After almost ten years as chairman of D&AD, Dick Powell has decided to step down from the role in September. Tim Lindsay, who is currently chief executive officer, will take his place.

In addition to his term as chairman, Powell has twice served as president and has been a recipient of the President’s Award.

“No-one has done more for D&AD than Dick,” stated D&AD president, Harriet Devoy. “He has played a huge role in transforming the organisation and everyone involved with D&AD owes him an enormous debt of thanks.”

Powell has led significant change at D&AD over the past ten years. Its industry-leading awards has grown into a truly global celebration of creativity, while the D&AD Festival will this year welcome 3,000 attendees to London’s Truman Brewery, May 21-23. D&AD has continued to support the next generation of creatives through its thriving New Blood festival, awards and academy, and the Shift programme has created a pathway into the creative industries for those outside traditional academia.

Dick Powell

“It’s time for someone else to pick up the baton and to help guide this wonderful organisation through its next decade,” Powell commented. “Needless to say, I have absolutely loved doing the job but, apart from it being time for a change, my wife would really like to see a little bit more of me.

“Tim and I have been talking about how best to organise a succession plan for several months. Early on, he said that he would be very interested in becoming chairman if the timing was right for him. I think this is very good news indeed – Tim has been a fantastic CEO for D&AD and becoming chairman is a great way for D&AD to hang onto all that experience, enthusiasm and capability,” Powell continued.

“Not only has it been a privilege to serve D&AD as CEO for seven years, it’s been the most enormous fun,” Lindsay stated. “We have a great COO in Dara Lynch, a great team and an appetite to go even further in standing up for creative excellence and a fairer, more diverse industry. I’m looking forward to providing continuity and helping us tackle the new challenges in a new role. I’d also like to pay a huge tribute to Dick Powell. He’s been an extraordinarily brilliant chairman.”

D&AD has appointed the Talent Business to assist in its search for a new CEO.