Speakers

Kate joined Alzheimer’s Society, the UK’s largest voluntary provider of dementia support, as Chief Executive in March 2020. Despite the challenges of COVID-19, since joining she has driven transformational change in both culture and strategy; introducing new values, restructuring expenditure, and building a shared understanding and organisation-wide focus on the impact Alzheimer’s Society delivers to people affected by dementia. This role is the latest in a voluntary sector career that spans nearly 30 years, including as CEO at children’s cancer charity Young Lives Vs Cancer (CLIC Sargent), and Myton Hospice, a large adult palliative care charity in Coventry and Warwickshire. Kate is driven by leading by example. A keen supporter of partnership working, she founded both the Young People’s Cancer Coalition and the One Dementia Voice Group. She has led sector-wide initiatives to improve the openness of charitable reporting, producing award-winning trustee accountability reports publicly discussing the successes, but also the failings, of the charities she has led. She is a passionate advocate of equality, diversity and inclusion and has spoken openly about her own mental health. Kate has won the Charity Times CEO of the year twice and was awarded an OBE in the 2024 New Years Honours list.