Mark Ashurst

Mark has worked in senior positions with a variety of development actors and multinational organisations. A speechwriter for President Nelson Mandela, he has worked with Circle Economy and Follow This in Amsterdam, and previously as Global Director of Thought Leadership at Philips Lighting, now Signify. In London, he was executive director of Africa Research Institute in London, an independent think tank with a brief to propagate ideas with a record of success. As a journalist and broadcaster, Mark covered the Americas, Europe and sub-Sahara as a correspondent for the Financial Times, The Economist, International New York Times and BBC. He is a graduate of University College Oxford; Bucerius Law School, Hamburg, and WHU Otto Beisheim School of Management, Vallendar.