Esther van der Zee - Teeken

Esther was appointed Chief Operating Officer of the PRI in 2022, playing a pivotal role and partnering closely with the CEO and the Executive Team to develop and implement operational and cross-organisational aspects of the compelling multi-year strategy.

Esther is responsible for leading and supporting a high-performing Operations team and the overall execution of PRI’s business planning to ensure the commitments  are  appropriately  resourced  and the budget is allocated to deliver against business plans. To provide leadership to support the scaling and transformation of our operating model and to continue to market and create brand awareness to support the PRI thought leadership & relevant signatory programs globally.

Prior to the PRI, Esther was the Chief Operating Officer and a Board member at the Institute of Directors from November 2019 – September 2022 where she led and supported the company-wide restructure in 2020. Esther was also the driving force behind the IoD’s commitment to ensuring more women achieve board director roles.

Esther has a track record of delivering successful transformation programmes to increase revenues, improve operational efficiency and profitability. She has built a career in professional services, spending over 10 years as the Global CFO for Grant Thornton International, supporting the global leadership team and advising senior stakeholders in firms across Grant Thornton’s international network.

A strong advocate for greater diversity in the workplace, Esther is an active member of the female leaders’ network within the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) as well as the Vice Chair of the IoD’s Glass Ceiling Women’s Network and a Trustee and Charity Volunteer at Friends of Godstowe.

Esther has an MSc degree in Business Administration (finance, accounting, and economics) from the Erasmus University, Rotterdam, The Netherlands followed by further finance qualification of CIMA (Chartered Institute of Management Accountants). Esther also holds the IoD Certificate in Company Direction, bachelor’s level (SCQF) qualification.