Explore our projects across the globe 
Thomson Foundation has appointed Caro Kriel – a veteran journalist with more than 20 years’ experience in international news – as its new chief executive.
Caro is currently CNN’s director of coverage for EMEA. She was previously head of international news at Sky News and held leadership positions at Associated Press, as Europe news director based in London, and as news director for Russia, based in Moscow.
She has led award-winning teams covering major international stories including conflicts, natural disasters and terror attacks on every continent, as well as leading transformation projects on adapting content for different commercial and digital markets.
Caro takes up her new position in June and will succeed Nigel Baker who last year announced his intention to retire in the summer of 2021.
Caro is ideally qualified to ensure that the foundation continues to fulfil its mission to promote excellence in journalism.
Tom Chandos, chair of the Thomson Foundation, said: “I am truly delighted that Caro will be taking over the leadership of Thomson Foundation to build on the momentum that has been achieved in the nine years of Nigel’s tenure as chief executive.
“The foundation’s investment in digital learning has enabled it to weather the storm of the Covid-19 pandemic with only modest impact to its growth.
“Caro is ideally qualified to ensure that the foundation continues to fulfil its mission to promote excellence in journalism and support the development of independent media in some of the most challenging countries in the world.”
Caro Kriel said: “I am very excited to be joining the talented and committed team at Thomson Foundation. The world needs journalists who are equipped to report accurately and truthfully on what is happening around them, but also the skills to build sustainable business models in the digital world so their hard-fought stories reach the widest audiences.
“I look forward to working with the foundation’s team, partners and donors around the world, to make this happen.”
Caro holds a degree in journalism from Stellenbosch University in South Africa and is a former Sulzberger Fellow at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism in New York.
Change at the top: Nigel Baker retires as Thomson Foundation CEO