Jonathan Charles

Jonathan Charles joined the staff of the EBRD, after some three decades working for BBC News, in February 2011 and stayed for the next eleven and a half years. He sat on the Bank’s Executive Committee, first as Director of Communications and Business Information Services, and then as Managing Director, Communications and Business Information Services. He helped to oversee the expansion of the bank to the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean Region, as well as its move from a sunset institution with a limited life to a more permanent fixture on the Multilateral Development Bank landscape. Jonathan left the Bank and semi-retired in 2022. Since 2023, he has been Chair of the EBRD Alumni Association. He serves as a representative voice for alumni, helping maintain links between the Bank and its former staff and bringing alumni perspectives, concerns and priorities to the attention of the institution. This includes matters affecting alumni, such as medical and retirement arrangements, as well as issues of wider interest to the alumni community. When he is not Chairing the Alumni Association, he spends part of his time advising governments and multinational companies on geopolitics and strategic communication. You will also find him often enjoying the beauty of Lanzarote in the Canary Islands, just off the coast of Africa. He remains a passionate believer in the work of the EBRD.