Michael Madnick

Michael Madnick joined the board in July 2026.

I am humbled to serve as a BBC Media Action Trustee. All of us benefit from objective and compelling journalism, and it is increasingly in rare supply.  As such BBC Media Action is both indispensable, and a North Star.

For the last 25+ years, I have worked at the intersection of philanthropy, business, government and civil society. Throughout a varied career, my overlapping interests with BBC Media Action began in 2001 when I joined the United Nations Foundation (UNF), established by CNN Founder Ted Turner. At UNF I designed its operating model to cultivate and host large-scale partnerships across myriad health, environment and peace and security priorities. Next, at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, I served as Deputy Director for Global Health Policy & Advocacy. In this role I oversaw a diverse grant-making, advocacy and government relations portfolio, while also establishing a philanthropy partnerships function to expand resources, policies and cross-sector partnerships for many health and development priorities.   

These roles solidified a global outlook, and an appreciation for ‘local to global’ journalism as a bedrock for human development and planetary stewardship. Since 2017 I have served as Chief Executive Officer of U.S.-based Mountain Philanthropy Partners LLC (Mountain). Mountain deploys capital towards a range of equity and sustainability activities, and consistent with my previous roles, fosters partnerships beyond grant-making to achieve more than is ever possible with money alone.

I am lucky to be married to Angela, and father to Tess.