Leading with ambition and optimism
Unlocking potential for
countries, citizens and our team
We have led countries, businesses, NGOs, think tanks and charities. We have advised presidents and assisted prime ministers. Working alongside our global team of expert changemakers, we are focused on transforming countries and changing lives.
Tony Blair
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Tony Blair
“I established the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change to work on the most difficult challenges in the world today.”
Tony Blair is the Founder and Executive Chairman of the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change and former Prime Minister of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Tony founded TBI in 2016, bringing together the organisations he had set up since leaving office under one roof. The Institute is founded on the belief that global transformational change depends on the effectiveness of global leadership and governance. Today he leads a team of nearly 700 experts helping governments around the world create real change for their people by advising on strategy, policy and delivery, and unlocking the transformational potential of technology across all three.
At TBI Tony provides regular peer support to the leaders of the countries we work with, as well as . Along with our strategy and policy teams, he helped drive our groundbreaking covid response, defining the central role for testing and vaccine policy for the UK and multiple governments around the world. He is currently focused on developing policies and strategies to enable governments everywhere to harness technology for the good of their people and tackle the critical challenges of our time.
As Prime Minister of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Tony led the UK’s most effective and transformational postwar government. By creating new systems for strategy, policy and delivery to transform Britain he was able to implement an unprecedented era of domestic reform. His government transformed the UK’s education and healthcare sectors, reduced crime by a third, made transformational progress on human rights and equality, and introduced landmark legislation to tackle climate change. He also oversaw a period of record economic growth and employment levels.
As Prime Minister, Tony Blair was a central figure on the global stage. He helped bring peace to Northern Ireland, securing the historic Good Friday Agreement in 1998. He was a passionate advocate of an interventionist foreign policy and created the Department for International Development, tripling the UK’s foreign aid to Africa. He is the only Labour leader in the party’s 100 year history to win three consecutive elections.
After leaving office Tony set up The Africa Governance Initiative, The Tony Blair Faith Foundation and Tony Blair Associates. In 2016 he brought these organisations together to form TBI with the goal of equipping leaders to build open, inclusive and prosperous countries for their people.
Tony dedicates at least 80% of his time to TBI and receives no remuneration for his work.
Catherine Rimmer
Catherine Rimmer
Catherine is our CEO, leading our global team as we work to help governments worldwide build more open, inclusive and prosperous countries for their people. She also serves on our board.
Catherine has been our CEO since our inception in 2016, overseeing huge growth and meaningful impact, including our groundbreaking covid work, our work to assist countries in their constitutional reform and to set a new policy agendas for the Future of Britain.
Prior to the launch of TBI Catherine worked as a Director of Tony Blair Associates and as Tony’s Chief of Staff. During Tony’s time as Prime Minister, she was Deputy Head and then Head of the No. 10 Downing Street Research and Information Unit, remaining in post as a special advisor throughout his tenure.
As Tony’s Chief of Staff Catherine had strategic oversight of his entire portfolio of activities including his charitable work in Africa, countering extremism, the Middle East and Climate Change. Before working with Tony, Catherine spent seven years at the BBC.
Michael McNair
GOVERNMENT ADVISORY
Michael McNair
Government Advisory
Mike leads our government advisory team, supporting reforming leaders in over 35 countries worldwide on strategy, policy and delivery, helping them unlock the power of technology across all three.
Before joining us, Mike served twelve years at the highest levels of politics and government in Canada. This included eight years as Head of Policy & Senior Advisor to Justin Trudeau, the 23rd Prime Minister of Canada, senior policy advisor to two Leaders of the Opposition, and senior staff on multiple national election campaigns. He has also worked as a strategy consultant at McKinsey & Company, Deloitte and independently, and started his career in M&A at CIBC World Markets.
He is an Affiliated Researcher at the Bennett Institute for Public Policy at the University of Cambridge and Senior Fellow at the C.D. Howe Institute. His graduate studies were in Advanced Economic and Policy Analysis at Columbia University and Global Economic History at the London School of Economics, following undergraduate studies in History at Queen's University in Canada.
Awo Ablo
STRATEGY & PARTNERSHIPS
Awo Ablo
Strategy & Partnerships
Awo leads Strategy and Partnerships at TBI, ensuring we continue to grow and increase our impact. She oversees our strategic direction, future proofing our growth, developing scalable partnerships, innovating in tech and securing the financial resources we need to drive sustainable impact. Awo joined TBI in 2019 and prior to this role she was our Company Director.
Awo has over 20 years’ experience in governance, development, media and health and has worked in both the not-for-profit and private sectors. She has undertaken director roles at the International HIV/AIDS Alliance and the BBC World Service Trust and been a UN collaborating partner. She has also worked at the Royal Society for the Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, a multidisciplinary ‘think and do tank’, Saferworld, an arms and security think-tank, the Royal Geographic Society, and academic publishers, John Wiley & Sons.
Awo is Vice Chair of the Board for BBC Media Action, Vice Chair and a board member of the Institute for Development Studies (IDS) at the University of Sussex. She has been a member of the Chatham House Global Health Working Group, and regularly chairs debates at industry, development and media events. She has a Masters from SOAS, London University’s School of Oriental and African Studies, and a BA in Philosophy and Theology from the University of Kent.
