Civil Society Media has appointed Melanie Stern, a former editor of Financial Director, as editor of Governance magazine.

Melanie joined CSM last week and will make her debut in the March issue of Governance.

An experienced journalist, Melanie has written on a range of business, finance, management and entrepreneurial topics across outlets including BBC News, The Guardian, Cosmopolitan, Legal Week and Human Resources magazine.  She has also worked as a producer on the BBC’s Newsnight programme and consulted on charity communications strategies for World Vision and ActionAid.

From 2008 to 2011 Melanie worked on Financial Director magazine, the leading monthly title for finance directors at Incisive Media, first as deputy editor and then as editor leading a relaunch of the title.  Earlier in her career, Melanie wrote on topics including wealth and philanthropy and the global derivatives industry; she spent time as an economics reporter at Los Tiempos (The Times), a daily broadsheet newspaper in Bolivia.

Melanie succeeds launch editor Dorothy Dalton, who edited Governance for more than ten years.  Dorothy will remain involved with Civil Society Media, delivering trustee training.

Melanie said: “I have watched with interest as the charity sector has grappled with criticism of the way it does business. The business of charity as we know it is now entering a period of fundamental change. I’m very excited to join Governance as editor at this challenging juncture. 

"We are poised to travel with trustees and their executive leadership on the journey to succeeding in a post-Etherington world of opt-in marketing, Freedom of Information requests, the need to demonstrate management excellence and value for donor money. In its next phase, Governance will provide the necessary critical thought and debate to help the sector be part of these changes, rather than simply party to them."

She can be contacted on 020 7819 1213 or [email protected].

She tweets @melvstern.