Catherine Hawkins
Founder
Catherine is a commercial specialist with over 20 years of experience in the sales and sponsorship sector. She launched Think!Sponsorship in October 2002 and specialises in working with sponsorship-seekers to identify assets and opportunities with the goal of converting these into reputationally appropriate and sustainable commercial programmes. She has worked with a broad range of clients across the tourist/visitor attraction, entertainment, cultural, local government, sports & member sectors on start-up ideas through to the execution and sale of large- scale sponsorship rights (£5,000 - £1,000,000)
Catherine was recruited to the National Parks Partnership (NPP) board as a Non-Executive Director in 2015 – a board specifically created to represent the commercial interests of all 15 National Parks in the UK for the first time in their history.
Catherine created the ESA Sales Certificate in 2017 which accredits sponsorship practitioners in best-practice sales techniques. The course is delivered in partnership with the European Sponsorship Association (the governing body for sponsorship in Europe) with the goal of raising sales standards across the industry.
In 2018 Catherine became a judge for the UK Sponsorship Awards specifically reviewing young talent in relation to The Barrie Gill Award for Most Promising Young Sponsorship Executive. She is a regular contributor to conferences and industry events across Europe on sponsorship trends and investment patterns and is an experienced moderator and facilitator.
As co-founder of the Women in Sponsorship networking group (a group set up and designed to support the professional development of women working within the sector) Catherine will oversee the launch of the first ever mentorship programme for women working in the sector later this year (June 19).
Catherine is a keen walker, a devoted – and long-suffering - Ipswich Town FC fan (particularly in this 2019 season), a UK Athletics Level 2 Field Official (with an eye on officiating at the 2022 Commonwealth Games) and also enjoys cooking and theatre.
