howard • johnston • mccullough

With over 20 years senior management experience in secular and faith based charities, Andrew is currently working as CEO of a community based charity in east London.

Having left university with a modern languages degree he went to pursue his first love, skiing, working in France for four years. However on his return to the UK in 1989 he took on the role of Events Officer for the youth department of the Methodist Church and worked for eight years organising the MAYC (Methodist Association of Youth Clubs) London Weekend event, with over 10,000 young people gathering in London every May.

His next role combined his two passions – work with young people and travel. Following the fall of communism, he re-established a network of Youth Hostels in Eastern Europe and from 1996 to 2004 he travelled extensively implementing a new strategic approach to business development in youth tourism, partnering the commercial accommodation sector with the non profit making Youth Hostel Associations.

He is a founder member of five Youth Hostel Associations and was instrumental in increasing turonover of the International Youth Hostel Federation from $2 million in 1996 to well over $10 million in 2001. He was instrumental in the creation of IYHF's first strategic plan in 2000 and in response to the tragic events of 9/11 he established a strategic partnership between IYHF and UNESCO creating 11 Youth Hostels for Peace and Understanding around the world. He facilitated the programme which provided opportunities for young people to serve as Peace Educators in Youth Hostels in Hiroshima, Dachau, Enniskillen, Jerusalem, Verdun and other significant cities around the globe.

In 2004 he led the organisation of a global Peace Festival in Seoul, Korea which culminated in the Seoul declaration, signed by young people from the 81 member Associations and affiliates of the International Youth Hostel Federation. he also served on the World Tourism Organisation's Ethics Committee during this time.

Between 2004 and 2007 Andrew was the Executive Secretary for Administration at the Council for World Mission, heading up the Project Management Team and the awarding of over £5million of funds annually to church and community projects in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Europe, and the Pacific. Once again he was instrumental in establishing CWM's first ever strategic framework planning group and was the lead staff member on matters of governance and staffing.

Most recently Andrew has turned around a struggling community charity in East London and has once again led a strategic review of all operations, outsourced the finance management and through the development of four new social enterprise areas, generated unrestricted income of over £250,000 in a little over one year.

In his spare time, Andrew has served as Chair of Governors at the Green Primary School in Tottenham, as a governor at Greig City Academy in Hornsey, as a trustee of the Greig Trust and as a member of the finance and administration committee of the London Cycling Campaign. He is also a member of the Labour Party election strategy team and attended the inauguration of Barack Obama in January 2009.

Andrew lives in Hampshire and has two sons. He is a fanatical skier, tennis player and Tottenham Hotspur supporter. He speaks fluent French, German and Czech.