Executive Team
Joanna Arnold
CEO (Acting) & Group Chief Executive OfficerJoanna Arnold
CEO (Acting) & Group Chief Executive OfficerJoanna joined Access Intelligence as COO in 2011 and became CEO in 2014, leading the company to becoming the third largest software provider to the UK PR and Communications industry. Today, the business is known for its commitment to using technology to transform the way in which journalists, politicians and online influencers access trusted, expert insight.
Her vision is a world of open and effective communication that tackles head on issues from fake news to information overload. Today, Access Intelligence has over 6,000 customers.
Before Access Intelligence, Joanna’s career included a combination of investment roles and ten years M&A experience in the software sector. Alongside her role at Access Intelligence, she is a non-executive director at Trailight Ltd, a compliance SaaS platform, solving regulatory challenges for Financial Services companies. Joanna graduated from Edinburgh University in 2004.
Tom Gerstmyer
Group Transformation DirectorTom Gerstmyer
Group Transformation DirectorTom is an Operations Leader with over 25 years of experience in the media industry and a diverse background with roles across sales, business development, supply chain, IT and program management in the US and Australia.
Most recently Tom was Chief Operating Officer at Australian health-tech startup VBreathe, with a focus on scaling up the business to compete globally. Prior to that Tom was COO of Isentia responsible for the groups production, service delivery, global content licensing and vendor management. He has also held a number of senior operations roles at Fairfax Media leading large-scale transformation across technology, people, culture, sales, distribution and logistics to deliver multi-million dollar improvements in margins and cost bases.
Tom is a former Non-executive Director of the Audited Media Association of Australia and holds a Bachelor of Arts, Business Administration – Marketing from Towson University.
Russ Horell
Chief Commercial OfficerRuss Horell
Chief Commercial OfficerRuss has 14 years experience in the media intelligence industry, notably leading the Queensland and New Zealand Isentia businesses to success, earning the respect of his peers, clients and industry in the process.
As New Zealand Country Manager Russ has lead his highly engaged team through a transformation strategy while increasing results across the business.
In his capacity as Queensland State Manager Russ oversaw continuous growth and played a pivotal role in securing key business for Isentia such as key government and large enterprise contracts.
Russ has a passion for creating strong partnerships with clients using his broad Sales leadership experience, and a genuine approach to optimising their experience.
Russ holds degrees in Journalism and Law from Qld University of Technology.
Kelly Young
Chief Human Resources OfficerKelly Young
Chief Human Resources OfficerKelly Young is a senior HR professional with deep experience on the frontline of business transformation and a focus on building performance cultures within companies.
She was most recently People and Culture Director at Bauer Media, where she overhauled employee experience by building leadership and change programs. She was able to create a culture of collaboration through mentoring and people initiatives, while supporting the widespread transformation of the business. Ms Young also held numerous HR roles at Fairfax Media across key brands including The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, The Australian Financial Review and digital brand teams. Following the 2013 formation of the Australian Publishing Media – grouping the leading metropolitan and regional products nationally – Ms Young continued to build culture and talent to meet the needs of an ever-changing media business.
Jacquie Shanahan
General Counsel and Company SecretaryJacquie Shanahan
General Counsel and Company SecretaryJacquie Shanahan joined the group in August 2015 and brings many years of company secretarial, corporate governance and commercial law experience to the group. She has had company secretarial and legal roles with subsidiaries of United Parcel Service of America, ASX listed Roc Oil Company Limited and RGA Reinsurance Company of Australia Limited (continuing). In addition to these roles,
Jacquie has been involved in the regulation of corporate governance reporting at the ASX and was a senior associate in corporate commercial practice at Corrs Chambers Westgarth. Jacquie holds Bachelor of Arts and Laws for the University of Queensland and is a member of the Law Society of New South Wales and the Association of Corporate Counsel Australia.