Rise appoints industry leaders to form Non-Executive Director board

Rise, the award-winning advocacy group for gender diversity in broadcast media technology has announced its newly appointed board of Non-Executive Directors (NED), including leaders in broadcast technology, production, and operations, as well as business, education, finance, events and publishing.

This board will be responsible for the management and governance of Rise employees, including those of the Rise-Up Academy charity, and the Rise Advisory Boards in North America, Europe, APAC and now in India, as well as current and future initiatives.

Sadie Groom, Founder, and Nicki Fisher, Chair of Rise, welcomed Claire Da Silva, Samantha Harrison, Andy Beale, Charlotte Wheeler, Namrata Sarmah, and Tim Williams to the official board. They said: “The addition of these talented individuals will enhance Rise’s leadership team and support the organisation’s mission of advancing gender diversity in the broadcast media technology industry.”

Claire Da Silva is the current Vice President of Production Services at DAZN and during the pandemic, was responsible for the virtual production offerings that enabled DAZN to create content from anywhere. This innovation led to her being nominated for the 40 under 40 Leaders in Sport.

Samantha Harrison has a background in finance, where she currently serves as the Finance Director at NEP Connect and is responsible for shaping the company’s strategic direction and financial trajectory. As a STEM Ambassador, she supports secondary school students with career advice.

Andy Beale is co-founder of the Rise-Up Academy, an award-winning STEM school programme that aims to inspire the next generation to enter the media technology industry. Beale was most recently responsible for BT Sport’s broadcast infrastructure, operations roadmap, and innovation strategy. He previously was Head of Engineering for Sports Media House, Octagon, and also delivered projects worldwide for respected system integrator IPK. Beale is a SMPTE Fellow and was named Technology Leader of the Year at the 2021 IABM awards.

Charlotte Wheeler is the Director of the Broadcast Tech & Sport Group and the Event Director of the UK’s only annual trade event, The Media Production & Technology Show. Wheeler is passionate about being an advocate for women across all sectors and through her work, MPTS has been one of the only Media & Entertainment tradeshows to achieve a 50% gender split in content programming.

Namrata Sarmah is currently the Chief Product Officer at INTO University Partnerships, a global Higher Education company. She also sits on the board of The Open University Business School, advises Antler, an early-stage VC firm, and is the founder of Women in Product (London).

Tim Williams has a background in procurement and international logistics and is comfortable working with clients on projects in the Middle East and Asia. Williams has held Non-Executive roles, acted as a mentor in the 30% club, and served as Chair of a BID group in Marlow. In 2018, he became the Operations Director at Argosy.

Rise said the addition of this valuable skill set to its board “will enhance the organisation’s leadership team, bringing new experience and expertise to support Rise’s mission and organisational values”.

“We are delighted to welcome Claire, Sam, Namrata, Tim, Andy and Charlotte to our board of Non-Executive Directors,” said Donna Smith, Managing Director of Rise. “Rise has grown substantially over the past few years, bringing mentoring, awards, programme training and awareness to women around the world. With chapters in North America, Europe, APAC and now India, these new board members will provide Rise with strategic guidance and independent perspectives, contributing to our long-term growth and success.”