SAVE THE CHILDREN EXPANDS ITS BOARD AS LAUNCHES NEW STRATEGY TO AMPLIFY IMPACT FOR CHILDREN
GENEVA/LONDON, 24 February 2022 – Save the Children has expanded its global Board with the appointment of four new directors as it launches an ambitious three-year strategy to accelerate and amplify its impact for and with children facing the greatest challenge to their rights in decades.
The new directors, with expertise in education, innovative financing, and climate emergencies, take up their positions this month and increase board membership to 17 from 14, with one of the directors elected to a role vacated late last year. They are:
- Teresa Mbagaya - A Kenyan education specialist and principal of global impact investment firm Imaginable Futures, which focuses on building healthy and equitable systems for all learners. She has an extensive background in education, youth development and digital education transformation.
- Rolake Akinkugbe-Filani – A Nigerian private sector executive focused on innovative infrastructure and funding solutions for Africa’s economies, children and underserved communities. She has a background in investment banking, development finance, international affairs and the energy sector.
- Deepak Kapoor – An India-based executive who was previously Chairman and CEO of PwC India and founder of the PwC Foundation in India. He is also a registered accountant, company secretary and fraud examiner. He is Chair of Save the Children India.
- Larry Kamener – A Senior Adviser in the Melbourne office of the Boston Consulting Group, who founded and led BCG’s global public sector practice and its Centre for Public Impact foundation. He is a founding board member of Teach for Australia (part of the Teach for All Network) and Chair of Save the Children Australia. He is filling a vacant role.
Board Chair Angela Ahrendts DBE said the Board was excited about the expansion that will include directors who represent regions that are home to the majority of children the organisation works with.
“The new directors will further enrich our Board’s ability to rapidly evolve and leverage our scale to triple our impact for children,” said Ms Ahrendts, who joined Save the Children in January 2021 as the first independent chair of the Board. She was previously the CEO of Burberry and an SVP at Apple Inc..
Inger Ashing, CEO of Save the Children International (SCI) and the Save the Children Association (SCA) since September 2019, said she was looking forward to working with the newly expanded board and launching the new global strategy.
“COVID, conflict and climate crisis are undoing decades of progress and create a renewed urgency to protect children’s rights across the globe,” said Ms Ashing, who has been associated with Save the Children for more than 25 years, first as a youth advocate and later on the boards of Save the Children Sweden and Save the Children International.
“One in two children now live in poverty. We must think and act differently, together with children and partners, if we are to protect the rights of children now and for future generations.
“The directors bring exciting new perspectives and expertise to the Board that will help us shift gears at a time when, more than ever, we need to be strong partners to children.”
Save the Children is committed to responding to and anticipating the threats from conflict and crisis while protecting the rights of children most impacted by inequality and discrimination now and for the future. We believe every child deserves a future and, since our founding more than 100 years ago, we’ve changed the lives of more than one billion children, giving them a healthy start in life, the opportunity to learn and protection from harm.
Save the Children directly reached nearly 45 million children in 122 countries around the world in 2020. The organisation responded to 136 humanitarian emergencies across 77 countries and contributed to 33 policy or legislation changes for children’s rights.
For further enquiries please contact:
Belinda Goldsmith Belinda.goldsmith@savethechildren.org
