Dawn Airey

Dawn is a Non-Executive Director on the Board of Grosvenor Property UK. She is also Chair of the Barclays Women’s Super League, The National Youth Theatre and Digital Theatre, and is Deputy Chair of Channel 4.  She will take up her role as Chair of Arts Council England on August 1st. Dawn is also Chancellor of Edge Hill University. 

Dawn is a veteran of the media industry having worked in television for 30 years, holding senior positions at ITV as its first Network Controller of Kids and Daytime and latterly Managing Director of Global Content.  She was also the first Director of Programmes and subsequently CEO and Chair of Channel 5. She also worked at BSKYB as Managing Director of Channels and Services. She spent three years as Yahoo’s SVP in EMEA. Dawn was CEO and non-executive director of Getty Images for seven years. Dawn was also a member of the Government’s 2021 Expert Panel for a Fan-Led Review of Football.

In 2017, she was News International’s Visiting Professor of Media Studies at Brasenose College, Oxford University.  She is a Fellow and a Vice President of the Royal Television Society, and in 2018 was given an Honorary Doctorate of Arts by Edge Hill University for her outstanding contributions to the media industry.

Dawn was awarded a CBE in the King's Birthday Honours in 2024.