The government has appointed the chief executive of Cancer Research UK to the board of the National Lottery Community Fund.
The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport said Michelle Mitchell and Sunder Katwala, director of the charitable think tank British Future, would join the grantmaker’s board with immediate effect.
They succeed Peter Stewart and Stuart Hobley, who have reached the end of their four-year terms.
Mitchell has led CRUK since 2018 and previously led the MS Society and Age UK. She was appointed OBE in 2015 for services to the charity sector and is an honorary fellow of Homerton College at the University of Cambridge.
Katwala, who has led British Future for the past 15 years, is a commissioner of the Equality and Human Rights Commission and a member of the Independent Commission on Community and Cohesion.
He led the left-leaning think tank the Fabian Society between 2003 and 2011 and before that was a journalist.
Dame Julia Cleverdon, chair of The National Lottery Community Fund, said the pair were selected from “a wealth of great talent” who applied to join the grantmaker’s board.
“They will bring both strategic and particularly relevant skills to our task of investing in communities across the UK, in bringing people together, building healthier lives and shaping sustainable thriving places.”
Mitchell and Katwala will each be paid £7,848 a year for their new roles, which run until 4 August 2030.