Kate joined INTRAC as Chief Executive in April 2022.
Kate has worked in the international development sector for over 25 years, initially as a community development worker in Mexico, and then on a participatory adult learning and social change programme, hosted by ActionAid supporting over 350 member organisations across the globe. She left ActionAid to do a PhD at Goldsmiths College, London University focused on ActionAid International and the insights their education work could give to the question of how to reconcile rights-based and participatory approaches to development. During this time, she also worked as a consultant for the international NGO sector, carrying out evaluations, learning reviews and developing resource materials to support practitioners in work on rights, education, HIV/AIDs, gender and accountability and learning. In 2013 she joined Christian Aid where she worked in a variety of senior leadership roles, leading strategy implementation, setting up a Centre for Excellence in Research, Evidence and learning; and most recently heading up Christian Aid’s Programme Policy, Research and Learning Division – an advisory function focused on supporting and strengthening the capacity of Christian Aid country teams..
Throughout all these roles she has championed the importance of understanding and shifting power, listening to, and learning from the knowledge, insights, perspectives and aspirations of people living in poverty, collaborating to ensure these knowledges are influential for development policy and practice. This commitment was particularly important in the work she developed on ‘practitioner led research’ and fair and equitable research partnerships, focused on generating development knowledge that is inclusive, diverse, impactful, accessible, and useful. Kate has three children and lives in North London, she enjoys being outside, with her children, cycling, or digging in her allotment. She is a school governor and co-chair of the student support committee for a local secondary school.
Kate was elected to the Bond board on 20 November 2024.
Posts
Leaving and learning: 3 things we learned collaborating with local partners
As national and local actors will increasingly hold the purse strings in the future, we need to rethink how we add value to and support local partners.
5 recommendations for a research partnership that works for all involved
Recommendations for productive partnerships between academics and NGOs, based on a new guide and toolkit.