Chloé James joins advisory board of The Bridge International
RFI Global media & communications director Chloé James has joined former RAA Insurance chief executive David Russell on the board of The Bridge International.
The Australia-headquartered boutique management consultancy has appointed media expert Chloé James as a non-executive board director.
After spending the past five years with RFI Global in Canada, Chloé will now be based in Adelaide, and continue to serve as the research & insights firm’s group director of media & communications. She brings two decades of finance and media experience to the board.
“I am honoured to be joining The Bridge International in this formal advisory capacity at this pivotal point of their journey,” stated Chloé. “From the very beginning I knew the team offered something unique and special. After following their success to date and seeing the purpose driven brands they work with [such as Lifeline, RACQ, and Alinta], I cannot wait to share my advice and see what the next chapter brings.”
Chloé kicked off her career as an events manager for finance sector-focused organisations including ASIC and the BT Financial Group and the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority in London. From there she joined RFI Global in 2012, initially based out of Sydney before transferring to Toronto, where she oversees the finance sector insights specialist’s global comms, media relations and public affairs functions.
Tapping her earlier start as a presenter with the ABC, Chloé has during her time with RFI hosted several business and fintech-related television broadcasts and podcasts, including as a presenter on Sky News Australia. For the past five years she has co-hosted the New York-based ‘Breaking Banks’ podcast, described as the world’s leading fintech program with over 6 million listeners in 177 countries.
“With almost 20 years’ experience in business, banking and traditional financial services, fintech, technology, and entrepreneurship across the globe, Chloé is a great fit for The Bridge International and our clients, and we are delighted she has agreed to join us in this advisory capacity, during a time of steely-focused hyper-growth for the organisation,” stated co-founder and managing director Stuart Blake.
Blake established The Bridge International in 2018 as a bespoke management consultancy alongside fellow former insurance executive David McDonald (both held leadership roles at Westfarmers Insurance and IAG), with the launch event hosted by Chloé. The firm provides strategic advisory, operations, program management, brand, culture and risk services among others, drawing its expertise from the business realm.
“We have five partners with combined 120 years experience in executive roles, supported by our core team of 20 consultants based around Australia,” Blake stated in a 2020 interview with the AFR on the subject of consulting boutiques. “Our ultra-low overheads – most of the consultants work from home or the client site – means we can charge between 40 per cent and 60 per cent less than that of the Big Four.”
