Jillian van Turnhout serves on the Arts Council, where she chairs the Policy and Strategy Committee, having first been appointed in 2019 and subsequently reappointed. She brings extensive leadership experience across business, public affairs and voluntary sectors in Ireland and the EU.

A Chartered Director (CDir) with INSEAD International Directors Programme certification (IDP-C), she currently chairs the Private Securities Authority, Nursing Homes Ireland, the Department of Health Online Health Taskforce, and the DCEDIY Care Experience Programme Stakeholder Advisory Group, while serving as Director and Company Secretary of Irish Girl Guides. Her previous roles include independent Senator, Vice President of the European Economic and Social Committee, Chief Executive of the Children's Rights Alliance, and co-founder of the European Youth Forum.

She has been awarded the Chevalier de l'Ordre National du Mérite by the President of France and an Honorary Fellowship from the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland. She is also an accredited Genealogist.