Development Initiatives appoints Martin Horwood as new Director of Engagement and Impact

Development Initiatives (DI) is delighted to announce the appointment of Martin Horwood, former UK Member of Parliament for Cheltenham, as its new Director of Engagement and Impact. Martin will be responsible for the organisation’s national and international partnerships and engagement strategies.

Martin brings a wealth of experience to the role having been the Liberal Democrat party’s international affairs spokesperson during which time he championed calls to defend human rights and combat poverty around the world. He also served as the party’s international development spokesperson during the 2015 UK general election. Before being elected to parliament, Martin worked for a number of leading charitable organisations including Oxfam, where he led a team that raised tens of millions of pounds for poor people in developing countries, including £2.5m for people affected by the Rwanda genocide.

Commenting on the appointment, Harpinder Collacott, Executive Director of DI, said,

“Martin brings exceptional experience and expertise to this role. We believe that DI has huge opportunities to contribute both to the end of extreme poverty by 2030 and to the goal of ensuring that no one is left behind. Martin will strengthen our ability to ensure our research has a real impact for people living in poverty.”

Martin Horwood said,

“I am very excited by this opportunity. Development Initiatives is an extraordinary organisation and the best source of information about international development that I know. They have built a successful organisation, well respected in the private, public and voluntary sectors for providing objective analysis and informing policy and practice worldwide. I’m really looking forward to helping the organisation achieve its ambitious vision of ending poverty by 2030.”

Martin will join DI from 10 August 2015 and will be based in the organisation’s Bristol office.