Dr Dhananjayan (Danny) Sriskandarajah

Dr Dhananjayan (Danny) Sriskandarajah, CEO Oxfam GB

We are Oxfam Let’s beat poverty together.  The chief executive officer is responsible to trustees for the management of oxfam, and is supported by a strategic leadership team and other key roles.

I joined Oxfam GB as Chief Executive in January 2019. I previously led CIVICUS, the Johannesburg-based alliance of civil society organisations with members in more than 180 countries. Prior to that, I spent four years as Director General of the Royal Commonwealth Society.

I was born in Sri Lanka in the 1970s and was initially raised in a rural community without electricity or running water. My family was displaced by the onset of a brutal civil war and I spent time in Papua New Guinea and Australia, where I went to school and university. I moved to the UK in 1998 and completed my Masters and Doctorate in international development at Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar.

The contrast between the wealth and opportunity of life in the global north with my early years in rural Sri Lanka has given me a passion to take on the root causes of poverty, and I am committed to Oxfam’s long-standing approach to speaking out and taking action against injustice. It feels like a moment in history when we need strong, independent civil society, and I hope that Oxfam’s new strategy will help us play our part in shaping a radically better world.

Oxfam has been close to my heart for many years –starting with raising money for Oxfam Australia as a child. Prior to joining as CEO, I had worked alongside Oxfam colleagues on numerous fronts, from addressing threats to civic space to co-founding the Fight Inequality Alliance.

Oxfam in Action

We are a global movement of millions of people working together to end poverty. Safe, clean water for all Beating hunger Tackling climate change Women and gender justice Responding to emergencies The issues we work on East Africa Crisis Millions of people in Ethiopia, Somalia, Kenya and South Sudan are facing severe hunger.