Please see below for a letter from our Chair Jo Owen. You can read this in PDF form here.
After nine transformative years, our founding CEO Sharath Jeevan has decided to step down to start another venture. Sharath has been the driving force behind STiR and has been instrumental in placing intrinsic motivation on the global education agenda. I’m very proud of everything that we have been able to achieve together, and we will miss him greatly. Sharath will leave the organisation in December – I hope you will join me in thanking him for all of his excellent work, and wishing him well in his next venture.
I am delighted to announce that we have appointed an outstanding individual to succeed Sharath as our new CEO. Girish Menon will be taking up this position from January 2021.
Girish is currently CEO at ActionAidUK. In a career spanning three decades as a leader in the international development sector, he has also previously held roles as International Programmes Director and Deputy CEO at WaterAid. We believe that his skillset and experience are uniquely suited to supporting STiR on the next stage of its journey. In particular, he has successfully scaled NGOs in the past; he has deep experience of working in India, sub-Saharan Africa and many other world regions; and he understands how to work effectively with our government and donor partners.
Talking with Girish is to discover someone who is a great listener with strong values and a great sense of mission and purpose. I hope you will find it both enjoyable and productive working with him to deliver sustainable impact at scale.
Finally, let me thank you for the wonderful support that has helped STiR to succeed in the first eight years of its journey. Success is always a collaborative effort, and I look forward to continuing to work together as we build towards a world where every child develops a love of lifelong learning.
Yours faithfully,
Jo Owen
