Mike Adamson

CEO, British Red Cross

MBA (1999)

Mike is Chief Executive of the British Red Cross (BRC), the UK's leading voluntary crisis response organisation. The BRC forms part of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement which is a global humanitarian network of over 80 million people who help those worldwide facing disaster, conflict as well as health and social problems.

Inspired to make a difference for people in crisis, Mike is responsible for all of the BRC's local and international work by providing opportunities for people to help those in crisis by sharing their time, connections or resources. Mike leads and collaborates with over 4000 staff and 18000 volunteers.

Prior to his current appointment, Mike has held several senior positions, including Managing Director of Operations of the BRC, Director of Commissioning for the NHS and five years as Managing Director for services at another national charity.

Mike is an accomplished board member and trustee of several charities, having chaired the NCVO review on how charities enable donors to give consent in 2016. Mike currently serves as chair of the Voluntary Sector National Emergency Partnership. He is also a trustee of Catch 22 and the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC). Mike is a member of the NHS Prevention Board and on the advisory panel for the Foreign Secretary's Human Rights Advisory Group and for the Charities Master's Programme offered at the CASS Business School.

Mike began his career as an economist in management consultancy and graduated with his MBA from Kingston in 1999, before graduating from Oxford with an MPhil in Economics.

"I learnt so much through the MBA, always encouraged to apply the academic learning to real life work experience and back again. This made it a rich experience that has provided a foundation for the range of challenges I have faced in my subsequent career."

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