Announcement: New Executive Director

We are pleased to announce the appointment of John Young as our new Executive Director from November 2018. John has been a member of the INASP Board of Trustees since September 2017.

John comes to INASP with 35 years’ experience of working across the development sector, of which 15 are in the field of research and communication, with a strong focus on information systems and strengthening southern research capacity. As head of the RAPID (Research and Policy in Development) programme at ODI, John developed RAPID into a global leader on the research-policy interface and shaped its key approaches on policy influence. John has worked extensively in Africa and Asia. Prior to that he spent five years in Indonesia managing the DFID Decentralised Livestock Services in the Eastern Regions of Indonesia (DELIVERI) Project, and 11 years developing and testing new approaches to village animal healthcare, and then managing the Practical Action country programme in Kenya.

John comments, “INASP and its partners have contributed hugely to improving knowledge production and use in developing countries over the last 25 years, which is making a real difference to development policy and practice. I am immensely excited to have the chance to lead INASP through the next stage of its evolution.”

INASP’s current Executive Director, Julie Brittain leaves INASP after seven years of leadership within the organization. “John is very familiar with – and passionate about – INASP’s work,” she says, “and I have every confidence that he will do an excellent job leading the organization going forward.”

Jo Beall, Chair of INASP’s Board of Trustees, says, “I am delighted to welcome John as the new Executive Director of INASP. John comes to the organization with vast experience in the field of research, knowledge communication and evidence-based policy making in the field of international development. His expertise, experience and reputation will be hugely valuable and will build on the sterling achievements of INASP’s outgoing Executive Director, Julie Brittain. It gives me great pleasure on behalf of the trustees to welcome John to his new role in INASP.”