Senior Leadership Team
The Board of Trustees delegates to the Chief Executive the management of Christian Aid.
The Chief Executive has authority to direct the charity’s staff, resources and relationships in line with the overall strategic policies, direction, goals and budget set by the Board of Trustees and in keeping with constitutional objectives, the essential purpose, identity and nature of Christian Aid.
The Chief Executive leads the executive group, known as the Senior Leadership Team (SLT), this team operates in a collegiate manner, as a team.
The Chief Executive however, as the chairperson, has ultimate authority over any decisions made within SLT. The Heads of Department (‘Directors’) have authority to lead their departments in line with the priorities collectively agreed by SLT.
Patrick Watt, Chief Executive
Patrick Watt is the Chief Executive Officer for Christian Aid, leading the organisation in its work to tackle poverty and promote dignity, equality, and justice. He works closely with the SLT and the Board of Trustees and engages staff, supporters, partners, and sponsoring churches to realise Christian Aid's vision.
Patrick has widespread experience working in development and humanitarian organisations, including Oxfam, ActionAid, and most recently, Save the Children International, where he was the Advocacy and Campaigns Director. He holds degrees in Theology from the University of Cambridge and in Development Studies from the London School of Economics.
Ray Hasan, Director of Impact
Ray leads Christian Aid’s Impact team, which operates globally and works closely with partners and communities to tackle poverty and injustice. The team provides technical, practical, and institutional support to civil society, networks, and alliances and shares expertise and learning in development and humanitarian and peacebuilding practice to maximise our collective impact.
Ray has considerable experience in international development, supporting civil society organisations, engaging with governments and donors, and leading global programmes and large-scale humanitarian responses.
Lisa Davidson, Interim Transformation Director
Lisa is leading the organisation's transformation programme and leading the people strategy to enable a thriving and inclusive culture. With extensive experience in strategic change and HR leadership across the humanitarian, health, and not-for-profit sectors, she is committed to fostering cultures that empower people and drive meaningful change.
Before joining Christian Aid, Lisa held senior roles including Director of HR at the The Halo Trust, Chief People Officer at Connect Health, and Head of People Services at Home Group. Lisa is passionate about creating environments where people can bring their whole selves to work and where organisational values translate into real-world impact for communities around the globe.
Nick Georgiadis, Director of Income and Public Engagement
Nick is responsible for leading the Income and Public Engagement team. They communicate with a wide range of audiences to inspire them to fundraise for Christian Aid’s vital work, as well as engaging them to support the delivery of our strategy Standing Together, through speaking truth to power and enabling their prophetic voice to be heard to help end poverty.
Nick is an experienced fundraiser, having led fundraising teams at Cancer Research UK and British Heart Foundation. He serves with the youth ministry at his local church.
Liz Walker, Director of Finance and Corporate Governance
Liz leads the teams responsible for finance, technology, governance, audit, risk and property. They are responsible for enabling colleagues to deliver their best work by ensuring that suitable support, advice and tools are available. Support and assurances are given to the Trustee Board via the governance, audit and risk functions.
Liz is a qualified accountant who started a career in corporate finance and turnaround before joining the charity sector. She has held many roles in the sector either in an executive position or as a trustee.
