Chair of Trustees, The Young Foundation
Kersten has been Chief Executive of Bradford Council since 2015. Prior to that, she was Chief Executive of the City of York Council from 2009.
Passionate about building community, social justice, equality and inclusion, and healthy democracy, Kersten’s career has included work in the voluntary and community sector, higher education, central government, and more than 30 years in local government.
Kersten chairs the Yorkshire and Humber Chief Executives Group and the West Yorkshire Local Resilience Forum. She is also a member of a number of boards nationally, regionally, and within the Bradford District, including the advisory board of the Resolution Foundation, the culture and creative economy committee of the West Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority, and the Council of the University of Bradford.
She is a lay canon of Bradford cathedral. Previously she was a member of the former Archbishop of York’s social and economic policy symposium, a Trustee of Nesta and, for many years, chair of governors at a local primary school.