Katie has a passion for sharing stories, ideas and research to confront policy, practice and prejudice.
Currently, Katie is working with NZ Police as a member of, and Chief Advisor to, the Independent Panel on Understanding Policing Delivery, an independent research programme on systemic bias in policing.
Former Acting Director of Strategy, Rights and Advice for Children’s Commissioner Judge Andrew Becroft, Katie worked to ensure that children and young people’s voices are heard by those making decisions and their rights upheld. She previously worked in the community sector where she was Chief Executive of Volunteering New Zealand and, before that, Executive Director of JustSpeak, a charity that works to empower young people to have a voice and create change in the justice sector.
Katie is British Romany and from a young age was involved in youth advocacy and programme design. She has a PhD in Sociology and Social Policy from the University of Southampton and has worked on research projects on topics such as the community sector during the recession, family rituals and the criminalisation of young people. She now lives in Te Whanganui-a-Tara with her husband and two young children.
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