Jennifer Anderson - Deputy Director of Internal Audit and Assurance, BBC 

Jennifer is a transformative audit leader and currently serves as the Deputy Director of Internal Audit and Assurance at the BBC. With a background that includes leadership roles in the FTSE 250 and deep experience in international global markets, she specialises in driving meaningful impact through innovation and strategic collaboration. 

A former IIA Emerging Leader herself, Jennifer now reinvests in the industry as a mentor for the IIA’s flagship Emerging Leader mentoring programme and has appeared on several podcasts and webinars. Her commitment to world-class governance is further evidenced by her board-level contributions to the RNLI and The Cyber Helpline.

Jasvinder Deo - Head of Internal Audit and Risk, Marks & Spencer

Jasvinder joined Marks & Spencer in June 2025 as Head of Internal Audit and Risk, where she leads the  Internal Audit and Risk function and partners closely with senior leadership to strengthen risk oversight and support M&S’s ongoing transformation as one of the UK’s most trusted and iconic retail brands. 

A Chartered Accountant, Jasvinder began her career with PwC in Australia before building significant experience across the retail and consumer goods sectors. Her career includes 13 years at Tesco in roles such as Group Audit Director and Group Risk & Transformation Director, followed by her position as Global Audit and Risk Director at PZ Cussons.

She also serves as a Board Trustee of the Whitehall Industry Group and sits on the British Heart Foundation’s Audit & Risk Committee. A committed advocate for diversity, equity and inclusion, she was recognised in 2021 as one of the Top 10 EMpower Ethnic Minority Executive Role Models.

Vincent Francios - Group Chief Audit Officer (SMF5), Bank of London

Vincent is the Group Chief Audit Officer (SMF5) at Bank of London, with over 25 years of experience in internal audit, risk management, and internal control across the financial services sector. He has held senior audit leadership roles in the UK and internationally, covering corporate and investment banking, markets activities, credit and counterparty risk, and a broad range of governance and regulatory topics. 

Vincent has been a Chief Audit Executive since 2007, including roles as EMEA Head of Audit for Société Générale’s investment banking activities and later Regional Chief Audit Executive for the Société Générale Group across multiple countries and business lines. In May 2022, he joined Bank of London as Group Chief Audit Officer. 

Ben Kaye - Council Member, Chartered IIA

Ben is an Internal Audit, Risk and Governance leader with more than 20 years’ international experience across financial services, professional services, consumer products, healthcare and aviation. He has held senior roles including Head of Internal Audit and Director of Internal Controls & Audit, where he has built and revitalised assurance frameworks and led teams through External Quality Assessments and regulatory benchmarking. 

A Chartered Internal Auditor and Certified Internal Auditor, Ben also holds the QIAL, CRMA and CISA designations, and is a former examiner for the QIAL qualification. He has presented to executive and board committees in global organisations including Sony, Ericsson, Bupa, Kellogg’s and BDO. 

Ben is committed to advancing the profession, ensuring internal audit remains innovative, relevant and value-adding in line with the Chartered IIA’s mission and governance principles. 

Mary Ann Khalil - Founder & Managing Director, Knowbility Consultancy 

Mary Ann is an Internal Audit, Risk, and Governance leader with over 20 years of international experience across the U.S., U.K., UAE, and Kuwait. She has held senior roles with globally reputed multinationals and professional services firms, bringing global experience, cross-sector insight, and exposure across in-house, co-sourced, outsourced, and entrepreneurial environments. This gives her a unique vantage point to advise boards and executives with both strategic insight and practical experience. 

She founded Knowbility Consultancy, to challenge boilerplate consulting and deliver bespoke, high-impact solutions. Drawing on her experience as both a board member and trusted advisor to boards, she inspires confidence in the boardroom and champions assurance as a catalyst for strategic success and sustainable excellence. As co-founder of a global AI community, she helps nurture a cross-disciplinary network that responsibly upskills, builds, and partners for impact across the AI ecosystem. Mary Ann also volunteers with Soroptimist International, a global women’s organisation dedicated to empowering and uplifting women and girls. 

Mark Penlington - Director of Risk and Resilience and Internal Audit, Irwin Mitchell

Mark leads the Risk, Resilience, and Internal Audit team at the legal services firm Irwin Mitchell, and has extensive experience across the financial services and travel sectors. Mark founded the Legal Heads of Internal Audit forum, a platform dedicated to fostering collaboration and innovation among legal assurance professionals. Mark is a qualified accountant (ACCA) as well as holding the CIA, CMIIA, QIAL and CISA designations. 

Ashwathama Rajendran - Strategic Internal Audit and Data analytics leader

Ashwathama is a strategic Internal Audit and Data Analytics leader with more than a decade of experience modernising audit functions through advanced analytics, automation, and AI‑driven innovation. Throughout his career in global financial institutions, he has transformed traditional audit practices into insight‑driven, technology‑enabled programmes that materially enhance risk coverage and decision‑making. He has led high‑impact audit engagements across risk management, finance, payments, and compliance, consistently embedding sophisticated analytical techniques into scoping, testing, and continuous monitoring. He has also developed AI‑powered tools for thematic analysis, issue detection, and unstructured data mining—significantly elevating the speed, accuracy, and depth of audit insights.

A recognised thought leader, Ash frequently advises, mentors, and upskills audit teams on data‑driven methodologies, emerging technologies, and the practical application of generative AI within assurance functions. His work bridges deep technical expertise with strong business acumen, enabling audit teams to uncover risks earlier, identify meaningful patterns, and deliver more forward‑looking assurance. He is committed to championing achievements that demonstrate exceptional impact, integrity, creativity, and the forward‑thinking vision needed to advance the internal audit profession in an increasingly digital world.

