Washington, D.C. (October 14, 2014) – The Center for Global Development welcomes Rajesh Mirchandani as Senior Director of Communications and Policy Outreach. Based at CGD’s headquarters in Washington, Mirchandani will lead on outreach efforts to increase the influence and impact of CGD’s research and policy analysis, thereby contributing to the Center’s mission of reducing global poverty and inequality by improving the policies and practices of rich countries and other powerful global actors. Mirchandani will oversee CGD’s communications and policy outreach staff and serve as a senior advisor to the president and management team.
“This is a coup for CGD!” said CGD president Nancy Birdsall. “Rajesh is a very experienced and impressive journalist. I’m confident he will both build on the stellar platform that Lawrence MacDonald created and bring lots of fresh ideas to the Center to help take us to new heights,”
Mirchandani will join CGD from BBC News, where he anchors the BBC’s global TV and radio networks, including BBC World News. In his 20 years as a journalist and broadcaster with the BBC, including six years as a BBC North America correspondent, Mirchandani has reported on major world events and economic, social and environmental issues. He has covered a range of stories, from two US Presidential elections to the Haiti earthquake, from AIDS in India to oil exploration in the Arctic, and from education for displaced children in Colombia to green energy investments in California . In 2012, he completed Masters in Public Diplomacy at the University of Southern California.
“This will be a steep learning curve but – wow! – what an incredible opportunity,” said Mirchandani. “The role will bring together my passion for, and knowledge of, communications, development and engagement, and, after a wonderful career at the BBC, I hope the skills and experience I have gained will help CGD become even more of the go-to place for development solutions.”
Concurrent with his positions at BBC, Mirchandani has served as chair and moderator of high-level panels at events hosted by the British government, DFID, Nike Foundation, United Nations Foundation, and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Most recently, he hosted two sessions on progress towards the Millennium Development Goals with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon.
Mirchandani will be joining CGD in January 2015. He will succeed Lawrence MacDonald, now VP of Communications at World Resources Institute.