Staff Writer | Palladium - Oct 01 2018
Christopher Hirst is CEO of Palladium

Christopher Hirst has taken over as CEO of Palladium, effective 01 October 2018.

Christopher is succeeding Kim Bredhauer, who has served as CEO since 2000 and who will be staying on as Managing Director.

"I'm extremely proud to have the opportunity to take over from Kim, who has been hugely successful in developing the company to what it is today," says Christopher. "I'm passionate about social change, and I'm eager to grow our business and increase the scale and reach of the impact we have on our clients and on the world."

Christopher has been with Palladium for nearly 20 years, including five as a seconded CEO of Abu Dhabi Farmers' Services Centre in the United Arab Emirates. He's also held senior management roles in Australia, the United States, Zimbabwe, and Papua New Guinea, including his most recent position as head of Strategy & Corporate Development.

Kim recalls the time he and Christopher have spent together with pride. "I employed Chris and have watched him grow and develop into a true leader. In addition to his talent as a strategist and strong business acumen, he first became interested in our work because of his desire to make the world a better, more equitable place - a desire we both share."

For insight into the scale of Christopher’s vision for the future of Palladium, one need only look as far as last week's acquisition announcement, as Palladium welcomed financial advisory firm Enclude.

"We want to transform how development is financed in the future," Christopher says with ease. "Our vision is to bring a commercial approach to international development, unlocking vast sums of private capital for multiple projects around the world." Strengthening Palladium's impact investing and other innovative finance capabilities will be key to this transformation, while closing the gap in funding levels needed to accomplish the UN's Sustainable Development Goals.

To realise Palladium's vision, Christopher has nothing less than Kim and the Board of Director's full support: "This exciting and emotional decision has been years in the making, and I look forward to working closely with Chris as we continue to make a better world possible for many years to come."