Anna Simmonds - Non-Executive Director, Chair of Remuneration Committee and Audit Committee Member 

As a career internal auditor, Anna is a big advocate of the profession and those in the profession. She uses the great tales of being an internal auditor to generate interest and highlight how it benefits organisations. Some of her personal career highlights have been working alongside police investigating theft, appearing on national TV as the independent adjudicator of the National Lottery, and not forgetting grass roots – her first internal audit report that happened to be on public conveniences - making the local newspaper headlines of ‘Loonancy’.  Anna has now swapped sides in Audit Committees taking up Non-Executive Board roles at several housing associations and Kyndi, an innovative assistive technology company.

Jennifer Warrillow - Head of Internal Audit, Dartford Borough Council

Jen has 16 years’ of experience within internal audit in local government and has been with the Dartford & Sevenoaks Audit Partnership as their CAE for 4 years. She has a passion for improving the quality of internal audit and has worked to empower her team to deliver greater insights and help her raise the profile of audit throughout the councils they work for.  

Rania Bejjani - Founder & CEO at RB Advisory & Consultancy

Rania Bejjani is a visionary and strategic Internal Audit and GRC transformation leader with 25+ years of global, cross-sector experience. A former Chief Audit & Risk Executive at VEON, FirstGroup, and Colt, she now advises boards and executive teams through her boutique consultancy, providing advisory, mentoring, and training, and helping elevate risk and audit into modern, trusted strategic partners. Renowned for her influence, commercial acumen, and people-first leadership, she has mentored over 20 CAEs and CROs and led large teams across five continents.  

Rania is a sought-after speaker and storyteller known for her ability to bring clarity, warmth, and inspiration to serious topics. Fluent in English, French, and Arabic, she brings east-meets-west insight with a touch of humour. She holds a master's in Strategic Management and is CIMA and CIA qualified. 

David Dart - Head of Internal Audit at NATO

David has spent most of his career in the UK public sector, specialising in internal audit, external audit, fraud investigation, and governance. Since 2018, he has been Head of Internal Audit for NATO Allied Command Operations in Mons, Belgium, where he has strengthened audit independence, introduced risk‑based auditing, and developed anti‑fraud capabilities.

Previously, David was Deputy Head of Internal Audit at the UK Ministry of Defence, leading 70 auditors and advancing risk‑based auditing across £37bn of expenditure. He has also supported audit capability development in Georgia and Ukraine and contributed to NATO‑led building integrity programmes.

Vishal Daudia  - Group Director of Assurance at IMI plc

Vishal is a senior Risk, Audit and Governance professional with 25 years’ experience in leading teams across various FTSE 100 oil & gas, manufacturing, and distribution organisations. A trained Chartered Accountant, Vishal began his career at KPMG, where he was an Audit Director, and he is currently the Director of Group Assurance at IMI plc.

Deeply passionate about ‘Integrated Assurance’, Vishal has successfully delivered multiple such programmes, driving more connected enterprise risk management and assurance approaches. These programmes have led to multiple assurance providers within organisations to work more collaboratively and develop clear, proportional, and appropriate assurance coverage, whilst also generating significant cost savings in the process.

Gen Hudson - Senior Vice President, Internal Audit and Risk at Bauer Media Group

Gen is a Senior Vice President, Internal Audit and Risk at Bauer Media Group, a media business focused on creating content that matters to millions of people across Europe. Prior to Bauer, she spent several years leading the global internal audit function for a U.S.-listed out-of-home advertising company, as well as working in external audit.  

A qualified chartered accountant, Gen has extensive experience managing internal audit teams within complex, fast-evolving organisations. In her role, she provides independent and objective assurance over governance, risk management, and internal controls, while partnering closely with executive leadership and the Board to strengthen organisational resilience and performance. 

Gen has a strong track record in recruiting and developing talent and creating high-performing teams. She is recognised for my commitment to continuous improvement and her passion for fostering transparency, accountability, and a robust culture of risk awareness to drive sustainable business growth.  

Kane Umeh - Group Head of Internal Audit and Risk at Go‑Ahead Group

Kane is an experienced internal audit and risk leader and currently serves as Group Head of Internal Audit and Risk at the Go‑Ahead Group, one of the UK’s largest public transport operators and a global, multi‑modal transport group. He provides independent assurance and advice to Boards, Audit & Risk Committees, and executive teams across complex, highly regulated environments, with a strong focus on governance, enterprise  risk management, and organisational resilience. 

With a career spanning FTSE‑listed organisations and multinational groups, Kane has held senior audit leadership roles at BT Group and brings extensive international experience across Europe, the Americas, Asia, and Australia. He is recognised for sound judgement, independence, and audit quality, and was part of the BT Internal Audit team that won the Chartered IIA Outstanding Internal Audit Team Award.

​Caroline Wehrle - Non-Executive Director and Audit Committee Chair 

Caroline has expertise in risk management, compliance and ethics, finance, audit, internal controls, and pensions. She spent 16 years at Diageo Plc in senior finance, audit, risk, and compliance positions, culminating in six years as their Global Head of Risk and Compliance. 

Caroline has also been a Non-Executive Director with Aster Group, where she was Chair of the Risk and Assurance Committee and Member of the Finance and Treasury Committee. She is currently an Independent Member of the Audit and Risk Committee at The Wellcome Trust, a non-executive director, Chair of the Audit Committee, and Finance & Treasury Committee Member at NHS Property Services Ltd, and a non-executive director, Chair of the Audit Committee, and Sustainability Committee Member at the King’s Cross Group.