Marie Staunton CBE has been announced as the new chair of trustees at ActionAid UK, an international charity working with women and girls living in poverty. She will take up her position in Autumn 2019.
Marie Staunton CBE announced as new chair of trustees at ActionAid UK
Marie Staunton CBE has been announced as the new chair of trustees at ActionAid UK, an international charity working with women and girls living in poverty. She will take up her position in Autumn 2019.
Marie joins ActionAid UK with 30 years of experience in the international development sector and has received a CBE for her humanitarian work with women and girls. Trained as a human rights lawyer, her development experience includes stints at UNICEF, being CEO of Plan UK and Plan Canada, as well as commercial experience as Director of a Pearson company. She has extensive Board experience in the UK, the EU and globally. She also currently chairs a university.
Commenting, Marie Staunton incoming chair of trustees, said:
“Over thirty years working in international development has shown me how poverty is handed down from grandmother to mother to daughter. But I have also met inspiring women and girls who are breaking that cycle by claiming their right to education and to live in safety, where they can decide if and when they have children.
I feel proud to take a position in an organisation that supports women and girls who are changing their lives and those of their children for generations to come.
I will be joining a board that is recognised for its pioneering work on diversity and inclusion. Social change and political uncertainty are providing new challenges for development organisations and I look forward to addressing these in my new role. ActionAid has a tradition of challenging itself to change and develop its governance to serve its beneficiaries. I am joining the Board because I want to be part of that change.”
The new chair will be key to motivating the board for ActionAid UK, which is part of the ActionAid International Federation of development charities. With an annual income of nearly £200m globally, this Federation works in 43 countries, reaching thousands of communities and, most importantly, making a real difference to the lives of the world’s poorest women
and girls.
Girish Menon, chief executive of ActionAid UK said “We are beyond thrilled to be welcoming Marie to ActionAid. Her breadth of experience is key to ensuring that our strategy ‘Together with Women and Girls’ can be successful in changing the lives of the most vulnerable women and girls in the world.”
ENDS
For further information or interview enquiries, please contact the media team on email: Frankie.harrington@actionaid.org; or if out of hours, on +44 (0) 7753 973 486.
Notes to editors
ActionAid is an international charity that works with women and girls living in poverty. Our dedicated local staff are helping end violence against women and girls and changing lives, for good. We won’t stop until women and girls are out of danger, out of poverty and on track to create the future they want.