Katy Ashton

Portrait of a Person smiling into the camera.

Katy Ashton, Director of the People’s History Museum, has worked in the museum sector for 20 years with roles in national, local authority and independent museums, working with military, social history, industrial and transport collections. Prior to joining PHM in 2010, Katy’s work was focused on learning, social justice and citizenship within museums and she led the National Centre for Citizenship and the Law (NCCL) in Nottingham. Katy has a strong background in learning and audience engagement which underpins a passion for museums to be relevant to contemporary issues and events, resonant with people’s lives - empowering them to get actively involved in their own history, heritage and communities.

Katy has a History Degree from the University of York, an MA in Museum Studies from the University of Leicester, and she is an Associate of the Museums Association. Katy is a member of the Steering Group for the Women Leaders Network in Museums and Secretary and Board Member for the International Association of Labour Museums (Worklab),and has previously held non-Executive positions with the Group for Education in Museums and North West Federation of Museums.

At NEMO’s European Museum Conference 2020, Katy Ashton will join the session "HOW TO CREATE A NEW TYPE OF MUSEUM?" on 18 November.