ODI

Suma Chakrabarti is the former President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), a position he held from 2012-2020. Prior to this, he was the Permanent Secretary at the UK’s Department for International Development and the Ministry of Justice. He has also worked at the UK Cabinet Office and Treasury.

Suma’s earlier career was in international development. He was an ODI Fellow in Botswana in the early 1980s. He held various economic and administrative posts at the Overseas Development Administration, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. Suma was knighted in 2006 for his work in the sector.

James Cameron is an international lawyer, policy adviser and entrepreneur. He is a partner in a new enterprise called Systemiq, offering a service to create system level changes through mobilising capital and talent, and he is the first Executive Fellow at Yale. He has founded, and been on the founding Boards of numerous organisations designed to use international law to protect the environment and achieve sustainable development. He was also formerly a member of the Prime Minister's Business Advisory Group, and Infrastructure UK's advisory board.

Yves Daccord is a humanitarian leader, international strategist, influencer and change-maker. His current focus is on the theme of security, social contract and the role of cities in the age of digital surveillance and pandemics, which is the subject of a special initiative he is leading at Harvard's Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society.

From 2010 – March 2020 Yves was Director-General of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). A former journalist, TV producer and international relations expert, his ICRC career spanned a variety of posts and challenging contexts – including Israel and the Occupied Territories, Sudan, Yemen, Chechnya and Georgia.

Shanta Devarajan is a professor of the practice of international development at Georgetown University’s Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service. He was previously at the World Bank, where he was the senior director for Development Economics, the chief economist of the Middle East and North Africa, Africa, and South Asia regions and the Human Development Network. 

Shanta was also a director of the 2004 World Development Report, Making Services Work for Poor People. Before 1991, he was on the faculty of Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. He received a Ph.D. in economics from the University of California, Berkeley, and an A. B. in mathematics from Princeton University.

Irene Khan is an international thought leader and a champion for human rights, gender equality and social justice. She was the first woman to be elected as Director-General of the International Development Law Organization (IDLO). She is also the only woman to become Secretary-General of Amnesty International. Irene has also worked for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), including as the UNHCR Representative in India. 

Irene has been a Board member of several development and human rights organisations. She was awarded the City of Sydney Peace Prize in 2006 for her work to end violence against women.

Frannie Léautier is a finance and development expert, with long-standing global experience of leading and transforming organisations in the private, public and non-for-profit spheres.

She is a Senior Partner at SouthBridge Group and CEO of SouthBridge Investments. She held various leadership roles at the Trade and Development Bank Group and the World Bank Group.

Frannie's work has helped to attract innovative financing to Africa. She has founded two companies, one in Risk Management Advisory and another to invest equity into small and medium enterprises. She is on several boards, including the UN Foundation, Orca Energy Group, AZA Finance and African Risk Capacity Ltd.

Dominic McVey is an award-winning business leader who was recognised by Her Majesty the Queen as a pioneer in entrepreneurship at the age of 18 for his role in the initial boom of micro scooters in the late 1990s. He is a member of the Advisory Council for the Coalition for Global Prosperity and a trustee for Computer Aid International. He was previously a trustee for the Landscape Institute.

Dominic is the former chairman of Hela Clothing and driving force behind the award-winning garment manufacturer, which is recognised widely for its sustainable and ethical practices.

Dianna Melrose is a former British High Commissioner to Tanzania and Ambassador to Cuba. As Oxfam GB's first Policy Director, she played a key role in building Oxfam's policy and international advocacy work. At DFID, she developed the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, and was Head of International Trade. Dianna led UK's Foreign & Commonwealth Office's Policy Planning department, providing challenge and innovative policy thinking for ministers and the Policy Advisory Board.

Sam Sharpe has been Chief Financial Officer of Save the Children UK since 2014. Before that, he worked for the UK Government’s Department for International Development (DFID). He spent 13 years overseas – managing programmes in Zambia and Zimbabwe, and in India during the 1990s, before heading DFID’s South African, and then Indian offices. From 2007 to 2010, he was DFID’s Director of Finance and Corporate Performance.

Fiona Thompson is a board member of Transparency International UK, Forum for the Future and the Westminster Kingsway-City & Islington Colleges of Further Education. She chairs the audit committee for the latter two, and is a member of the audit committee of the UK Department for International Development. She was formerly Vice Chair of CARE International UK.

Managing Director (Human Resources and Organisational Development) at the EBRD. Prior to joining the bank, she held various posts with the UK Government, including roles at the Ministry of Justice, the Judicial Appointments Commission and the Department for Constitutional Affairs.