco’s right-hand woman. She’s a project manager, planner, organiser and a one-person task-and-finish workgroup. She is also very creative and skilled at making banners, putting together our newsletters and composing social media messages. Her background as a ski instructor in the Swiss Alps has taught her some very valuable people skills. Leo is fun, friendly and personable – that’s why she’s the one who approaches prominent public figures to give up their time freely for our podcasts.
Emiliano Rattin – Emiliano is our in-house Italian designer and Jaco’s right-hand man. He is able to bring to life in physical form the colourful world we want to create here at the Good Governance Institute. Apart from being extremely patient with resizing or moving images just a fraction of a millimetre to the left, Emiliano is also extremely gracious when asked to redesign a report at short notice for a client who needs to present to the board. Emiliano methodically manages GGI’s knowledge and image library, and he is a team player around whom the rest of GGI pivot, either for an informal cup of tea or an update to the style guide.
Martin Thomas – Martin had worked with the Good Governance Institute as a freelance copywriter since 2018 before joining the communications team full-time at the start of the pandemic. Before that he had a background in journalism and general commercial writing with a particular interest in cycling. But proofing, researching, editing and writing 100 Covid bulletins and 100 Illuminations, 116 NED webinar write-ups and 120 weekly newsletters, as well as countless articles and blogs, reports, website entries, social media posts, interviews, podcast transcripts, and four Festival Reviews has made him something of an expert in what it is to make the world a better fairer place through good governance.
