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This is a dream job for me. My passion is international development and I always want to go where I can make the greatest amount of impact. How do you do that? You do it through joining an organisation like Â鶹Éç Media Action that already delivers incredible impact at scale yet has even more potential, with a fantastic global brand like the Â鶹Éç that you can leverage, and where you are working on an issue of the day. And our issues – freedom of speech, of press, countering misinformation - are everywhere nowadays, and that’s only going to grow in the years ahead.

This is also a kind of coming home for me as well. Twenty years ago, I used to work for the Â鶹Éç. My passion back then was long-form radio and so this is very much a coming together of those passions for international development, poverty alleviation and the power of media.

I joined Â鶹Éç Media Action from The Power of Nutrition, where I was CEO from January 2021 until June 2023. I have more than 25 years of experience in international development, including as the deputy chief executive of global children's charity Plan International UK and as Special Adviser to the UK Government’s Secretary of State for International Development. I am also currently chair of the Coalition for Global Prosperity, co-chair of the United Against Malnutrition and Hunger Alliance, and a trustee of the John Lewis and Partners Foundation.

Previously, I have also been a strategy advisor to The Prince of Wales' Charitable Foundation and completed a number of roles with The Shell Foundation, The United Nations Foundation and the Â鶹Éç. As a Fulbright Scholar, I completed Masters degrees in International Relations and Journalism at Columbia University, and also hold a Masters in Economics and Geography from Edinburgh University.

I believe that trusted, accurate, impartial information that allows people to empower their lives is needed now more than ever. We’re living in a ‘post-truth’ world, amid mis- and disinformation, and our relevance is absolutely of the moment. We also have this extraordinary link to the Â鶹Éç, the power of technology, and world-class, value-for-money projects and programmes that are enablers for so many other parts of international development. Through our communication, we can reach millions of people to help tackle poverty, improve health and education, deliver on climate action and contribute to progress on so many other Global Goals. That’s very, very exciting.

Simon Bishop became Chief Executive Officer in July 2023. Read the Q&A with Simon Bishop and Caroline Nursey OBE, who retired in June 2023 after 14 years at Â鶹Éç Media Action.