Samir Farah

 

As a British-Lebanese graduate of American universities and veteran of international media, I am passionate about working with professionals across borders, languages and cultures.

 

My diverse experience comes from thirty years of working in senior leadership roles in media where I led large international teams, having also worked and am still active in finance, investments and, of course, leadership development. I am an alumnus fellow at the Poynter Institute for Media Studies in Florida, USA, in their Media Transformation Programme, and a certified Executive Coach and Mentor with accredited training and membership in some of the UK's leading professional bodies: The Institute of Leadership, the Association for Coaching, and the ILM.

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Until December 2023, I was a senior leader at the BBC as Head of Journalism for the strategy team delivery the World Service's digital transformation project. Prior to that, I was Head and Editor in Chief of BBC News Arabic, covering the Middle East and North Africa. I led over 450 journalists in the UK and around the world, delivering award winning news, investigative journalism and analysis to a weekly audience of 45 million. I also oversaw a corresponding group of support services, from risk management and finance to HR and legal, and sat on the executive board for the BBC international languages division.

 

Currently, and in addition to my Founding Partner role in Equitive, I am an investments partner and non executive director at Bright Properties UK, an ethical London based real estate investment, development and consultancy firm.

 

By January 2024, the calling to focus on supporting other leaders became too difficult to ignore. Joining forces with another BBC senior executive, Juliana Iootty, we founded Equitive to help enable leaders, both emerging and established, anywhere in the world.

 

I believe that it is only through the genuine and equal representation in leadership that fairness in media is achieved. I want to support leaders in developing their skills and the way they project their professional voice and personalities for successful careers and, in turn, a fairer industry.