Sayyeda Salam, who has held senior roles at Save the Children for the last 15 years, is leaving to lead international development charity Concern Worldwide.

She takes up the role of executive director at the charity in September, taking over from Danny Harvey, who has become head of technical assistance at Concern Worldwide, which works in 26 countries to tackle poverty.

She joined Save the Children UK in 2008 as its senior philanthropy manager, before being promoted to deputy philanthropy director and taking up roles including regional advocacy manager for the Middle East and Eurasia for Save the Children International based in Jordon.

She has held senior partnership and philanthropy director level roles since 2014 at Save the Children and worked in Lebanon, Egypt and Tanzania. In 2022 Salam was seconded to lead strategic partnerships in the Gulf for the charity.

📣 We're thrilled to announce Sayyeda Salam will join @ConcernUK in September as the new Executive Director.

With a track record of transformative leadership and a passion for ending extreme poverty, we're excited for the journey ahead.

Read more: https://t.co/0Fg0yt0Kon pic.twitter.com/fsMGT3sanm

— Concern Worldwide UK (@ConcernUK) June 12, 2024

“I have long respected this brilliant organisation and its work to end extreme poverty through both humanitarian response and longer-term innovation,” said Salam, who is also a trustee of the Refugee Council.

“I am really looking forward to becoming part of the Concern family.”

She added: “I will greatly miss my many friends and colleagues at Save the Children and will always remain a supporter and cheerleader for our important work in service of child rights.”

Concern chair Bernadette Sexton added: “Together with strong leadership skills, Sayyeda brings with her a huge amount of experience in fundraising and influential partnerships and an obvious commitment to support people who are marginalised and most vulnerable.”

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