With over 25 years of international experience leading large-scale education, governance, and humanitarian programs across Asia, the Pacific, and Africa, Catherine brings to CHL a proven record in business development, partnership building, and strategic program design. Her work is grounded in the humanitarian–development–peace nexus, with more than a decade dedicated to education system reform in crisis and post-crisis contexts — particularly strengthening teacher quality, wellbeing, and recognition in conflict-affected settings.
Her experience spans shaping research agendas, contributing to policy dialogue, and fostering partnerships that connect community perspectives, humanitarian action, development systems, and academic inquiry. Her areas of specialisation include education in emergencies, teacher professional development, early-grade teaching and learning, learning assessment, program design, monitoring and evaluation, refugee and migrant education, and ethnic and Indigenous education systems.
Throughout her career, Catherine has built an extensive professional network spanning governments, NGOs, local CSOs, UN agencies, the EU, and universities such as Oxford and UCL. She is actively engaged in several technical working groups, including INEE, and is deeply committed to advancing locally led humanitarian leadership, equitable partnership models, and evidence-driven investments that reflect the realities of communities affected by conflict and crisis.
Alongside her role at the Centre, Cathering is undertaking doctoral research on the recognition, resilience, and decolonial translation of pathways for recognising community teachers in conflict and post-conflict settings.
