David French (charity administrator)

David French (born 20 June 1947) was chief executive officer of the Westminster Foundation for Democracy, (2003 to 2009), an agency of the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office set up to promote democratic development overseas.

Early life

French was educated in Dorset at Sherborne School, and graduated with a BA in politics, sociology and psychology from St John's College, Durham.

Career

Beginning his career in the commercial sector with Courages, the brewers, he then moved in 1971 to the National Council of Social Service where he became, in 1974, head of social services at the Royal National Institute for Deaf People. In 1978 he was appointed Director of Services for the Church of England Children’s Society and, in 1987, Chief Executive of RELATE.^[1] From 1997 until 2002 he was Director General of the Commonwealth Institute.

During his time at WFD, French conceived and created The Westminster Consortium as the first initiative to coordinate the international work of the major Westminster parliamentary organisations (House of Commons, National Audit Office, Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, Westminster political parties et al.). In May 2009, on leaving WFD, he established Convener Associates, consultants in international political development, having recognised that conventional forms of intervention may have a low ceiling of value without an effective, balanced settlement among the political elites.

French has held many trusteeships, and is currently a member of the Steering Group for the World Movement for Democracy and the International Steering Committee of the Community of Democracies. He is a Trustee of Gemin-i.org, a UK NGO promoting international understanding through e-learning. .^[2]

Personal life

He and his wife, Sarah Anne, daughter of Henry David Halsey, Bishop of Carlisle in 1972–89, have four sons; Thomas, Alexander, William and Hal.

Notes