Meet our people

Jason is Chief Executive of Mission 44, a new charitable foundation launched by Sir Lewis Hamilton to boost social mobility in the UK. After starting his career as a teacher in east London, Jason has spent the last decade working in leadership roles in the nonprofit sector, including at Teach First, Youth

Farrah is the former co-founder and CEO of Primordial (a deep biotechfounded via Entrepreneur First), Uniformed, a national UK charity that hasraised significant funding and operates with an umbrella of ~50 partnerschools and organisations, and is currently building another start-up. Priorto founding Primordial, Farrah was a management consultant at McKinsey

Mohammed is an Associate Researcher and Co-Chairs the Learners Council at The Foundation for Education Development. He also works for the Education Strategy Unit at the City of London Corporation and has been supporting the resettlement of Afghan refugees. Mohammed has developed a strong passion for education due to his

FED Ambassador: WorldSkills UK is a skills quality improvement partnership between employers, education and governments. Neil joined WorldSkills UK as CEO in 2015 and under his tenure, the organisation has grown and developed to focus on how international benchmarking from the global WorldSkills network in over 80 countries can be

Karan Bilimoria, Lord Bilimoria of Chelsea CBE DL, is the founder of Cobra Beer, Chairman of the Cobra Beer Partnership Limited, a Joint Venture with Molson Coors, and Chairman of Molson Coors Cobra India. In the Monde Selection, one of the most prestigious quality awards in the world for beer,

John, The Lord Bird MBE was born into poverty and brought up in care. His life journey has included spells as a prisoner, artist and printer. Now an activist, publisher and Crossbench member of the House of Lords, Lord Bird is the driving force behind The Big Issue Group, which

Justin is the HundrED UK Lead and Founder and Director of Conscious Learning Ltd, connecting people with opportunities and unlocking potential. He leads the HundrED UK Community identifying innovation in education. HundrED has over 800 Ambassadors in more than 100 countries and is working on every continent. Justin helps leaders

Charlotte Bosworth is Managing Director of Innovate Awarding. Charlotte’s career within Education commenced in 1996 with RSA Examinations Board and she has vast experience in curriculum, assessment and qualification design. Charlotte has spent much of her career working in partnership with thought leaders in education to influence curriculum delivery and

Rod Bristow has led Pearson’s growth in online learning and also leads Pearson UK. He has worked in education for 40 years in qualifications, publishing and learning technologies across schools and higher education and corporate learning in the UK and internationally. Rod is a trustee for the Education and Employers

Dr Sophie Carr CMath, CSci, Cstat, AfDSP FRSS, FIMA, MRAeS is the director of Bays Consulting and a statistician, specialising in Bayesian statistics and data fusion. She sits on the executive committees of the: Royal Statistical Society (where is also the VP for Education and Statistical Literacy), and the General Council

Sarah is Chief Executive of Inspiration for All, a not for profit social enterprise that harnesses the capabilities of business to work with education to advance social mobility together. Originally a maths teacher, Sarah moved into educational publishing, creating market leading content, assessment and digital solutions. More recently Sarah led

Ben Caulfield is CEO and co-founder of Eedi, an educational technology company that identifies and resolves over 90% of students’ misconceptions using best-in-class pedagogy and fully-qualified tutors. Eedi’s team of teachers, engineers and researchers are helping educators to close the attainment gap once for all by using the principles of

Sameena Choudry is the founder of Equitable Education Ltd, an educationalconsultancy specialising in closing the attainment gap. She is also co-founderof #WomenEd, a grassroots movement for connecting existing and aspiring womenleaders in education. She has worked as a teacher, lecturer, ITE tutor,examiner, senior leader, adviser and has had senior officer

FED Ambassador: Tom Clark CBE was formerly Chief Executive of George Spencer Foundation School and Technology College in Nottingham during which time the school received consecutive ‘outstanding’ Ofsted reports. For 3 years he was Associate Director of the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust (SSAT) leading on workforce-remodelling and helping to

Rosie Clayton is an education specialist working on leading projects and initiatives spanning education, skills, technology and lifelong learning. Her work bridges policy and practice, systems thinking and social change. She is currently a Research Fellow with the World Innovation Summit for Education, coordinating the Rethinking Assessment movement, and working on the Fusion

Dr Michelle Clement is Lecturer and Researcher on reform and delivery in government at The Strand Group, King’s College London. She is also Researcher in Residence at No.10 Downing Street. The purpose of her work is to understand how government really works in practice.  Her teaching and research focuses on

Dame Julia Cleverdon DCVO, CBE is a passionate and practical campaigner who has gained an international reputation for ‘connecting the unconnected’, inspiring individuals and organisations to work together for the common good in the most challenged communities. During her tenure as Chief Executive of Business in the Community from 1991 to

