FED Council Member: Kirstie Donnelly MBE is Chief Executive at the City & Guilds Group, prior to this role she was the Group Managing Director for City & Guilds, ILM and DigitalMe brands operating globally. Kirstie joined City & Guilds Group in 2011 and has worked at the forefront of skills and education for over 30 years.
As Chief Executive of the City & Guilds Group Kirstie is accountable for the external influencing of the broader skills agenda across Government and Ministers, and other key stakeholders, as well as the media. She also leads the strategic business interface on large complex integrated business relationships and opportunities.
Throughout her career Kirstie has spearheaded the development of award winning products and services across the skills landscape both in the UK and internationally and is a passionate advocate of the role of digital and social media in transforming how people live, learn and work.
Kirstie’s commitment to this area was recognised when she was awarded an MBE in the Queens Honours for services to e-learning in the FE/Adult sector. Kirstie has been a Commissioner more recently on the Labour party’s lifelong learning committee.
In the past she has been an Apprenticeship Commissioner for the cross party Commission and was one of the original committee members of the David Blunkett’s – Learning Age – Green paper back in 1998. Since September 2019 Kirstie has been a Trustee at the Prince’s Trust.