Robert Craig is the Chief Operating Officer at Skills Builder Partnership which works with over 1,000 employers, education institutions and charities to ensure that one day, everyone builds the essential skills to succeed. He is the author of the Essential Skills Tracker research series and has a background in consulting, policy and impact investment.

Robert previously worked as Impact Investing Consultant at Social Finance and was Strategy and Operations Consultant at KPMG.

Cate Kalson is Chief People and Operations Officer at Opencast. She is a strategic leader with a background in data analytics and product management prior to becoming an executive leader.

She has been at Opencast since 2021, supporting the organisation’s rapid growth from 120 to nearly 500 on its team. She is an advocate for building deliberately developmental organisations that put skill development at the heart of their purpose. She champions creating supportive, empowering cultures that enable people to grow and develop as people as well as professionals.

She has worked hard to establish an innovative, ambitious people team, to maintain and enhance Opencast’s inclusive culture that harnesses people’s potential. The company earned a place on Newsweek’s Top 100 Most Loved Workplaces in 2022 and 2023.

Cate has sponsored the setup of a social impact team and helped the business achieve B Corp accreditation in 2024. The organisation now focuses more than ever on having a positive societal impact.

Before joining Opencast in 2021, Cate worked for the global management consulting firm, Oliver Wyman, setting up its Newcastle office and building out a data and analytics service, to serve its European client base. Prior to that, she was a life sciences researcher, with a PhD in microbiology. She has worked as a product manager at both Booking.com and Sage.

Cate is a director of industry-led organisation Dynamo North East, on a mission to grow the North East tech economy through collaboration, innovation and skills.

Sarah McMann is the Chief Digital Product Officer at HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC).

As HMRC’s first Chief Digital Product Officer, Sarah is accountable for more than 600 IT services and products that enable HMRC and Valuation Office Agency to operate – collecting tax and administering targeted financial support. She is also accountable for successful IT delivery across HMRC’s entire transformation portfolio, including major programmes like Single Customer Account and Making Tax Digital.

Sarah is a highly experienced senior leader who has spent 20 years transforming how customers engage with organisations. Her career has spanned utilities, financial services, telecommunications, insurance and the public sector.

Kara Kane is Head of Design for the Test, Learn and Grow programme, part of the Cabinet Office’s Public Sector Reform team.

She is a designer and community builder whose expertise is in building design culture in large scale organisations.

Kara managed the UK’s user-centred design community and co-founded the International Design in Government community bringing together design-minded public servants from over 70 countries.

Previously, she was the Head of Profession for Design at the Government Digital Service. In 2024, she was named an international ‘Top 35 Government Talent Trailblazer’ by Apolitical.