Sunder Katwala and Michelle Mitchell OBE have been appointed as members of The National Lottery Community Fund board, according to the Cabinet Office. The two appointments were made under the Cabinet Office's Governance Code on Public Appointments, with the process overseen by the Commissioner for Public Appointments.
Key points
- New board members — Sunder Katwala and Michelle Mitchell OBE join The National Lottery Community Fund.
- Pay — board members receive £7,848 a year.
- No political activity declared — neither appointee has declared significant political activity in the last five years.
Mr Katwala is director of British Future, an independent think tank and charity that works on identity, immigration and integration. He has been a commissioner of the Equality and Human Rights Commission since May 2026 and sits on the Independent Commission on Community and Cohesion. His career has taken in publishing, journalism and think tanks, including leading the Fabian Society from 2003 to 2011, reporting for the Observer, directing research at the Foreign Policy Centre and working as a commissioning editor at Macmillan. He is also an author and writes a column for the British Asian newspaper Eastern Eye.
Ms Mitchell is chief executive of Cancer Research UK, where she leads work on preventing, diagnosing and treating cancer. She has spent her career at some of the UK's leading charities, running major transformation programmes, and was awarded an OBE in 2015 for services to the charity sector. She is an honorary fellow of Homerton College, University of Cambridge.
Under the governance code, appointees must declare any significant political activity from the past five years, including office-holding, public speaking, recordable donations or standing for election. Neither Mr Katwala nor Ms Mitchell has declared any such activity.
What it means in practice
These are board appointments at a body that hands out National Lottery money to community projects across the UK, so the practical effect on most people is limited. The fund's grant programmes and how to apply for them are unchanged by who sits on the board.
- For community groups — the funding process stays the same; check the fund's current programmes if you are planning an application.
- For transparency — the appointments follow the public appointments code, and the pay rate for board members is published.
- For watchdogs — the backgrounds of the new members may shape how the fund approaches community cohesion and charity-sector partnerships.
