After 16 years with Rainer and Catch22, our CEO Chris Wright will be leaving Catch22 this summer.
Chris said:
“It hasn’t been an easy decision to make given what a significant role Catch22 has played in my life and how committed I am to its future success, but with the organisation thriving and a strong board, leadership, and staff team in place, I am confident that the organisation I leave behind will continue to go from strength to strength. Catch22 traces its roots to the establishment of the Philanthropic Society in 1778 and as I’ve said on many occasions, whilst in post we are simply custodians, and like all custodians the time comes to pass on this responsibility to others.”
Chris joined Catch22 (or Rainer, as it was then) 16 years ago. He started as Director of Services – overseeing the breadth of Rainer’s services alongside overseeing business development. He was involved in the creation of Catch22 in 2008 following the merger of Rainer and Crime Concern and went on to become Catch22’s Chief Operating Officer, before taking on the role of CEO in July 2011.
Chris continued:
“I’m always inspired and energised by the commitment and hard of work of Catch22 staff who continually go above and beyond to change people’s lives. During my time here we have defined what it means to be a social business and in so doing we’ve established ourselves as an effective provider of public services. I’ve seen us weather the storm of austerity and most recently the pandemic.”
Some highlights of his tenure include:
- establishing the Catch22 Multi Academies Trust,
- successfully executing several mergers including Ripplez, Community Links and most recently Code4000,
- the creation of the Catch22 incubation programme that has supported successful ventures such as Unlocked Graduates and more recently Lighthouse Pedagogy Trust,
- developing a flourishing partnerships programme that now includes partners such as: Microsoft, Barclays, National Grid, JP Morgan, and Salesforce, amongst others,
- the creation of our joint venture, Jobs 22, with our Australian partners, Angus Knight, and
- the partnership with Capacity, the Public Services Lab.
Terry Duddy, Chair of Catch22 said:
“Chris has done a tremendous job of bringing Catch22 to where it is today; a flourishing organisation that supports more than 160,000 people a year to get their lives back on track and thrive.
“As we enter this new phrase, we’re looking for someone to continue to grow the organisation, deliver impact ad bring new ideas to how we shape our services.”