Dawn Carter-McDonald set to be appointed as Chief Executive

A local government leader with more than 20 years experience across legal, democratic and electoral services is set to be appointed permanently as Hackney Council’s chief executive following a competitive recruitment process. 

Dawn Carter-McDonald, who has been acting in the interim role for the past 10 months, is set to be confirmed in post by a meeting of councillors on 21 May 2024. 

Prior to taking on the role of interim Chief Executive, Dawn was the Council's Director of Legal, Democratic and Electoral Services and Monitoring Officer from 2019 and a member of the corporate leadership team at Hackney Council from 2020.

Dawn was born in Hackney, before moving to Tottenham at primary age. She began her career at Hackney Council in 2002 as a Solicitor in the Council’s Children’s, Education and Community Services legal team. Later she served as the Council’s Interim Deputy Head of Service for Litigation and Commercial and then Interim Head of Service for Litigation and Commercial and Deputy Monitoring Officer before being promoted to the post of Head of Legal and Governance and Deputy Monitoring Officer in 2018. 

Dawn has always maintained a keen interest in children’s and education safeguarding given the time she spent working in this field during her early career. Dawn wants to ensure the Council continues to work hard to ensure everyone can take pride in the borough and their community.

I was born in Hackney, so this appointment means a great deal to me on a very personal level. Hackney is where I'm very proud to say I've spent the majority of my career.

While the opportunity within the borough is evident, so too I believe, are the challenges. The Council under the leadership of Mayor Woodley has a clear plan to help address these, and I want to make sure every Council officer, and partner, do all we can to improve the quality of life and sense of belonging for all in the borough.

Dawn Carter-McDonald, Chief Executive of Hackney Council

I’m delighted to be able to confirm Dawn’s appointment following a competitive recruitment process involving staff,  residents, community organisations and partners. 

Dawn has a strong track record in local government and she has provided stable leadership and demonstrated an outstanding commitment to Hackney and its values during that time.

I’m looking forward to continuing to work side-by-side with Dawn to make Hackney a greener, healthier, fairer and safer place for all of our residents.
 

Caroline Woodley, Mayor of Hackney