Meredith Ogilvie-Thompson
Journalist | Strategic Advisor
About Me
For more than twenty-five years I've worked at the intersection of journalism, philanthropy, development finance and strategic advisory.I began as a financial journalist, reporting on African economies, political risk and international affairs for Business Day before moving into advisory work with institutions including the African Development Bank, Africa50, USAID, WHO, the United Nations and the Open Society Justice Initiative.I'm still a working journalist — interviewing, reporting and publishing every week. It keeps me anchored in facts and story, and sharpens the instinct that matters most in my advisory work: knowing what's important, asking the right questions and seeing connections that aren't obvious from inside any single field or institution.Looking back, the common thread has been institution building. Whether establishing Tusk USA, founding Africa House, advising multilateral institutions or building All That I Have Met, the work has always been about helping organisations sharpen their purpose, strengthen partnerships and build momentum around consequential ideas.I am a Virginia Press Association award winner for feature writing, and today All That I Have Met reaches readers and listeners in 49 countries and 47 US states.
Advisory
I help organisations at moments of growth build influence, forge partnerships and turn important ideas into institutional momentum.Every organisation reaches a point where doing important work is no longer enough. The challenge becomes influence — how do you build the partnerships that matter? How do you explain complex work to governments, investors, donors and the public? How do you create momentum around ideas that deserve greater attention? And how do you convene the right people to move those ideas forward?Over the past twenty-five years I've advised development banks, foundations, investment funds, international institutions and founders navigating moments of growth and change. Sometimes it's executive communications. Sometimes it's partnership strategy, fundraising, thought leadership, editorial direction or preparing for a major convening.The tools may change but the objective remains the same — help organisations become better understood, better connected and better positioned to achieve what they were created to do.