Barry qualified as a dentist in 1973 and spent the first twenty five yearsof his career working in mainly NHS general practice and becoming involved in dental politics atprofessional representative level locally and nationally. He moved to the Department of Health in2002 as Deputy Chief Dental Officer. He became Chief

FED Ambassador: Andrew Copson was appointed Chief Executive of Humanists UK in 2009 and elected President of Humanists International in 2015. He is a former director of the Religious Education Council, the Values Education Council, and the National Council for Faiths and Beliefs in Further Education. His books include the

Bella Cox is an internationally-acclaimed poet and multi-disciplinary artist now based in London, UK. She has worked for over 6 years as a poet, workshop facilitator, MC, and event producer in Kenya, South Africa and the UK. She is a Barbican Young Poets alumna, a twice-nominated young people’s laureate for

Mark Dawe was appointed last year as the Chief Executive of The Skills Network after 4.5 years as CEO of AELP. He is on the Board of WorldSkills UK and AELP as well as a range of government advisory boards. Previously, Mark Dawe was the Chief Executive of OCR, the exam board,

After many years in school leadership including positions as Headteacher, Deputy Head, Assistant Head and Head of History, I am now a leader for education companies based in Manchester and London. I speak widely to education, public sector and corporate audiences working with teams to create impactful plans that realise

Christian Foley makes it up as he goes along. His freestyles have taken him from the school classroom, to Oprah’s Television Networks and PMQ’s at Westminster, from the festival circuit to TED talks and the Premier League. Christian’s improvised performances lauded by stars like 50 Cent and creator of Hamilton, Lin

FED Ambassador: Trish Franey has been actively involved in the development of leadership and school improvement initiatives at local, regional, and international levels for over twenty years. Under her leadership, a failing urban Primary Community school was transformed and awarded Beacon school status within 3 years. The school was also

Vivi Friedgut is a fintech entrepreneur and the founder and CEO of Blackbullion, the financial wellbeing platform for students which is available to over 1.2 million young people across dozens of universities and colleges in the UK, Australia, NZ, Ireland and South Africa. Vivi is former wealth manager, an author

FED Ambassador: Rupert graduated in Law and, following operational service in the British Army, has built a distinguished career in venture capital and has a far-reaching insight into investment into innovative, viable and scalable early-stage companies. In 2013 Rupert founded InvestUK Group, a Foreign Direct Investment platform helping international entrepreneurs

FED Ambassador: Richard Gerver has been described as one of the most inspirational leaders of his generation. He is an award-winning speaker, bestselling author and world-renowned thinker. Richard began his career in education, most notably as headmaster of the failing Grange Primary School. In just two years, he famously transformed the school into

FED Ambassador: David Goodhart is a British journalist, commentator and author. He is the founder and a former editor of Prospect magazine. He was a correspondent for the Financial Times for 12 years; for part of the period he was stationed in Germany. He founded Prospect, a British current affairs

FED Ambassador: Sir Paul Grant is the most senior education advisor to the Liverpool City Region Mayor. He is a native of Liverpool from a very large working class family. He was the Headteacher of Robert Clack School for over twenty years and the school was featured in’ twelve outstanding

Dr. Neil Hawkes D. Phil (Oxford), MEd, BA, FRSA is internationally well known as an inspirational speaker, educator, broadcaster, author and social commentator.  He is a popular TEDx presenter.  Neil’s thinking is having a profound influence on education and more widely in society. Neil first gained international recognition when he

FED Ambassador Michelle Haywood is the CEO and founding Director of Ordinary Classrooms Educational Consultancy Ltd. Michelle is a qualified teacher and skilled System leader, with particular expertise within Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND), Inclusion & Safeguarding. As well as having school sector-wide experience, from Early Years (EY) to

Stephen has over 25 years’ experience in education including senior roles across several schools in the North West of England most recently that of principal. He has worked in maintained schools and academies that serve diverse populations including some of the most deprived areas of the country. Stephen has more

Jon is the Scholarships Lead for Blackbullion, a leading financial technology company dedicated to supporting young people with financial literacy and wellness. In his role, Jon is creating new ways for the private sector and the education sector to be connected. By partnering with businesses to fund scholarships for underrepresented

Jane Hickie is Chief Executive of the Association of Employment and Learning Providers (AELP). She is responsible for the overall management and strategic direction of the organisation, ensuring that AELP achieves its mission and objectives. Jane joined AELP in 2016 as Chief Operating Officer, before becoming Managing Director in July

My name is Chloe Hine, I am 24 years old from the South Coast of England and challenging the stigma around mental health is a passion of mine. I am an advocate for youth social action and love nothing more than to see the positive impact young people are having

Madeleine Holt is a filmmaker, entrepreneur and campaigner in education. Formerly culture correspondent on BBC Newsnight, she makes films about innovative, community-minded comprehensive schools and has made the first in-depth film about XP school in Doncaster through her enterprise, Schools on Screen.  She runs the pioneering Meet the Parents project in

