Press Story

The UK's leading progressive thinktank, the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), has appointed its new Director.

Tom Kibasi, currently a partner at consulting firm McKinsey & Company, will succeed Nick Pearce as Director, taking up the post in April.

IPPR Chair of Trustees, Lord Adonis, said:

"We are really pleased to have Tom on board. He brings fresh thinking and a novel perspective. This marks an important moment as we pass on the torch of progressive thinking to a new generation."

New IPPR Director Tom Kibasi commented:

"I'm thrilled at the opportunity to lead such an enormously talented group of people at IPPR. It is time for an intellectual renaissance in progressive politics. There is real demand for fresh, creative and innovative ideas that are big enough to revitalise progressive public policy. IPPR wants a strong society with broadly-shared prosperity, great public services, and vibrant civic life. We will be relentlessly positive about the better country Britain can become through progressive policy and politics."

At 33, Tom will be the youngest Director in the IPPR's history, helping to bring forward a new generation of progressive thinking.

During a varied career, Tom has helped governments with healthcare reform in more than a dozen countries across five continents. He has also served international institutions such as the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria, and international foundations including the Rockefeller Foundation and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

For the past year, Tom has been based in New York City, helping U.S. state governments to implement innovations to expand coverage and improve the quality and accessibility of care as a result of the Affordable Care Act. Tom will return back home to London to take up the post at IPPR.

ENDS

Contacts

Sofie Jenkinson, 07981023031, s.jenkinson@ippr.org

Notes to editors

Tom previously worked at the UK Department of Health, where he was policy adviser to Professor Lord Darzi, who described Tom as the "policy architect" of his acclaimed NHS review "High Quality Care for All" published in 2008. Tom was subsequently appointed an Honorary Lecturer at Imperial College.

Tom has worked with the World Economic Forum on the financial sustainability of health systems and innovation, helping to launch the non-profit "Innovations in Healthcare" together with Duke University.

In 2014, Tom supported the London Health Commission with its report "Better Health for London", produced for Mayor Boris Johnson.

IPPR is the UK's leading progressive thinktank. We are an independent registered charity with more than 40 staff members, paid interns and visiting fellows. Our main office is in London, with IPPR North, IPPR's dedicated thinktank for the North of England, operating out of offices in Newcastle and Manchester, and IPPR Scotland, IPPR’s dedicated thinktank for Scotland, operating out of offices in Edinburgh.

IPPR’s purpose is to conduct and publish research into, and promote public education in, the economic, social and political sciences, and in science and technology; including the effect of moral, social, political and scientific factors on public policy and on the living standards of all sections of the community.

For more information of IPPR’s Chair and board of Trustees: http://www.ippr.org/people/trustees

For more information of IPPR’s current staff: http://www.ippr.org/people