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| Cassie Chadderton | |
Cassie Chadderton has been appointed the first CEO of World Book Day, effective this October. Kirsten Grant will continue in her role as director. Announcing the decision, WBD said that in recent years, the annual celebration "has made a strategic move to reach deeper into the workplace, and corporate and public sector life to galvanize an ever-wider constituency around the benefits of reading at an early age, and the importance of sharing stories. With her track record of representing policy and political and stakeholder relations within the arts sector, Cassie is well-placed to take the charity to the next level and to realize its mission to give every child and young person the opportunity to read and love books."
Chadderton began her career in publishing with companies that included Fourth Estate, Little, Brown, Macmillan and William Heinemann. As head of U.K. Theatre, she represented the interests of the sector with political and policy stakeholders. Previously, she was director, media & stakeholder relations, at Arts Council England.
"I'm thrilled to be joining World Book Day as its first chief executive, and to have this wonderful opportunity to build on its profile and success," she said. "I'm looking forward to developing its ambition to give even more children and young people across the country, and from all backgrounds, the chance to be excited about reading and books."
Stephen Lotinga, CEO of the Publishers Association and WBD chair, said Chadderton's "experience in both the publishing sector and with the Arts Council England and at U.K. Theatre are a perfect combination to take the charity into its next chapter. The World Book Day Charity has gone from strength to strength thanks to the tremendous work from Kirsten and the team over the years and we are excited to see where the charity and its core objectives around reading for pleasure can be developed even further."