CoST is delighted to welcome Gavin English as our newest board member. Gavin brings with him 35 years of global experience in planning, engineering and management with local authorities, large consultancies and small and medium enterprises. For over 18 years he has been the Managing Director of IMC Worldwide and a Board Director since 2001. Gavin also sits on the Board of FIDIC and is a Chartered Civil Engineer and a Chartered Manager. He is a Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers, the Chartered Management Institute and the Institute of Directors.

Gavin replaces Frank Kehlenbach as our private sector representative and he will be joining board members from across government and civil society. As with the CoST approach, the multi-stakeholder component is evident across our trustees and observers, reflecting the added value that these backgrounds bring to improving infrastructure transparency and accountability.

We are also pleased to welcome Alexandra Habershon and Ivo Stoel as CoST observers. Alexandra will represent the World Bank, where she is a Senior Governance Specialist in the Governance Global Practice. Alexandra leads research and analytics projects, and her most recent research has focused on whistleblower reporting mechanisms and protections, and the development of data mining methodologies to detect corrupt practices in public contracting and development financing. She also supports the definition and implementation of the Bank’s work programme on governance and anti-corruption.

Ivo Stoel represents the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He is currently employed as a policy adviser to the Department for Sustainable Economic Development in the Hague, advising on infrastructure development in the global south.

Our observers, who also include representatives from the Department for International Development, are drawn from a diverse range of international development funding bodies, representing the global commitment to increasing transparency and accountability in infrastructure.