NCDA welcomes new Policy and Advocacy Director
05th May 2022
The NCD Alliance is delighted to announce the appointment of Alison Cox, our new Policy and Advocacy Director. Alison brings with her nearly 30 years of experience working in the areas of environment and global health, delivering significant results for both national and global civil society organisations.
Alison comes to NCDA from the Global Climate and Health Alliance (GCHA), where she was Policy & Research Director. She shaped and delivered GCHA’s policy and advocacy strategy towards the global climate summit, COP26, including delivery of the Healthy Climate Prescription from organisations representing 46 million health professionals worldwide, and also supported the development of their three-year GCHA policy and advocacy strategy.
Before that, Alison spent eight years with Cancer Research UK (CRUK) as Cancer Prevention Director, where she led successful national campaigns for restrictions on tobacco and junk food marketing, and built an international programme to support tobacco control advocacy in low- and middle-income countries. Alison also spent five years at the Framework Convention Alliance (FCA) as Programme Director, bringing the civil society voice to the WHO treaty on tobacco control. There, she was responsible for delivering campaigns, communications and regional capacity building for an international alliance of more than 350 civil society organisations united to support the development and implementation of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.
“I am delighted to have appointed Alison in this important leadership role and at such a critical juncture for global NCD advocacy. Her extensive experience and track record in strategic advocacy, campaigning and influencing policy will be a fantastic asset to the organisation. Alison brings to NCDA a unique combination of experience from national and global civil society organisations and public health alliances, and a wealth of knowledge on NCDs and sustainable development. She will bring new leadership to NCDA’s policy, advocacy and accountability work and strengthen our ability to drive impact against our strategic goals for 2026.” – Katie Dain, CEO of NCD Alliance
At the NCD Alliance, Alison will be responsible for leading, developing, implementing and managing NCDA’s global policy, advocacy and accountability work. She will lead our team of policy and advocacy staff, and will also be a member of the NCDA Senior Management Team, contributing to the efficiency and effectiveness of the organisation and supporting NCDA’s overall objectives.
“Joining the NCD Alliance team is an exciting opportunity for me. I am looking forward to being able to focus on an area that I’ve always been passionate about: global health.” – Alison Cox, Policy and Advocacy Director of NCD Alliance
Alison is by no means new to NCDA. She was involved from the very beginning as part of the Supporters Group, and she worked as a consultant for NCDA from 2012-2013, when she developed our first NCDA strategic plan 2012-2015. She also led successful NCDA campaigns influencing the outcome declaration of the 2012 Rio+20 Sustainable Development Conference and the post-2015 development framework.