Vel Gnanendran CMG, British national, is the Executive Director of the World Bank Group representing the United Kingdom Executive Director’s office. Vel has spent the last 20 years working on international policy. Before joining the World Bank in November 2022, he was the Energy, Climate and Environment Director at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) responsible for the UK government’s international support to this agenda, including delivery of COP26.
Prior to that. Vel worked in the Executive team of a private foundation and was on the Board of the Global Innovation Fund. He has previously held a range of roles across the British government, including Chief of Staff to two Secretaries of State and various posts in Tanzania, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria.
Vel studied Economics at the University of Cambridge and has a Master’s degree in International Relations from the University of Warwick, UK. He is a qualified accountant with the Chartered Institute of Management Accountancy.
