Our People

Institutional Design's team members have wide corporate, legal, insurance and risk management expertise in the UK and Australia. Institutional Design has extensive experience operating at Board and executive management level.

Background information on senior professional staff is shown below.

Jonathan Bates, Managing Director – B.A (Econ.), LLB. (Hons), LLM.

Jonathan founded Institutional Design in 1999. He has taken a leadership role in the development of the BoardProcessValue ® methodology. Jonathan has extensive experience in the development and implementation of design and practice of global Boards, especially in the oil and gas, mining, telecommunications and technology sectors. Between 1994 and 1999 Jonathan advised as a member of the in-house Board governance team at BP.

Geoffrey Doggart, Director – B.A (Hons), M. Phil.

Geoffrey has been with the firm since 2001 having joined from a leading international research firm where his role was head of Research and Analysis for the US Technology Practice, based in London and New York. He is responsible for delivering client engagements and for firm-wide operations. He has worked extensively with executive management teams and Board officers on a range of organisational, change management and governance issues.

Haris Syed, Research Manager – LLB., LLM.

Haris leads Institutional Design’s Research Function and has been with the firm since 2003. He is responsible for global corporate governance research as well as internal programmes relating to Institutional Design’s BoardProcessValue ® methodology. Haris has expertise in delivering Board process related analysis across multiple industry sectors and legal jurisdictions. He is admitted to the New York Bar and to the Bar of England & Wales (Lincoln's Inn).

Patrick Ryan, Manager Australia – BEc., LLB., MBA.

Prior to commencing with Institutional Design Patrick was a Partner with an International Insurance and Risk Management firm primarily involved with Professional & Financial Risks for entities, individual directors and executive management. Patrick commenced his career as a corporate lawyer working for a leading international law firm. Patrick is responsible for Institutional Design’s client relationships and technical leadership in Australia.

Suzanne Matheson, Manager – B.Bus. (Fin), LLB., M.Li.M

Suzanne joined Institutional Design in 2006 having previously worked as an independent adviser on developing constructive communication within organisations to multi-national clients. Suzie commenced her career as a corporate lawyer specialising in telecommunications working in London with a specialist IT/IP law firm before returning to Australian to work for a leading international law firm.

Senior Independent Advisers

We have a panel of senior independent advisers with specific Board sector expertise gained in prominent international careers. They participate in our engagements as appropriate.