Academy chair named West Midlands Director of the Year
The foundation director and chairman of a Coventry academy has been named the Institute of Directors West Midlands Non-Executive Director of the Year.
Dean Kavanagh, of the Romero Catholic Academy, impressed the judging panel by displaying the same energy and drive in his non-executive role as he did in his day job as managing director of gas analysis technology firm Geotech UK, based in Leamington Spa.
As a founding director, Mr Kavanagh produced a blueprint that unified the Romero Academy board and helped to set strategic objectives for the organisation – which now has a budget of £15m, more than 520 employees and more than 3,100 students.
He was also said to have established aims and values that underpin the work of the board and serve to guide the decisions being made at an operational level.
“I am extremely proud and honoured to have been named the IoD’s West Midlands Non-Executive Director of the Year,” said Mr Kavanagh.
“The whole board has worked extremely hard to make the Romero Catholic Academy the success it has become and this award is a testament to them all.
“I am now looking forward to the national awards as it gets the Romero name and the work that it is doing out there to a wider, national audience.”
The judges said: “Dean oozes governance and has been able to confidently challenge a variety of stakeholders to adopt better structures and clarity in the roles of other trustees.
“He has a clear vision that is supported by the strategic way he goes about his work and his ability to communicate with great clarity.”
Mr Kavanagh will now progress to the national awards, which will take place at the Lancaster Hotel in London on September 22.
Patrick Taggart, Academy Business Director of the Romero Catholic Academy, said: “We would like to congratulate Dean on being presented with such a prestigious award. It is a testament to his hard work throughout the academy and is very well-deserved.”
Mr Kavanagh is congratulated on his success by Patrick Taggart at the awards ceremony, held at Edgbaston.
