Van der Noll, Hurwitz And Greer Join ESA Board

Three new directors have been appointed to the Board of the European Sponsorship Association (ESA). Eelco Van der Noll of AB InBev, Fredda Hurwitz of Havas Sports and Entertainment and Sandra Greer of Repucom International were newly appointed while existing Directors, Toby Hester, Castrol and Nick Johnson, Osborne Clarke, were re-elected to the Board. 

ESA Chairman Karen Earl said: “We have had tremendous interest in the Board Director positions this year, as well as a record attendance at the AGM. This bodes well for the industry as ESA continues to raise standards, and protect and promote the business of sponsorship. Our new Directors bring a wealth of sponsorship knowledge and experience to ESA and they help to make up a very strong Board”.   

Eelco joins with 20 years’ experience, currently as Global Director, AB InBev, overseeing the company’s sponsorship portfolio. He has also worked as Director, Marketing at FIFA and held senior positions at MasterCard and Canon. 

Fredda’s expertise in sponsorship covers many years, having worked client-side at Disney, NHL and NFL International before turning to agency life, working at a number of key agencies before moving to Havas Sports and Entertainment as Global VP Strategic Planning, Marketing & Communications.

Sandra’s work in the sports and sponsorship industry is extensive and she specialises in the area of evaluation and strategy. She has been a member of ESA since its inception, a member of the Board previously and currently heads up ESA’s Information group, providing the European market sponsorship size and other data for members.

Karen Earl added: “It is always good to have new Directors on the Board to inject different ideas and initiatives. ESA has enjoyed a strong past 12 months with the launch of the ESA Diploma – the first professional qualification for the industry as well as a number of key achievements within it policy and governance work at EU and national levels."