CIHRM people

Jens R Jenssen is the Director for the Future of Boards Programme and an executive advisor. He is a much sought-after trusted advisor to commercial and public organisations on strategic, organisation and leadership challenges. Jens also works as a leadership coach (‘sparring partner’) to leaders on all levels – from the board, to CEO and executive team, to the first line manager.

Jens has worked as an independent advisor to major international companies in the areas of leadership, organisation design and change, M&A integration and executive development. He has a strong track record from major transformations, performance management, building strong leadership pipelines and strategic and operational transformation of HR functions.

From 2015-2018 he was senior advisor with The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) working on several major transformation projects.

From 2004-2015 Jens served as Executive Vice President and Senior Vice President of People and Organization of Statoil ASA (now Equinor ASA) a global oil, gas and renewable energy company (Fortune 50), where he also served on the Corporate Executive Committee for several years.

Before 2004 Jens held executive HR positions with major global companies within oil and gas and technology, including Aker ASA, Kvaerner Group, Aker Kvaerner ASA (now Aker Solutions ASA).

Jens holds a Cand. Psychol. degree (psychology – professional school) from the University of Oslo, Norway, where he also did undergraduate studied sociology and philosophy. He is a registered psychologist, and an avid art lover. Jens is a Norwegian citizen and resides in Oslo and Cambridge.

Email: jensjenssen2016@gmail.com

Tel: +47 480 80 290

Dr Philip Stiles is a tenured faculty member at the Judge Business School, University of Cambridge and Director of the Centre for International Human Resource Management.

He has worked at the University of Cambridge for 25 years. He previously worked at London Business School.

He has written 3 books, the most recent of which is “Board Dynamics” published by Cambridge University Press in 2022.

Philip’s principal research area is in board dynamics, people management, leadership, and culture. He has researched with major organisations, including developing a research consortium of companies worldwide – including American Express, BT, EDF, GE, General Mills, Glaxo-SmithKline, IBM, IKEA, Infosys, Matsushita, Oracle, Procter and Gamble, Rolls-Royce, SANYO, Sealed Air, Shell, Siemens, TCL, TNT, and Unilever. This research is focused on the linkages between leadership, culture, and innovation.

Most recently he has worked on a major piece of research, funded by the UK Government to $5 million, on the future of work and technology.

He consults to several organisations in both the private and public sector and is on the advisory board of a start-up organisation in London. He conducts board reviews for a number of organisations.

His executive education work has involved working with a wide range of firms from around the world, from professional service firms in law, accountancy, management consulting and advertising, to corporations such as Barclays, IBM, BT, HSBC, non-profits such as Nature Conservancy, NHS, and UNICEF and scientific organisations such as the Sanger Centre in Cambridge, as well as many start-ups and sports teams.

He teaches 2 core courses on the MBA – Organisational Behaviour and Corporate Governance and he teaches Corporate Governance on the Executive MBA He also teaches Corporate Governance on the Master of Accounting course.

Philip has won several awards for research and teaching, including the University of Cambridge Pilkington prize for Teaching Excellence and teacher of the year for the MBA.

He has also won an IBM faculty award for his work with IBM in the area of Services Science.

He is a board advisor to 2 companies, both start-ups, in the Cambridge area.

Nancy Xiangwen Luo has an MPhil in Land Economy and MBA at the University of Cambridge. Nancy has spent her career in sovereign wealth investment and education and is the CEO of Cambridge Global Connect UK (Oxbridge Global Connect), an award-winning platform nominated by London Tech Week, based in Cambridge UK and Hong Kong that works with leading global foundations and top international schools. She is also a Forbes columnist and recipient of Forbes 30 under 30. She has advised leading global foundations including the Clinton Global Initiatives, the Institute of Economic Affairs and the People’s Classroom under Camden Foundation. Her passion includes international education innovation and how youth leadership affects corporate governance and ESG integration.

Cath draws on her careers as an Olympic rower and conflict diplomat, combined with her experience of working with a wide range of organisations across sectors to raise performance, transform cultures and develop effective leadership and teams.

As an Olympic rower, Cath competed at 3 Olympic Games. Highlights include winning the World Championships in 2003 and an Olympic silver medal in 2004.  As a diplomat for over a decade, Cath specialised in conflict issues, with postings to Bosnia and Iraq, as well as leading in Whitehall on the UK civilian contribution to stabilising conflicts around the world. These experiences equipped her with leadership, negotiating skills, resilience, and the ability to deliver outstanding performance under extremely challenging circumstances.

Cath’s book ‘The Long Win’ was published in 2020 with a second edition in 2024 and challenges the narrow lens we often have on what winning means, setting out a new way of thinking and reframing success across business, sport and education.

Underpinned by the latest research from business schools, leadership theory and organisational psychology, Cath brings insights as a speaker, facilitator, consultant and writer into how organisations can develop a clarity of purpose, a constant learning mindset and genuine collaboration to achieve success. Cath’s expertise lies in building effective leaders, developing resilience and high performing teams, and Cath has a passionate interest in helping women to reach their leadership potential.

Cath continues to be active in supporting the next generation of sporting talent, including through support of the Youth Sport Trust, the True Athlete Project and as Trustee of Love Rowing (British Rowing’s Charitable Foundation). Cath has commentated for Henley Royal Regatta and the BBC Boat Races and been invited to review the newspapers on Radio 4’s Broadcasting House. Cath is an Honorary Fellow of Pembroke College, Cambridge and the University of Wales, Aberystwyth, and a Steward of Henley Royal Regatta.

Patrick Wright is the Associate Dean for Corporate Relations, Thomas C. Vandiver Bicentennial Chair and Professor of Management at the University of South Carolina. He is also founder and former faculty director of the Centre for Executive Succession at the Moore School. He teaches, conducts research and consults in the area of strategic human resource management. In particular, his research focuses on how firms use people as a source of competitive advantage, changing nature of the chief HR officer role and CEO succession processes. Each year he conducts a survey of Fortune 500 CHROs which gains insights on issues and challenges from the top of the HR house.

Wright has published over 70 research articles in journals, over 20 chapters in books and edited volumes and has co-authored two textbooks and two books on HR practice. He has also served a 3-year term as Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Management.

He has conducted programs or consulted for a number of large organisations. He currently serves as a member on the boards of directors for both the Society for Human Resource Management and the National Academy of Human Resources. He is a former board member of HRPS, SHRM Foundation and World at Work (formerly American Compensation Association). From 2011 to 2017, he was named by HR Magazine as one of the 20 “Most Influential Thought Leaders in HR.” In 2014, Wright won SHRM’s Michael Losey Award for HR Research and in 2017, he won the Herbert Heneman, Jr. Award for Career Achievement.