Radha Chakraborty has been appointed the new Chair of BookTrust as we continue our mission to ensure all children experience the magic of shared reading.
Radha Chakraborty appointed Chair of BookTrust
18 February 2026
Radha Chakraborty is bringing her deep experience across the public and private sectors to help BookTrust achieve its ambitious aims.
Radha will take up her new position in March, bringing her deep experience across the public and private sectors to help BookTrust achieve its ambitious aims.
She takes over the role from outgoing Chair John Coughlan CBE, who has led the charity through significant change and growth since 2018.
Radha has extensive experience in driving behavioural change at scale and improving the lives of people with low incomes, both of which are a key focus for BookTrust.
She is currently Campaigns Director of DMI, delivering national and multi-country behaviour change campaigns to improve child health and cognitive outcomes across sub-Saharan Africa. As Chair of the Bell Foundation, she works to improve English language education for children and adults in the UK.
Radha was previously Vice Chair of BookTrust until 2024. She also brings experience of the charity sector, having previously worked for Comic Relief, and of the wider arts sector in her role as a Non-Executive Director at Screen Yorkshire.
Radha said, “I am delighted to be rejoining BookTrust as Chair.
The depth and breadth of our work through our thousands of partners across the UK is unparallelled, and the rigour of our research gives us a genuine understanding of how to get children reading from their earliest days.
Radha Chakraborty
“Our campaign with Waterstones Children’s Laureate Frank Cottrell-Boyce is also creating a national conversation about how to ensure the life-changing benefits of shared reading are available to every child. This is vital work which we’ll continue to drive forward in the coming year.”
BookTrust has also appointed Steve Crocker as a Trustee. Steve has more than 30 years of experience in children’s services and social work, until recently as Director of Children’s Services of Hampshire and Isle of Wight Local Authorities and as a former President of the Association of Directors of Children’s Services.
He is a non-executive board member for the Department for Education, as well as a trustee for children’s charity NCB, and now acts as an improvement advisor to several councils.
The appointments come at an exciting time for BookTrust, as we embark on our new five-year strategy.
The strategy aims to help children from vulnerable family backgrounds build strong foundations for life through reading, to embed reading in the life of families with low incomes, and to ensure reading is a habitual part of the everyday life of all children.
BookTrust’s Co-CEOs Annie Crombie and Diana Gerald said, “We’re thrilled Radha and Steve are joining BookTrust. Our thanks go to outgoing Chair John Coughlan CBE, whose tireless work has left the charity in a very strong position.
We’re already making huge progress in embedding shared reading for young children across the country, with the profound benefits it brings for their development and wellbeing. But there is more work to be done in ensuring all children, no matter what their background, can reap those rewards.
Annie Crombie and Diana Gerald, Co-CEOs, BookTrust
“We’re really excited about what we can all achieve with Radha at the helm and Steve on board.”
PDF | 92 KB
Find out more about Radha Chakraborty’s appointment as Chair of BookTrust.