Cathy is Director of Harnessing Technology (Improvement and Leadership)in the Further Education & 14-19 Directorate at Becta. Cathy's experience in learning technologies dates back to 1994 when she led the deployment of computer assisted language learning systems in Further Education. She has led institutional Information anbd Communications Technology (ICT) and Information and Learning Technology (ILT) developments in three FE colleges - and was one of the early adopters of VLE technology in the FE sector. Her main areas of interest and experience centre on strategic management of ICT and eLearning, ICT as a leadership issue, ICT and institutional change, as well as Curriculum remodelling via ICT.

In 2004 Cathy won an international award for innovation in the field of eLearning. She has spoken at regional, national and international conferences and written several articles on her experience of ICT/ILT. Cathy was also a member of the JISC Committee for Organisational Support and was President of the Association for Learning Technology (ALT) 2008 - 2009.