Kate Chhatwal

Dr Kate Chhatwal OBE, Chief Executive, Challenge Partners 

An England-wide, practitioner-led school improvement charity. Kate is passionate about education and social justice. Her belief in the ability of children and adults to develop themselves and others, and to transform the world around them, is at the heart of all she does. 

Kate’s previous roles include Executive Director of Southwark Teaching School Alliance and Chief Programme Officer at The Future Leaders Trust. Kate also spent 11 years in the UK Department for Education, where she led the Labour government's flagship National Challenge Programme and worked with Mike Tomlinson on developing far-reaching proposals for 14-19 curriculum and qualifications reform. 

Kate has volunteered as a school governor and trustee for more than a decade and is currently a trustee at STEP Academy Trust. 

Kate is a Co-Founder and Vice-Chair of the Leading Women's Alliance, which empowers and enables more women to take up senior positions in education. She holds a PhD in education policy from the European University Institute in Florence, and was awarded an OBE for services to education in the 2020 New Year’s Honours.

"Education has always been about more than grades and its real power lies in its ability to inspire young people to question and change the world around them. I'm delighted to be involved in something so meaningful, and looking specifically at the positive impact on peers and communities"