Ben Kernighan has been appointed as deputy chief executive at Leap Confronting Conflict, after joining the charity as interim director of income and external affairs in September.

He left his last permanent role as chief executive at the National Union of Students after less than a year in May 2014. Before joining NUS he had been the deputy chief executive at NCVO, where he had worked for 15 years in a variety of roles.

Thomas Lawson, chief executive of Leap, which provides conflict resolution for young people, said: “Ben joins Leap at an exciting time of growth for Leap. He brings a wealth of senior manager experience from his time at NUS and as deputy chief executive for seven years at the National Council for Voluntary Organisations. Ben will bring more momentum to and will lead on Leap’s income generation, communications, policy and will work with me on future strategy.”

Kernighan added: “I have admired Leap’s fantastic work with young people for many years. Young people have huge potential to lead approaches to managing conflict more effectively.

“With worrying levels of violent crime, prison violence and violent extremism, finding positive approaches to youth conflict has never been more important. I look forward to expanding the reach of Leap’s work and helping more young people take a leadership role in managing conflict more effectively.”