Dr. Kit Catterson

As Development and Outreach Manager, Kit is responsible for managing and strengthening relationships with existing and prospective donors for the movement to end child marriage. She leads the development of Girls Not Brides’ prospect pipeline and prepares and quality assures a range of proposals and donor deliverables.

Kit has over 10 years’ experience working on women’s rights, sexual and reproductive health and rights, and the prevention of gender-based violence. Prior to joining Girls Not Brides, Kit worked for The Girl Generation, an initiative to galvanise the Africa-led movement to end female genital mutilation (FGM). She also worked as an independent consultant on bid development and research assignments. Most recently, Kit worked for Safe and Equal, a domestic violence charity based in Australia.

Kit is passionate about promoting just and ethical relationships and funding arrangements between donors, partners and grassroots organisations, which centre the voices of girls and women and those with lived experience of child marriage, harmful practices and gender-based violence Kit is particularly interested in how child marriage intersects with other harmful practices and with sexual and reproductive health and rights.

Kit holds a Master’s in International Relations and a PhD in Gender and Development. Her doctoral thesis explored the grassroots movement to end FGM in Somaliland, and the power dynamics at play in the relationships between grassroots organisations and international donors.