Suzanna Taverne

Notable work and positions

openDemocracy - Chair of the Board (since 2020)
British Museum - former Managing Director
Financial Times / The Independent - former Finance Director
BBC Trust - former Trustee

Biography

Suzanna Taverne is chair of the board of openDemocracy, the independent global media organisation, a role she has held since 2020. Her career spans media, culture, education and finance across the private, public and not-for-profit sectors. She served as Managing Director of the British Museum from 1999 to 2001, overseeing delivery of the museum's £100 million Great Court redevelopment, and was Director of Operations at Imperial College London from 2002 to 2005. Earlier in her career she was Finance Director of the Financial Times and of The Independent. Taverne served as a member of the BBC Trust from 2012 to 2017 and has held non-executive and trustee roles at organisations including Nationwide Building Society, the Design Museum, StepChange Debt Charity and Age UK; she is a former chair of Marie Stopes International and of Gingerbread.