Douglas Kirke-Smith

Douglas Kirke-Smith currently serves as Chief Program Officer at Spark Microgrants since March 2025. Prior to this role, Douglas held the position of Vice President Of Global Programs at GiveDirectly from November 2020 to March 2025, where responsibilities included managing an annual program budget of approximately $200 million and overseeing a team of around 700 staff to deliver unconditional cash to recipients in multiple regions including Africa, South Asia, the Middle East, and the USA. Douglas also served as Regional Director for East & Southern Africa at GiveDirectly, with a focus on establishing operations in Ethiopia and managing a budget of around $120 million with a team of about 450. Previously, Douglas was the Country Director for Innovations for Poverty Action, directing research projects in Rwanda, and held similar leadership roles at Theatre for a Change, Malaria Consortium, Save the Children, and Excellent Development, alongside an early career as an external auditor at KPMG UK.