Simon Bishop

This is a dream job. My passion is international development and I always want to go where I can make the greatest impact. How do you do that? Through an organisation like BBC Media Action that already delivers incredible impact at scale yet has more potential, with a fantastic global brand like the BBC that you can leverage, and where you are working on issues of the day. And our issues – freedom of speech, of press, countering misinformation - are everywhere and will (sadly) grow in the years ahead.

This is also a kind of ‘coming home’. Twenty years ago I worked for the BBC. My passion back then was long-form radio and so this is very much a coming together of passions for poverty alleviation and the power of media.

I joined BBC Media Action from The Power of Nutrition, where I was CEO from January 2021 to June 2023. I have 30 years of experience in international development, including as the deputy chief executive of global children's charity Plan International UK and as Special Adviser to the UK Government’s Secretary of State for International Development. I currently co-chair the United Against Malnutrition and Hunger Alliance and am a trustee of the John Lewis and Partners Foundation. In autumn 2025, I was elected to the Steering Committee of the Global Forum for Media Development.

Previously, I was chair of the Coalition for Global Prosperity, a strategy advisor to The Prince of Wales' Charitable Foundation, and completed a number of roles with The Shell Foundation, The United Nations Foundation and the BBC. As a Fulbright Scholar, I completed Masters degrees in International Relations and Journalism at Columbia University, and also hold a Masters in Economics and Geography from Edinburgh University.

I believe that trusted, accurate, impartial information that allows people to empower their lives is needed now more than ever. We’re living in a ‘post-truth’ world, amid mis- and disinformation, and our relevance is absolutely of the moment. We also have this extraordinary link to the BBC, the power of technology, and world-class, value-for-money projects and programmes that are enablers for so many other parts of international development. Through our communication, we can reach millions of people to help tackle poverty, improve health and education, deliver on climate action and contribute to progress on so many other Global Goals. That’s very, very exciting.

Simon Bishop became Chief Executive Officer in July 2023.