Guy Collender - Senior Press Officer

Guy enjoys combining his interest in international development with his experiences as a traveller and journalist.

He studied Modern History at Oxford University and a Postgraduate Diploma in Newspaper Journalism at Cardiff University before beginning his career as a reporter at The News (Portsmouth's daily newspaper). After two years of covering diverse stories, from the important (defence and politics) to the bizarre (reports of a missing panther), he returned to university life. Guy gained an MSc in Population and Development from the London School of Economics (LSE) in 2005. During the same year he went to Ethiopia with fellow students to report on Ethiopian attitudes towards the Gleneagles settlement and Make Poverty History.

Guy then worked at the Media Monitoring Unit, part of the UK Civil Service, for two years. He was seconded to the Press Office at the Department for International Development during this period. In 2007 he became a Communications Officer at the Institute of Development Studies (IDS), Brighton, Sussex. His tasks included writing and editing policy briefs and reporting on lectures given by leading development figures, including then UK Secretary of State for International Development Hilary Benn and Professor Paul Collier, author of The Bottom Billion. Guy also created a wiki while at IDS to explore how bloggers and citizen journalists responded to the violent aftermath of the Kenyan election in December 2007, and he presented the findings at the OUR Media 7 conference in Ghana. 

In July 2008 Guy joined the London International Development Centre (LIDC) - an interdisciplinary research organisation which brings together social and natural scientists to address complex problems in international development. His role as the Senior Communications Officer involves promoting LIDC’s research and events, organising interdisciplinary workshops and conducting communications-related research. Guy is the presenter of LIDC's Development Matters - a monthly 20-minute podcast based on interviews with academics. He has been helping to organise and promote Africa Gathering’s events since spring 2009.

Guy enjoys salsa dancing, and kayaking on the Thames. He lives in London.