Nick Grono named Chair of Starling Institute’s Board of Directors
On April 21, 2026, the Starling Institute announced on April that our Board of Directors has appointed Nick Grono as Chair.
Nick is one of the most respected leaders in the global nonprofit world and has spent three decades at the intersection of human rights, peacebuilding, and organizational leadership. As CEO of the The Freedom Fund, he has helped build a leading movement to end modern slavery. Before that, he led the Walk Free Foundation, served as Deputy President of the International Crisis Group, and was Chief of Staff and National Security Adviser to the Australian Attorney-General. He is the author of the acclaimed book “How to Lead Nonprofits: Turning Purpose Into Impact to Change the World” and coaches nonprofit CEOs around the world.
“Global cooperation is in a period of profound change, and the people who believe in it must be ready with vision, ideas, plans and coalitions to shape what comes next," said Minh-Thu Pham, Co-founder and CEO of the Starling Institute. “Nick has spent decades building mission-driven organizations and thinking carefully about what it takes to lead them. We are fortunate to have him as Chair.”
Nick said, “Multilateralism is being remade, and the Starling Institute is doing the hard, practical work of building coalitions that turn intentions into outcomes. That's work I deeply believe in, and I'm delighted to step up as Chair to support Minh-Thu and her team.”
The Starling Institute is a think tank working for a multilateral system that delivers for all, especially for those most affected by global crises. We bring together champion states, thought leaders, and civil society to navigate and reshape that system together, and at critical moments we build the coalitions and spaces that turn good intentions into impact.
Nick joined the Starling Institute Board late last year and is its inaugural Chair. The other members of our board are Dr. Debapriya Bhattacharya, Irina Petrova, Robert Orr, and Minh-Thu Pham.