Cate Kalson
An advocate for building deliberately developmental organisations that put skill development at the heart of their purpose, Cate Kalson champions creating supportive, empowering cultures that enable people to grow and develop as people as well as professionals.
Cate hasn’t had a traditional path to chief people officer, but rather describes herself as a proud owner of a squiggly career. Cate started out as a life sciences researcher with a PhD in microbiology, then learned about business as a management consultant, digital product manager and then moving into leadership roles. Cate has always focused on building capability, recruiting, developing teams and creating training pathways.
Cate has been in her current role at Opencast since 2021 and has supported the rapid growth of one of the fastest growing large technology businesses in the North East. Cate believes that one of the biggest social impact levers any organisation has is to build their employees skills and works in close partnership with Skills Builder Partnership to champion the building of Essential Skills.
Cate is passionate about supporting community-focused organisations and alongside her Opencast role is also a Trustee at The Alnwick Garden, a primary school Governor and a Director of Dynamo North East.