Governance

Our focus extends beyond striving to be outstanding architects – we are equally committed to ensuring that all three of our studios are exceptional places to work.
At the start of 2024, we engaged a distinguished King’s Counsel barrister specialising in employment law to conduct an independent review of our workplace culture. The findings revealed no significant issues in any of our studios. Nevertheless, we proactively implemented a thorough restructuring of our business governance to enhance the transparency of our daily operations.

Adjaye Associates’ global operations are overseen by three Management Boards.

 

Executive Board

The Executive Board is the main decision-making Board for the business covering strategy, finance, and compliance.

Members:

Chair – Sir David Adjaye OM OBE
Group CFO – Osman Chaudhry
CEO, Accra – Kofi Bio
CEO, London – Lucy Tilley

 

Administrative Board

The Administrative Board is focused on the day-to-day management of the studios, HR and logistics.

Members:

Chair – Lucy Tilley
Associate Principal – Ken Faulkner
Senior Associate – Camaal Benoit
Senior Project Architect – Francisco Cunha
Project Manager – Esther Ofori Atta
Global Head of Administration – Luisa Alves
Senior Accountant – James McKenzie
Head of Finance, Accra – Eileen Kissi
Operations Manager, London – Linda Cole
Operations Manager, Accra – Elaine Enchia Okai Mintah
Operations Manager, New York – Kakra Nunoo-Brown
Human Resources Manager – Susan Akpebu

 

Design Excellence Board

The Design Excellence Board acts as an internal advisory platform on all major technology, environment, best practice, and design related topics.

Members:

Chair – Sir David Adjaye OM OBE
Associate Principal – Joe Franchina
Associate Principal – Yohannes Bereket
Associate Principal – Ken Faulkner
Project Director – Joao Barroso
Project Director – Guy Parkinson
Project Director – Emilia Dede Bakey Awaitey
Project Director – Keji Malik
Project Director – Daeho Lee
Landscape Architect – Teni Lawal

 

Ethics & Policy Committee

This standalone committee oversees all serious grievance processes at the firm.

Members:

Group CFO – Osman Chaudhry
Senior External Adviser – Caroline Roberts FCIPD*

*Caroline is currently Executive Director of People and Culture at Octavia, the housing, social care and charitable organisation founded by Octavia Hill. 

After an early career in radio production at the BBC, Caroline worked in a variety of leadership, learning and HR roles. She is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, a BAFTA member, and qualified in mediation and psychometric assessment.

More recently, she’s led people functions in organisations in the public and private sector, including Fox International Channels, Zaha Hadid Architects, Visit Britain, the CBI, News UK and the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.  She is also an Associate Non-Executive Director for Barking, Havering and Redbridge NHS Trust, where she is Wellbeing Guardian.