Introducing 3FF’s new Director

3FF is very pleased to announce Phil Champain as our next Director. Phil will follow Stephen Shashoua’s ten year legacy of dedicated leadership this July. With his outstanding experience in peacebuilding, Phil will bring new energy, ideas and skills to 3FF.

Here are Phil’s thoughts on his future as 3FF’s Director:

The opportunity I have been offered as I take up the post of 3FF Director builds on the impressive work of Stephen Shashoua and his dynamic team. I wish Stephen well as he moves on and thank him for the solid platform that he has left us to build on. And build we will, for there is plenty still to do.

I am looking forward to working with 3FF’s committed staff, board, donors and partners, and in doing so trust that my experience in the fields of education, peacebuilding and NGO development will add value to our collective effort.

Having started my career as a secondary school teacher, I joined the environmental NGO the World Wide Fund for Nature in 1990 and in 1997 moved to International Alert, one of the leading peacebuilding INGOs. During the past two decades I have had the privilege of working alongside ordinary people doing extraordinary things to manage conflict and strengthen community relations in different parts of the world.

Following the  events of 7/7 in 2005 I initiated Alert’s peacebuilding programme in the UK and for the past three years have been Alert’s Director of Emerging Programmes, responsible for incubating and growing new peacebuilding programmes. This has involved strengthening Alert’s work in the UK, starting up work in the Middle East, developing a new country programme in Myanmar, and expanding arts based approaches to peacebuilding.

As Director of 3FF I now have the chance to apply a breadth of national and international experience to further our important mission ‘to  promote and build meaningful and resilient relationships between people of all faiths and non-religious beliefs through education, encounter, and training opportunities locally, nationally, and internationally.’ I am greatly looking forward to the challenge and to getting to know 3FF‘s constituency.