NEW YORK CITY (NY)
New York Times
July 14, 2018
By David Segal
London – When Sir Alan Parker was appointed chairman of Save the Children U.K. in 2008, he must have seemed like the perfect choice. As the founder and head of Brunswick Group, one of the most successful corporate public relations firms in the world, he had connections with chief executives, celebrities and media moguls as well as politicians on both sides of the political divide. Charming and boyishly effusive, he earned millions leading a business that now has 1,000 employees in 14 countries, all of them shaping narratives for companies in the public eye.
But there was one story this consummate spin doctor could not control — his own. In March, BBC Radio 4 reported that Mr. Parker and the charity had bungled sexual harassment and bullying complaints leveled a few years ago by three female employees against two of the charity’s top managers.
A much-publicized petition was soon circulating, signed by 200 current and former Save the Children staff members, urging Mr. Parker to step down. A three-year-old sexual harassment matter quickly spiraled into a fiasco, one that raised very public questions about Mr. Parker’s tenure at a respected institution. In April, the British government’s Charities Commission officially opened an inquiry into Save the Children U.K., one likely to hang over both Mr. Parker and the organization for months. Roughly a week after the inquiry was announced, Mr. Parker resigned.
“It is my view that a change is needed,” he said in a public statement.
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