Sandra Yates is a consultant to business and government, and an executive coach. She was most recently the chair of the NSW TAFE Commission Board, and is currently the Chair of Sydney Writers' Festival, a position she has held for over 10 years. She was Chairman of advertising firm Saatchi and Saatchi Australia . In addition, Sandra chairs Get Reading!, on behalf of the Australia Council for the Arts. She is also a board director of the National Art School.
Sandra has a long and successful background in international publishing. She was previously the publisher of Time magazine, and prior to that she was President and CEO of Matilda Publications Inc., a company founded with former partner, Dr Anne Summers in New York. They raised $US20,000,000 on Wall Street and completed the second only woman-led management buy-out in US corporate history.
Sandra is a Past President of Chief Executive Women, and the YWCA of Sydney, and a former board member of the Major Events Board, UNICEF, Musica Viva, and the Taronga Foundation. Sandra is a Past President of the Magazine Publishers Association of Australia, and a former director of the Magazine Publishers Association in the US.
She was admitted as an Officer in the Order of Australia for services to women's organizations, vocational education and training, and the advertising industry.
Sandra has broad-based management experience in business, education and the arts, which gives her a unique perspective on contemporary communication issues.
