WaterAid announces appointment of new chief executive

10 Jan 2017 News

Tim Wainwright, incoming chief executive of WaterAid

WaterAid UK has announced that Tim Wainwright will take over from current chief executive Barbara Frost, after she retires from the organisation in May. 

Wainwright’s appointment was announced in a statement on the organisation’s website yesterday, which said that he will join the organisation from Action on Disability and Development (ADD), an international NGO, where he has been chief executive for the last six years. He will start his new role at WaterAid UK’s London offices on 2 May.

Current chief executive Barbara Frost is retiring from the organisation after 11 years at the helm. She announced she would be leaving the organisation on 11 July 2016. Under her stewardship WaterAid UK tripled its annual income to £86m, and extended its operation to 37 countries around the world. 

Speaking on his appointment, Wainwright said: “After many years of admiring WaterAid’s work, I feel privileged and incredibly excited to be taking up the role of chief executive. Water, sanitation and hygiene underpin so many other aspects of development and I look forward to working with the team at WaterAid, along with supporters and partners, to help bring these basic essentials to everyone everywhere by 2030 - ensuring that no-one is left behind.”

As well as his work with ADD, Wainwright has also held senior roles at the Equality and Human Rights Commission, VSO and Oxfam. He is also currently chair of Bond, the UK membership body for organisations working in international development. 

He joins WaterAid in the first year of its new global strategy, which seeks to give “everyone, everywhere” access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene by 2030. 

Tim Clark, chair of WaterAid UK, said: “Tim has a strong commitment to equality and human rights which are central elements of WaterAid’s work and our vision of a world where everyone has access to water, sanitation and hygiene. We are very much looking forward to welcoming Tim and continuing the extraordinary work which WaterAid does to address these key areas of poverty.

“At the same time, we are naturally very sad to be saying goodbye to Barbara Frost. Barbara’s contribution to WaterAid, and to the challenge of water, sanitation and hygiene, over the last 11 years has been outstanding. She leaves a wonderful legacy of success at WaterAid and we thank her enormously for all she has achieved.”

 

More on