Your ICAS Office Bearer team outline their plans for 2022/23
Your newly appointed President, Deputy President and Vice President set out their visions for the year ahead, outlining key areas of focus and how they aim to support ICAS Members and Students – watch their videos.
The appointments of the three new ICAS Office Bearers for 2022/23 were confirmed at the ICAS AGM on 29 April.
Indy Singh Hothi CA has taken over as President and will be supported in his role by new Deputy President Clive Bellingham CA and new Vice President Alison Cornwell CA.
In their introductory videos below, all three Office Bearers explain their visions for the year ahead and set out their priorities for supporting Members, Students and the profession.
“CAs must break the mould and lead from the front” - ICAS President Indy Singh Hothi CA
Indy begins by noting that his themes and priorities for the year ahead are at once shaped by and a reaction to the current global circumstances we are all working and living through.
“With the worst days of the pandemic firmly behind us there’s a desire for everything to return to ‘normal’. However, what’s abundantly clear is that the experience of COVID-19 not only changed our perceptions of what ‘normal’ means but also provided us with invaluable opportunities for change.”
He suggests that this position leaves the profession with a choice: to look back or to ‘break the mould’ and build something better. His preference for the latter is evident:
“The role of CAs in reaching this new future is clear: we must lead from the front and act as positive change-makers.”
Indy calls out several areas of importance for his vision of this new landscape, including for CAs to lead on ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) issues. He also cites the importance of technology and the need to stop seeing the digital world as a threat and fully realise the opportunities it presents.
Whilst he talks about what can be done by individual CAs, he also turns his attention to what ICAS and the profession as a whole must do to nurture the people within their ranks. A focus on EDI and mental fitness are both key, he says, not only to allowing existing CAs to thrive but in making the profession sustainable and ensuring it can continue to attract the best and brightest new recruits.
Finally, on the topic of those new recruits, Indy notes that throughout 2022/23 he will have one eye fixed firmly on the future. He references the need to concentrate attention on the CA Students of today and the young people currently in school and university who might consider a career as a Chartered Accountant.
“It’s vital that we nurture their talents, provide mentoring, be their champions and welcome them into our global network.”
Watch Indy's video to learn more:
“A year to evolve key themes including education transformation, sustainability and member engagement” - ICAS Deputy President Clive Bellingham CA
In his introductory video, Clive highlights that many of his priorities for 2022/23 will be a continuation and further evolution of key themes from the year prior, when he spent a term as Vice President. These include education transformation, member engagement, EDI and sustainability.
Clive references the well-received sustainability-reporting paper that was produced earlier this year by the expert working group he chairs, notes the wider relevance and importance of the topic and suggests that this is one of many areas where ICAS has the necessary credibility to take the lead.
Moving to member engagement, Clive mentions a recent event he attended. He uses this experience to outline the importance of being able to meet ICAS Members in person now that most COVID restrictions have been lifted, and how this allows the opportunity to learn about their challenges and get direct feedback on what they feel ICAS is doing well and where it needs to improve.
“It was great to meet fellow Members, discuss their aspirations, discuss some of their challenges and get their feedback.”
Watch Clive's video to learn more:
“The world is changing rapidly and we cannot stand still” - ICAS Vice President Alison Cornwell CA
The new addition to your Office Bearer team, Alison said that during her term as Vice President she will be working across three main themes of support, strategy and action.
On the theme of support, she notes that the Office Bearers will work as a team to support CAs in acting as a force for good. Moving to strategy, Alison references the rapidly changing world and the need for ICAS to have a long-term mindset.
“I look forward to playing my part in the development of ICAS 2030 to ensure we achieve a better, more sustainable future for the benefit of ICAS, the profession and society as a whole.”
For her third and final theme of focus, she uses the example of the ICAS Foundation and her upcoming charity bike ride, through which she aims to raise enough money to fund several new student bursaries.
Watch Alison's video to learn more: