ActionAid appoints new international chief executive

ActionAid has appointed Canadian national Joanna Kerr, 42, as the next new international chief executive, based at its headquarters in South Africa.

Joanna will join ActionAid on 1 June from her current post as policy director with Oxfam Canada.

“I am thrilled to be joining such a dynamic organization and look forward to working with ActionAid´s creative and diverse global team to help end poverty and advance human rights for all,” she said.

Prior to Oxfam, Joanna was executive director of the Association of Women’s Rights in Development (AWID) where she transformed it into an international, feminist membership organisation, mobilising almost 7000 people and 200 organisations. She has extensive experience of international governance and strategic links to international networks.

“Joanna’s values, vision and politics are totally consistent with ActionAid’s commitment to social, political and ecological justice to poor and excluded people in the communities where we work," said Irene Ovonji Odida, ActionAid's international chair. "The international board is confident that Joanna will build on what has already been achieved under Ramesh Singh’s leadership while bringing fresh energy and vision, as we move to the next strategic plan for the organisation..”

Joanna holds a BA (Hons) in African Studies from the University of Toronto and an MA in Gender and Development from the University of Sussex.

Joanna replaces the current chief executive, Ramesh Singh, 54 from Nepal, who has been in this position since 2004. Ramesh leaves ActionAid after 26 years having held posts as Asia regional director, country director in Ethiopia, Nepal and Vietnam and head of agriculture and water programmes in Gambia. Ramesh will be most remembered for his strategic contribution to overseeing the successful internationalisation of the organisation.