New Economics Foundation appoints Miatta Fahnbulleh as new CEO

The New Economics Foundation, the UK’s only people-powered think tank, is pleased to announce the appointment of Miatta Fahnbulleh as Chief Executive.

Miatta brings to NEF a wealth of experience in developing and delivering policy which empowers communities and changes people’s lives. She has been at the forefront of generating new ideas on reshaping our economy inside government and out.

She is currently at the Institute for Public Policy Research, where she is Director of Policy and Research. She was previously a political adviser to the Leader of the Opposition where she led on the development of a wide range of policy including an energy price cap and big reforms of the housing market. And before that she spent eight years at senior levels in the Cabinet Office, including as Head of the Cities Policy Unit, where she was responsible for driving forward the Government’s economic devolution agenda in England.

Miatta has a Masters and PhD in economic development from the LSE and a first degree in PPE from Oxford. She starts at NEF in mid-November.

Tess Gill, NEF’s chair of trustees, said:

“We are delighted to welcome Miatta Fahnbulleh to lead the New Economics Foundation. Miatta has an impressive track record of achieving real change which improves people’s lives. In government, she worked to drive power closer to people and communities, and elsewhere she has set the agenda with her work on devolution.

There has perhaps never been a more urgent need for fresh thinking and action on the economy. We are looking forward to working with Miatta as she sets out to build on NEF’s 30-year pedigree of intellectual heavy-lifting and practical, on the ground action.

“I’d also like to pay tribute to Marc Stears, who led NEF through a period of significant change and left us in excellent shape to face the challenges ahead. Just a year ago, NEF presented a new agenda to the world – one which begins to address the urgent problems in our economy by working with communities to achieve significant improvements in people’s lives. It was Marc’s leadership which made that relaunch a success, and on behalf of all staff and trustees at NEF I would like to express our sincere thanks to him. We wish him all the best for the future.”

Miatta Fahnbulleh said:

“For those committed to tackling the urgent problems in our economy, this is a crucial moment. Wages are stagnant, inequality is rife, environmental degradation is taking hold, and millions are struggling to cope in an economy that has quite simply stopped delivering for them. And that’s before you consider the huge threat posed by Brexit.

“But this is also a moment when we can do something about it. Faced with a broken model, communities all over the country are starting to take control of their own futures. And there is a real appetite for fresh thinking about how our economy should work.

“That’s why I’m so excited to be joining the New Economics Foundation at this time. NEF is unique in combining intellectual clout on economic and environmental justice with a real commitment to working directly with people where they live. That makes NEF perfectly placed to drive forward the change people in this country so desperately need. I very much look forward to working with staff and trustees to make that happen.”

-ENDS -

Notes to editors

1. The New Economics Foundation is the UK’s only people-powered think tank. The Foundation works to build a new economy where people really take control. www​.newe​co​nom​ics​.org