Unicef UK appoints Sacha Deshmukh as its new permanent Chief Executive
8 January 2020 – Unicef UK is delighted to announce Sacha Deshmukh as its new Chief Executive.
Sacha brings considerable senior executive and board-level experience across the voluntary, public and private sectors. He is currently the Chief Executive of Smart Energy GB, a post he has served in since 2013. He has also, since 2014, served as Chair of international aid and development charity War Child UK.
Prior to establishing Smart Energy GB, Sacha was Executive Director (Strategy) of the UK Parliamentary & Health Service Ombudsman. Before this he had a career in marketing and communications for over a decade, including as Senior Partner in global advertising and marketing group, the Engine Group. He started his career in advocacy and campaigning, including in the early 2000s as Director of Campaigns at equality charity Stonewall.
Sacha’s non-executive board experience includes five years as a non-executive director and then Deputy Chair of Citizens Advice England & Wales. He was also a non-executive director of Consumer Focus. In 2013 Sacha was a member of the inquiry panel of the NCVO Inquiry into Executive Pay in the Voluntary Sector and is currently a non-executive director of the Fundraising Regulator.
Douglas Alexander, Chair of Trustees for Unicef UK said: “Sacha has an impressive record of achievement in the public, private and non-profit sectors, and we have been excited by his successful executive leadership in complex organisations, and by his deep experience in advocacy, campaigning, marketing, and children’s rights. Under his leadership, Smart Energy GB has grown to become the country’s largest public interest consumer engagement campaign.
Sacha absolutely shares our passion for working to address the needs of the world’s most vulnerable children and young people, as demonstrated by his roles as Board Chair at War Child UK and as a Trustee of Children in Conflict.
The Board and I are looking forward immensely to working with Sacha to build an ever stronger, more impactful Unicef UK together.”
Sacha Deshmukh said: “After many years of admiring Unicef UK, it is an amazing privilege to be joining its team and become a part of the Unicef family. Unicef’s work supporting children, worldwide and in the UK, is more important than ever before. Globally one in four children are affected by war, and Unicef’s engagement with generous supporters in the UK is critical to providing vital support to children around the world. I am looking forward to working with an incredible group of colleagues as we create the next exciting chapter for Unicef UK in the 2020s.”
Sacha will step down as Chief Executive of Smart Energy GB on 31 March 2020, and his second and final term as Chair of War Child UK will end in June 2020. His role at Unicef UK will start in April 2020.
ENDS
Notes to editors
For more information, please contact:
Unicef UK Media Team, 0207 375 6030, [email protected]
About Unicef
Unicef is the world’s leading organisation for children, promoting the rights and wellbeing of every child, in everything we do. Together with our partners, we work in 190 countries and territories to translate that commitment into practical action, focusing special effort on reaching the most vulnerable and excluded children, to the benefit of all children, everywhere.
Unicef UK raises funds to protect children in danger, transform their lives and build a safer world for tomorrow’s children. As a registered charity we raise funds through donations from individuals, organisations and companies and we lobby and campaign to keep children safe. Unicef UK also runs programmes in schools, hospitals and with local authorities in the UK.
For more information please visit unicef.org.uk
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