Joe is an international development specialist with over three decades of senior leadership experience across global institutions, governments, and policy think tanks. A former colleague and close associate of Paddy Ashdown, he worked alongside him in Bosnia and Herzegovina as Director of the World Bank office, serving on the Board of Principals and coordinating major multilateral donor agencies supporting the government.
Joe began his career with the International Development Research Centre in Ottawa, working across the Sahel region of Africa and later as Regional Representative in Beirut for the Middle East and North Africa. He went on to spend 30 years at the World Bank, holding a number of senior roles including Special Representative to the United Nations and the World Trade Organisation, Director of World Bank offices in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Cameroon, and Deputy Resident Representative in Nigeria. His work included overseeing major structural adjustment programmes in West Africa and contributing to the transformation of the World Bank Institute in collaboration with leading economists such as Joseph Stiglitz and Nicholas Stern.
Following his time at the World Bank, Joe advised the United Nations, the World Trade Organisation, and the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights on trade, development, and governance issues across Africa and the Middle East.
In 2010, he was appointed President of the North-South Institute in Ottawa, where he led a strategic transformation that resulted in the Institute being recognised as one of the world’s leading development policy think tanks by the United Nations.
Since 2013, Joe has remained active across the public and private sectors. His roles have included Chair of London Growth Capital, Board member of Restitution Impact Ltd, advisor to Integrity Initiatives International on the proposed International Anti-Corruption Court, and Senior Strategic Advisor to the Institute for State Effectiveness, focusing on Ukraine’s reconstruction. He is also a Fellow of the Canadian Global Affairs Institute and a regular contributor to policy publications.
Joe brings a deep commitment to evidence-based policy, good governance, and international cooperation, reflecting the values that shaped his longstanding collaboration with Paddy Ashdown.