Kate Stephens is Director of the Working Together Group, an organisation working in complex situations to help individuals, teams, organizations, and whole communities work well together and achieve better outcomes, specializing in work that crosses boundaries and requires multi agency collaboration. Kate has over thirty years experience of working in public policy and is a practitioner, a researcher and an academic manager. She has held senior roles in a range of public sector organizations and was for many years Head of Public Affairs and Public Policy at the Open University. She led the development of the Centre for Place Leadership, now a highly respected research centre, and is currently working on a project funded by the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales (HEFCW) to improve the life chances and educational opportunities for people living in some of the most deprived areas of the country.

Kate has a strong background in the development of civil society organisations. She was for many years a board member of the National Association of Voluntary Youth Services (NCVYS); she played a key role in development of the voluntary sector in the new city of Milton Keynes; she chaired a number of national community development initiatives, including the National Playbus Association (1979-1984) and steered the work on learning cities as a key component of the vision for Cities of the Future.