Appointment of former Telegraph correspondent Alex Spillius as Atalanta Senior Advisor

Atalanta is excited to announce the appointment of Alex Spillius as a Senior Advisor focussed on high-level communications and political strategy. He will work closely with our team as we support clients through the challenges of the unequal global recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Over the course of his career, Alex has served as a foreign correspondent for the Daily Telegraph and led communications on behalf of electoral campaigns and non-profit organizations globally.

Alex joins fellow Senior Advisor Alisa Helbitz to work alongside CEO Eva Barboni and COO Elizabeth Ames as they continue to scale Atalanta’s work on behalf of clients including government ministries, global philanthropies, multinational corporations, and political campaigns.

Eva Barboni, Atalanta’s CEO, said: “I am delighted to welcome Alex back to Atalanta at this critical time as we build our senior advisory team. His deep strategic communications expertise and global networks are the perfect addition to our growing team and will ensure we continue to deliver impact for our clients.”

Alex Spillius, Senior Advisor, said: “Having worked with Eva before I know how intelligent, dedicated and meticulous her approach to communications is. It’s a real pleasure to be joining forces again with her and her fantastic team to support bold and creative projects around the world and raise the profile of women in leadership and politics.”

About Alex Spillius

Alex is a senior communications specialist and former foreign correspondent with expertise in high-profile campaigns and extensive experience working on major global stories.

He served as the Daily Telegraph’s Southeast Asia Correspondent, routinely reporting from challenging environments such as Afghanistan, Pakistan, Indonesia and East Timor, as well as leading coverage of the Iraq war. He subsequently became Washington Correspondent, covering Barack Obama’s elections in 2008 and 2012, as well as US foreign policy, before returning to London as Diplomatic Correspondent.

As a communications adviser he has worked with Prince Ali of Jordan's FIFA presidential bid and the European Movement, as well as advising national election commissions in Sierra Leone and Papua New Guinea during general elections. He was a writer for Ed Miliband’s 2015 campaign and Sadiq Khan’s successful London mayoral campaign in 2016. A director of the media advisory firm Foreign Desk Ltd, he has provided strategic communications expertise and content creation advice to leading charities.

Most recently, Alex was the Head of Communications for Theirworld, a global education charity chaired by Sarah Brown, where he remains Senior Editorial Consultant. Alex has used his experience as a conflict correspondent to run workshops for journalists, including working with Atalanta to devise gender-sensitive training for Afghan reporters during the country's 2019 election.

Alex remains a contributor to outlets such as BBC Radio 4, the Sunday Times and the World Today, the Chatham House magazine. He has a BA in History from the University of Bristol.

About Atalanta

Atalanta is a mission-driven firm with extensive advocacy, campaigning and strategic communications expertise.

We work with inspirational leaders and global organisations - whether in the philanthropic, corporate or political fields - to amplify the impact of their work. We help them shape public opinion, run for political office, raise awareness of global issues, and mobilise communities and funding for their initiatives. Using traditional and digital communications skills, we give our partners and clients a platform to change the world.

We have a particular focus on advancing women's leadership worldwide and accelerating programmes that tackle the root causes of gender inequality.