Catherine McCauley

Title: Director of Teacher Development
Interesting Fact: The Me to We book brought Catherine to Free The Children. She was so moved when reading it that by chapter three she was writing notes in the margins, by chapter seven she wrote Marc a letter describing how inspired she was, and by the end of the book she was hired.

Catherine brings more than 14 years of experience in education to Free The Children. Her passion for social issues started while teaching elementary social studies, where she engaged students to think critically about the world around them. Later, as a guidance counsellor, she encouraged high school students to take overseas volunteer trips and leadership training programs. As the Director of Teacher Development, Catherine wants to provide teachers with innovative resources on social issues and provide the support they need to become agents of social change.

Catherine’s career includes work at the elementary, middle and secondary schools levels. She has worked as a teacher and guidance counsellor in both public and independent school systems. After completing a Master of Education degree at the University of British Colombia, she worked as a lecturer and faculty advisor at the school’s Faculty of Education. During the last five years, she has worked as an educational consultant and occasional teacher while raising two young children.

It’s not only her teaching career that has surrounded Catherine with inspiring young people. Her two young children are the centre of her life, as is her husband Dave. Catherine and Dave are doing everything they can to raise their children to be socially-conscious, motivated and courageous global citizens. Their five-year-old daughter Renee has already accompanied her parents to vote and to sign a petition against a plan to cut down trees in their Toronto neighbourhood.