We’re delighted to announce that as of 1 January 2026, Jodie Bates (IT Trainer at Boult Wade Tennant) has assumed the role of Chair of the IP Inclusive Advisory Board. She succeeds Carol Arnold, who nevertheless remains as an Advisory Board member.
Jodie Bates, new Advisory Board Chair
Jodie commented:
“I’m well delighted and honoured to be taking on the role of Chair for the IP Inclusive Advisory Board, and I’m really excited for the year ahead. As someone from the business support professions, I’m hoping to bring a different perspective to the role and help build on the great work already underway. Carol Arnold has done an amazing job, and I’m very much looking forward to following on after her — thank you for everything you have done!”
Carol added:
“It has been a real privilege to have chaired the IP Inclusive Advisory Board, which I have done for several years now, and a pleasure to have met and worked with members of the Board past and present who are contributing such a lot to promoting and improving diversity, inclusion and equality across and throughout the IP community.
“I am very happy to be passing the Chair role on to Jodie and wish her, and the Board, every success in supporting Andrea, IPIM, IP Inclusive and the IP community as a whole.”
Carol Arnold, former Advisory Board Chair
IP Inclusive would like to take this opportunity to thank Carol for her excellent chairing of the Advisory Board since her appointment in January 2023. She has overseen several changes in the Board’s membership – including the appointment of eight new members in 2025 – and steered it with a gentle and collaborative approach to a position in which its input is key to so much of our work, strategies and day-to-day planning. Her enthusiasm for, and commitment to, the IP Inclusive cause has been second to none. We are delighted that she remains on the Board for at least a little while longer, bringing continuity and experience that goes back to her earlier involvement in our governing body IP Inclusive Management.
Jodie is also a long-standing Advisory Board member, having joined when the Board was first established in 2021 and contributed to much of its early work. She is also a member of Women in IP’s mentoring and socials focus groups and is involved in our work on a new community for business support professionals. We wish her every success in her new role at the head of the Advisory Board, and look forward to working alongside her as we begin our second decade.
Click here to find out more about the Advisory Board.