Stuart Etherington

Sir Stuart James Etherington (born 26 February 1955) is a British charity executive and former social worker. From 1994 to 2020, he was chief executive of the National Council for Voluntary Organisations, with the membership base increasing from 400 to over 14,000. He was previously the chief executive of the Royal National Institute for Deaf People. He received a knighthood in 2010 in recognition of his work for the voluntary and community sectors.

He is now the Chair of the Oversight Trust, Chair of the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen) and chair of the advisory board of the Centre for Charity Effectiveness. He is also the Honorary Visiting professor at the Business School in the Centre for Charity Effectiveness. and brought up in Mickleham, Surrey. He has a Master of Arts (MA) degree in social service planning from the University of Essex, and a MA degree in international relations and diplomacy from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London.

He is currently studying classics, Philosophy and History of Art with City Lit and the Open University.

Career Etherington began his career as a social worker.

From 2002 to 2006, Etherington was a member of the University Court of the Open University. which included an extensive range of recommendations for the future of civil society.

Honours In the 2010 Queen's Birthday Honours, Etherington was appointed a Knight Bachelor "for services to the Third Sector". He was invested by Anne, Princess Royal (on behalf of Queen Elizabeth II) during a ceremony held at Buckingham Palace on 25 November 2010.

In July 2000, Etherington was awarded an honorary Doctor of Science (DSc) degree by Brunel University.

Etherington is an elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA).