Mike Nithavrianakis recently retired from the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) and was appointed to the Board on 1 February 2026.
He is a career diplomat who has had eight substantive postings with the UK foreign service. His early career took him to Malaysia, Russia, Ghana and Saudi Arabia where his roles included trade and investment, politics and international security. Much of Mike's recent career has been spent in leadership positions, including in Chennai, where he was Deputy High Commissioner for South India from 2009–2013. After taking a sabbatical to gain experience in the private sector, Mike was Deputy High Commissioner in Karachi and Trade Director for Pakistan from 2019–2022. His final FCDO appointment was as His Majesty's Ambassador to Somalia from 2023–2025.
Mike is also a board member of King's Trust International's Pakistan Development Group and represents a large education charity, The Citizens Foundation, as their UK ambassador.
He was made a Member of the Royal Victorian Order by Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II for his work on the state visit to Ghana in 1999 and an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) by His Majesty King Charles III in the 2025 Birthday Honours for services to British foreign policy and education in Pakistan.
Mike has a passion for reading, running marathons and charitable fundraising. His wife hails from Devon and they love being close to Dartmoor.