Andy Williams has been in an Executive Director role as Chief Operating Officer of the British Council since April 2019 responsible for the organisation’s strategy, performance and investment portfolio. In the last year he has played a critical leadership role in the British Council’s response to the pandemic focussing on ensuring financial sustainability and strategic alignment with government stakeholders.Andy has worked across the global network for the British Council spending over 25 years overseas since 1991 in leadership roles. From August 2015 to March 2019 he was the British Council’s Regional Director for Wider Europe, responsible for 15 countries, from Western Balkans to Central Asia via Russia, Israel, Turkey and Ukraine and based in Istanbul. Andy led the region to almost double its income from £23M to £43M in less than four years, increasing its customer base to over 80 million people from 17 million.Andy’s other leadership roles for the British Council have included periods as Country Director in Poland and Azerbaijan, Director Operations for EU region, operational management of large teaching businesses in Syria and Thailand and global responsibility for the business development and operational management of the world’s leading English Language test, IELTS.Andy has a degree in Drama, a post-graduate diploma in English Language Teaching Management and a diploma in Teaching English as a Foreign Language.He worked in the theatre as an actor and a director before joining the British Council.