OPM’s Board of Directors

OPM’s Board of Directors

OPM’s constitution requires our Board of Directors to consist of seven members - four external non-executive directors, one of whom chairs the Board, and three internal directors, one of whom is the company’s managing director and another nominated by the staff. The external directors are nominated by an independent committee against a brief prepared by the Board; this committee includes one OPM staff member and one OPM Associate, plus external members who are knowledgeable about the areas we work in.

Our seven Board members are as follows (showing the year of appointment in brackets):

Paul Batchelor (External Director and Chairman – 2004)

After initial experience as an ODI Fellow in Swaziland, Paul Batchelor spent his career with an international consulting organisation specialising in development issues, latterly as a member of that firm’s global management team. He is a member of the Advisory Council of Transparency International UK and a non-executive board member of Crown Agents.

Sir Mike Aaronson (External Director - 2006)

Mike Aaronson spent seventeen years as Operations Director and then Chief Executive of Save the Children, having spent the first part of his career in the UK Diplomatic Service with postings in Africa, Asia and . He is Chair of the Board of the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, and Governor of the Westminster Foundation for Democracy.

David Bevan (External Director - 2005)

David Bevan is a Fellow of St. John’s College Oxford and former Deputy Head of the Department of Economics and Deputy Director of the Centre for the Study of African Economies at Oxford University. He is a regular advisor to the IMF, World Bank and DFID on economic management in Africa. David chairs the Board Audit Committee.

Roger Cooke (Managing Director - 2002)

Roger Cooke joined OPM in 2002 from an international consulting organisation where he specialised in government and public sector consulting in both developing and developed countries, and had line management responsibility for consulting operations in a number of parts of the practice.

Roger Riddell (External Director - 2004)

Roger Riddell is a development specialist with interests and expertise in a wide range of development subjects. He has worked as International Director of Christian Aid, Senior Research Fellow at the Overseas Development Institute in , Chairman of the Zimbabwe Presidential Commission of Inquiry into Prices, Incomes and Conditions of Service, and Chief Economist for the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries. Roger chairs the OPM Board Employment & Remuneration Committee.

Alan Roe (Internal Director - 2003)

Alan Roe joined OPM as a Principal Consultant in 1999. He brings thirty years' professional experience in international macroeconomics, industrial and financial sector policy and economic statistics. He has undertaken consultancy work in Europe, Africa, Asia, and . Most recently he was a consultant Principal Economist at the World Bank, mainly engaged on financial sector reform issues in the former Soviet Union. He also holds a part-time appointment as a Professor of Economics at the University of Warwick (UK).

Anne Thomson (staff-nominated Internal Director - 2003)

Anne Thomson, an OPM Principal Consultant, is an economist specialising in sustainable livelihoods, food security, nutrition, agriculture and project evaluation. Before joining OPM in 2001 she worked in academic economics and nutrition departments on both sides of the Atlantic