Katherine Allen (born 25 January 1955) was the Director of
Amnesty International
Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...
UK (AIUK) from 2000 to 2021.
Early life and education
Katherine Allen was the daughter of William Allen and Patricia Allen (née Middleton). She gained a BA (Hons) in
Philosophy, Politics and Economics at
Brasenose College
Brasenose College (BNC) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It began as Brasenose Hall in the 13th century, before being founded as a college in 1509. The library and chapel were added in the m ...
,
University of Oxford
, mottoeng = The Lord is my light
, established =
, endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019)
, budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20)
, chancellor ...
. Allen was made an Honorary Fellow by the university in 2006.
Career
Allen was a policy officer at the
Greater London Council
The Greater London Council (GLC) was the top-tier local government administrative body for Greater London from 1965 to 1986. It replaced the earlier London County Council (LCC) which had covered a much smaller area. The GLC was dissolved in 198 ...
from 1977 to 1979. She then became a scientific officer at the Social Science Research Council (1979–80) and a policy officer at
Haringey London Borough Council
Haringey London Borough Council is the local authority for the London Borough of Haringey in Greater London, England. It is a London borough council, one of 32 in the United Kingdom capital of London. As of 2022, Haringey is divided into 21 wards, ...
(1980–81). From 1981 to 1987, Allen was senior policy officer in Social Services for the Association of County Councils.
She was elected to
Camden Council in
1982
Events January
* January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00).
* January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street bridges, 14th Street Bridge in ...
, representing
Kilburn for the
Labour Party.
Whilst on the council, she was chair of the Women's Committee.
In March 1990, whilst still a councillor, she attempted to become the Labour
PPC
PPC may refer to:
Computing
* Personal programmable calculator, programmable calculators for personal use
* Pay-per-click, an internet advertising model
* PearPC, a PowerPC platform emulator
* Peercoin, a peer-to-peer cryptocurrency
* Periphera ...
for the
marginal seat
A marginal seat or swing seat is a constituency held with a small majority in a legislative election, generally one conducted under a single-winner voting system. In Canada, they may be known as target ridings. The opposite is a safe seat. The ...
of
Hampstead and Highgate, which included Kilburn. However, she lost out to the actress
Glenda Jackson
Glenda May Jackson (born 9 May 1936) is an English actress and former Member of Parliament (MP). She has won the Academy Award for Best Actress twice: for her role as Gudrun Brangwen in the romantic drama ''Women in Love'' (1970); and again for ...
on the third ballot. Allen remained a councillor until the
May 1990 local elections.
![Kate Allen](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/34/Kate_Allen.jpg)
She became deputy chief executive of the
Refugee Council
The Refugee Council is a UK based organisation which works with refugees and asylum seekers. The organisation provides support and advice to refugees and asylum seekers, as well as support for other refugee and asylum seeker organisations. The R ...
in 1987, a role she held until 1999.
There, Allen headed the UK emergency evacuation programmes for
Bosnia and
Kosovo
Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a partially recognised state in Southeast Euro ...
, and chaired the Asylum Rights Campaign during the passage of new asylum and immigration legislation. In 1998/99 she was seconded to the
Home Office, where she worked on the
1999 Immigration and Asylum Act.
In 2000, Allen was appointed the UK Director of
Amnesty International
Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...
, the third-largest Amnesty section worldwide with more than a quarter of a million supporters;
Allen undertook a major restructure, and established the Human Rights Action Centre in
Shoreditch
Shoreditch is a district in the East End of London in England, and forms the southern part of the London Borough of Hackney. Neighbouring parts of Tower Hamlets are also perceived as part of the area.
In the 16th century, Shoreditch was an impor ...
. Having appeared on
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
and repression.
In March 2021, Allen announced she would be retiring from Amnesty International in September of the same year, after 21 years.
. Allen was one of the three Labour councillors representing Kilburn on Camden Council.
The couple's relationship ended in 2001.