Catherine Anderson, chief executive of the Jo Cox Foundation (JCF), will take up a new post with The London Marathon Charitable Trust.
Anderson will become executive director of the Trust and will take up her new role in April 2021.
Previously she was chief of staff to former UK secretary of state for international development, Rory Stewart, for eight years.
She is also a founding director of 50:50 Parliament and the founder of The Angus McDonald Trust, a health and welfare charity working in Myanmar.
The appointment follows Sarah Ridley’s decision to step down after nearly seven years’ service as chief grants officer for The Trust.
Ridley will be returning to her role as a consultant providing governance, strategic and operational advice to charitable organisations. She will also continue her work as a trustee of Carers Worldwide.
Anderson said: “I am honoured and excited in equal measure to be joining The London Marathon Charitable Trust, and the London Marathon family, at this time. It’s a privilege to continue the deeply impactful work that the trustees, Sarah and the brilliant team have delivered so far - inspiring activity for all, and dismantling the barriers to participation in physical activity right across the country - and I am looking forward to creating even more opportunities to inspire activity as we enter The Trust’s 40th anniversary year.”
Jacqui Smith, chair of the JCF, extended her thanks to Anderson for her work at the JCF.
She said: “I want to say a huge thank you to Catherine for her dedicated and enthusiastic leadership of the Jo Cox Foundation for more than two years. During that time JCF has expanded and been put on a sounder financial footing. Catherine has achieved a three-fold increase in staffing levels, with a greatly increased turnover to match, as part of our first ever multi-year strategic plan.
“The impact of the Foundation across an expanded range of programmes has grown every year thanks to the team Catherine has successfully built up. The Great Get Together, held annually to help build stronger, more united communities, has gone from strength to strength. And Catherine has put tremendous energy into our campaigns on the issues Jo cared deeply about – loneliness, tackling abuse and intimidation in public life, and a fairer world. We wish her every success in her new role with The London Marathon Charitable Trust.”
JCF says it will advertise for a new chief executive soon.
Ridley, outgoing chief grants officer of the Trust, said: “The London Marathon Charitable Trust has grown tremendously during my tenure and distributed more than half of the £93m awarded across The Trust’s 40-year history. Governance, strategic and staffing changes have transformed our grantmaking enabling us to support local and national projects of strategic significance.
“It has been a privilege working with amazing individuals and organisations who are delivering opportunities for everyone to reap the benefits of physical activity. I know Catherine shares the Trust’s commitment to inspiring activity and that she will take the organisation from strength to strength.”
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