In Bangladesh, where institutional founders and chief executives often become permanent fixtures, the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) probably offers a counter-example in institutional governance. Over 27 years, one of Bangladesh’s most prominent independent economic think tanks has changed executive directors four times. 

Its trajectory provides a lesson in succession and the critical distinction between building an institution and owning one. The country has no shortage of formal bodies, but it frequently lacks the political and civic willingness to let them outgrow their founders. Non-governmental organisations usually revolve around single C-suits, and research centres reflect the personal whims of their chairmen. 

Leadership becomes a personal identity and a lifetime tenure, rendering succession an institutional crisis rather than routine governance. CPD, in all good senses, presents a departure from this regional norm. In September this year, Nazneen Ahmed assumed the role of executive director, succeeding Fahmida Khatun, who led the organisation for nine and a half years before stepping into the role of distinguished fellow. 

Founded in 1993 by Rehman Sobhan, a premier economist, CPD emerged shortly after Bangladesh returned to parliamentary democracy following military rule. Economic policy was then the exclusive preserve of ministers, bureaucrats, and international donors. 

Sobhan established CPD to democratise policy debate, creating an independent platform where academics, politicians, business leaders, and civil society could scrutinize poverty, trade, governance, and structural reform. Over three decades, CPD’s budget analyses and macroeconomic assessments achieved significant influence. 

While governments routinely disputed its data, the press reported its findings, and multilateral lenders tracked its critiques. Yet CPD’s most compelling structural achievement lies in its leadership turnover. Debapriya Bhattacharya served as its first formal executive director from 1999 to 2007. 

Mustafizur Rahman took the helm until 2017, followed by Fahmida Khatun until August 2026. The first three completed tenures averaged roughly nine years—long enough to execute research programmes and build institutional capacity, but structured enough to ensure ultimate handovers of executive authority. 

This practice contrasts with other major domestic civil society entities. Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) saw its founding director leave in 2003, after which Iftekharuzzaman assumed charge in September 2004, remaining at the helm over 22 years later. 

TIB has maintained strong advocacy and investigative capabilities under this extended tenure, yet its model relies heavily on chief executive longevity rather than regular administrative rotation. Development giants like BRAC have rotated leadership through figures such as Mahabub Hossain, Muhammad Musa, and Asif Saleh, though BRAC’s vast operational scale makes direct institutional comparisons complex. 

Now, organization-wise, rapid executive churn can signal internal volatility, whereas three decades under a single leader might reflect exceptional management or dangerous over-reliance on one individual. The relevant structural test is whether succession remains meritocratic, and independent of personal patronage. 

CPD’s model shows that senior leaders can step down without stripping an organisation of their accumulated expertise. By retaining former executive directors as distinguished fellows, CPD preserves institutional memory while fully transferring day-to-day administrative authority to new leadership. This model allows for intellectual renewal. 

Nazneen Ahmed joined CPD following 25 years at the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies and a senior tenure at the United Nations Development Programme. She takes charge as Bangladesh faces unprecedented economic hurdles, including financial sector fragility, rising public debt, job creation, and the complex structural transitions associated with graduating from Least Developed Country status. 

Addressing these structural shifts requires both long-term analytical continuity and fresh strategic perspectives. CPD’s history does not automatically prove its board processes are superior to those of its peers, which would require deep examination of internal selection documentation. However, the empirical record demonstrates that planned executive succession has become a recurring feature of its corporate culture. 

Founder Rehman Sobhan remains associated with CPD as chairman, meaning the organisation has not completely detached itself from its founding personality. Yet its ability to rotate operational leadership without internal crisis sets it apart in a country where founders rarely yield operational control. 

An institution’s true endurance is never demonstrated by how long one individual can lead it. Rather, it is proved by whether the organisation maintains its authority, operational discipline, and public credibility after executive power shifts to new hands. 

CPD has spent three decades arguing that Bangladesh needs stronger, rule-based public institutions. In its own quiet approach to executive succession, the think tank offers a practical demonstration of the very principle it preaches.

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Mahbubul Haque is a director at a Dhaka-based IT firm