The grant-maker The Henry Smith Charity has appointed Anand Shukla as chief executive.
Shukla succeeds Nic Acland, who stepped down in May after 15 years with the charity.
Shukla, who has been interim chief executive of the charity since Acland left, previously spent five years as head of the mentoring charity Brightside and before that was chief executive of the childcare charity the Daycare Trust.
The Henry Smith Charity, which was founded in 1628, is one the UK’s largest grant-makers. It gave out grants totalling almost £40m to support people facing financial disadvantage in 2021.
In July, the charity pledged to give out an additional £100m from its endowment over the next 10 years on top of its normal grant-making, in response to “greatly increased need”.
Shukla said he was joining “one of the most important UK charitable foundations”.
He said: “Its mission of empowering communities to tackle disadvantage is hugely important to me and it will be an honour to lead the organisation.”
Vivienne Dews, chair of the charity, said Shukla’s “experience and knowledge in supporting people at times of need and promoting positive social change will be invaluable for the charity as we seek to further our mission of supporting the most disadvantaged in society”.