Natalie Black was the first Head of School for a fully co-educational KES. Upon leaving King Edward’s Natalie attended the London School of Economics where she graduated in International Relations before completing a Master’s degree in Public Policy at Harvard Kennedy School as a prestigious Fulbright Scholar. Most recently, Natalie was the first His Majesty’s Trade Commissioner for Asia Pacific and the UK’s Senior Economic Official to ASEAN. Based in Singapore, Natalie led the UK’s trade strategy and operations across North-East Asia, South-East Asia and Australia and New Zealand. Highlights included a new network of trade deals and partnerships across the Asia Pacific region from Japan to New Zealand, membership of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for TransPacific Partnership, a new Digital Economy Agreement with Singapore and record levels of investment to the UK from Asia Pacific.

Prior to this role, Natalie held a number of posts in His Majesty’s Government including Deputy Head of the Number 10 Policy Unit, Director of the Internet Harms Unit and Director of the Office of Cyber Security in the Cabinet Office. Before joining the Civil Service, Natalie was the Chief of Staff for Security at the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, London 2012, and a management consultant. In January 2020, Natalie was awarded a CBE in the Queen’s Honours List for her public service.

“My time at KES taught me to make the most of every opportunity - to meet new people, try new experiences and make a difference wherever you can. Most importantly, I made friends for life that I will always cherish.”