Andy Atkins has been executive director of environmental pressure group Friends of the Earth (EWNI)

Friends of the Earth (EWNI)

Friends of the Earth is one of 70 national groups around the world which make up the Friends of the Earth network of environmental organizations...

 since March 2008, replacing Tony Juniper

Tony Juniper

Tony Juniper is a British environmental campaigner, author and commentator most recognised for his work as Executive Director of Friends of the Earth, England, Wales and Northern Ireland and Vice Chair of Friends of the Earth International from 2000-2008.Juniper was the Green Party's parliamentary...

. Andy was previously policy and campaigns director at relief and development agency Tearfund

Tearfund

Tearfund is a UK Christian relief and development agency which works in over 50 countries. It is a founding member of both the Micah Network and the Disasters Emergency Committee.-History:...

. He was part of the original group of charity campaigners who started the high profile Make Poverty History campaign in 2005.

Personal

Andy is married to Sarah, a solicitor, and they have three children. He is a keen amateur painter.

Education

Andy studied Economic Geography and then Latin American Development at University College London

University College London

University College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and the oldest and largest constituent college of the federal University of London...

 University, and is fluent in Spanish. He subsequently studied NGO management with the Open University

Open University

The Open University is a distance learning and research university founded by Royal Charter in the United Kingdom...

. In 2006 he participated in the Cambridge University Business Programme course on Sustainable Development.

Work history

After his degree at UCL, Andy worked in Argentina for 9 months as a volunteer community development worker, in the aftermath of the Falklands War. The experience convinced Andy of the need to address the injustices of Western countries' economic and political relationships with developing countries, which had been supporting despotic regimes and fuelling mounting international debt.

Between 1985-1988 he was General Secretary for the Chile Committee for Human Rights.
1985-1988: General Secretary, Chile Committee for Human Rights
Andy campaigned for human rights and a return to democracy in Chile during the Pinochet dictatorship, working with the small but effective Chile Committee for Human Rights, first as local campaign groups coordinator and then as the general secretary.

He has also worked at CAFOD

CAFOD

The Catholic Agency For Overseas Development, previously known as the Catholic Fund for Overseas Development, is a United Kingdom-based international aid agency working to alleviate poverty and suffering in developing. It is funded by the Catholic community in England and Wales, the UK government...

 and at the Catholic Institute for International Relations, CIIR, where he was Latin American Desk Officer between 1990-1997.