Gibril Faal OBE, JP Co-Founder & Director
Gibril Faal has been a director of GK Partners since 2004. He is also the Interim Executive Director of the Africa-Europe Diaspora Development Platform (ADEPT), working to establish it as a service delivery directorate in Brussels. In October 2013, he delivered a keynote opening address at the UN General Assembly session of the High Level Dialogue on Migration and International Development. He is a board member of Bond. He was the chairman of AFFORD-UK and is the founder of RemitAid™. Gibril has been a board member of funds that invest in international development projects, including DFID’s Global Poverty Action Fund and the EC-UN Joint Migration & Development Initiative. He co-chaired the 2014 Global Forum on Migration and Development and is a senior research associate with the Foreign Policy Centre.
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Gibril is a multi-disciplinarian with several academic qualifications and an eclectic professional background. He is a world-renown speaker, trainer and consultant. He has 25 years experience in: business and social enterprise development; strategic planning and organisational development; ethical and development finance; legal structures and corporate governance; policy development and advocacy; international negotiations and stakeholder brokerage; migration, diasporas and development. He acts as an expert and technical adviser to socially responsible businesses, international organisations and governments across the world. In 2014, he was appointed OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List for services to international development.
Katharine Ford BA, FRSA Co-Founder & Director
Katharine Ford has been a director of GK Partners since 2004. She developed and leads the ‘Access to Property’ programme. She has acted as part-time CEO of Hangar Arts Trust, establishing it as a leading centre for circus and aerial arts in London. She planned and oversaw the creation of a number of successful property-related social enterprises, including asset transfers from municipal authorities. Katharine is currently working with the Cinema Museum on a multi-million pound programme to purchase and redevelop a former hospital complex in South London into a modern world class museum. She has served on various strategic panels including the London Social Economy Taskforce. She managed GK Partners’ pre-Olympic contract which involved relocating social enterprises from land in Stratford which was developed into the London 2012 Olympics village.
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Katharine studied psychology at university and worked for many years as a property manager with a multinational company. In 2008 she was appointed as one of the business associates on MLA (Museums, Libraries and Archives) ‘Sparknow’ programme. Her 2009 Guardian Newspaper article on museums as social enterprises set out a strategic option for the sector. Katharine is experienced in business and social enterprise modelling, creative and heritage industry development, corporate engagement and responsible procurement, property and asset development. She acts as an expert and programme manager on social economy property schemes, and technical adviser to museums, arts institutions and other socially responsible businesses.