Cathy Stephens OBE - Director Innovation

Cathy joined the British Council in 1978 and was Geographical Director, Africa and Asia from 2003. Since February 2007 she has been Acting Director Operations. After university she worked for the American Peace Corps and UNESCO, before joining the British Council in the Educational Contracts Department. She has worked in a range of offices overseas including Zimbabwe, Cameroon, Indonesia and India. More recently she held the role of Regional Director West Africa and Director Nigeria.

Cathy has led major projects and implemented extensive changes to our programmes in a number of these countries. Recent achievements include setting up and leading the Commissioning Board to develop priority global products. With three decades of British Council experience, she is able to provide a perspective on what works and what doesn’t. Among her interests she lists her family, international affairs, travelling and reading.