Professor David Hopkins is currently Chair of Educational Leadership at the University of Bolton, as well as being Professor Emeritus at the Institute of Education, University College London and the University of Nottingham. David is passionately committed to improving the quality of education for all and has worked at the

Jason Horne is a Partner at GSV Ventures, a venture capital fund investing in the most dynamic entrepreneurs and companies across digital education and workforce skills. GSV’s portfolio includes ClassDojo, Class Technologies, Coursera, Course Hero, Degreed, Guild Education, Masterclass, and Photomath amongst others. He is also deeply involved in the

Matt Hyde is Chief Executive of the Scouts, the UK’s largest youth movement. Formerly Chief Executive of the National Union of Students (NUS), he has undertaken a number of leadership roles in the charity sector and as Chief Executive of the Scouts has contributed to a period of record membership

FED Ambassador: Dr Simon Hyde is General Secretary of HMC, the world’s first association of Headteachers with over three hundred schools in the UK and another 60 internationally. As Head of the King’s School in Macclesfield, he led the Foundation’s 2020 Vision, which transformed the split-site diamond school into a

Aliyah is a fierce change maker and the founder of Pupil Power, a national student-ledmovement challenging the reimagination of the future of education. Her advocacy strives tocentre youth voices; whilst bridging the gap between young people and educational leadersand policy makers. Aliyah’s critical work has been recognised through her nominations

Howard is CEO of Hub4Leaders & Evaluate-Ed Ltd. He has been involved with the education sector for over 35 years and founded the successful education finance software company HCSS Education, now part of The Access Group. Prior to setting up his own education finance consultancy business in 1993, Howard’s roles

Dame Sue John was the headteacher of Lampton Academy from 1997 to 2015. During the London Challenge she was the secondary director of the leadership strategy and as a National Leader of Education worked with some of London’s most challenging schools. Sue has been awarded an honorary fellowship and an

James has spent a lifetime fighting to improve the education opportunities and life chances for young people from disadvantaged backgrounds. He is passionate about the role communities and local leadership play in this and in 2021/22 he co-chaired the FED’s work on place-based approaches to levelling up educational opportunities (Workstream

Jim Knight, The Rt Hon Lord Knight of Weymouth works in education, digital technology and as a legislator. He is a director of Suklaa Ltd, providing advice services to UK and international clients working in technology for education and learning, international schooling, and teacher engagement.  Jim also regularly speaks and

Sarah is a passionate educator, business leader and champion of enabling life progress through literacy. CEO of Middlesbrough-based Lexonik, Sarah qualified as an English and Drama teacher in 2003, and spent almost 2  decades teaching youngsters in the Teesside region across KS3 to KS5. After working her way up to

Dr Trevor Lee is former principal at Merchant Taylors Prep School, Northwood that has been recognised as excellent in all aspects by the Schools’ Inspectorate. Trevor successfully compiled and presented two proposals to the Department for Education for the creation of two new academies in an economically underprivileged area of

A Mancunian by birth, and a Milton Keynesian by adoption, Ann Limb describes herself these days as a philanthropist, mover, and Quaker. Ann’s first career was in the public sector – in education and the civil service. She spent 25 years in adult and further education serving for ten years

Chair of The Commission on Young Lives, Former Children’s Commissioner for England, and vulnerable children and Independent Chair, NHS Children and Young People Learning Disability and Autism Board.    Anne has spent the last three decades working to improve the life chances of children, particularly the most vulnerable. From March

Anthony is immediate past CEO and current Co-Chair of the Washington DC-based National Center on Education and the Economy. He was Inaugural Chair, Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL); Inaugural Deputy Chair of the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA); immediate past Chair Australian Council for Educational

Geoff is a Fellow of the Inst of Directors, the Royal Society of Chemistry and the Institute of Environmental Management & Accounting. He is also a member of the UK Trade and Business Commission; and a Trustee of Lantra and the Association for Science Education. His passion is to close

As Founding Director of Oasis UK, Joy established Oasis as a group of organisations delivering education, housing, health, anti human trafficking and a wide range of local community projects.  When Oasis became a MAT, she took on the role of CEO of Oasis Community Learning, now responsible for 53 academies.

Javid Mahdavi serves as the Managing Director of Nexus Associates (ICT) and Colwyn Technologies Limited, both dedicated to providing premium ICT services, with a specific emphasis on the Education Sector within the Public Sector. Javid’s journey in education began in 2006 as an ICT Technician in schools, where his engagement

Shane is the managing director of Lsect, an education publishing and events company operating across the UK. He is the publisher of the leading education news outlets Schools Week & FE Week. He joined the organisation to launch FE Week in 2011. A dedicated newspaper for the further education and

FED Ambassador: Gordon Marsden is a politician, historian , writer and commentator and was MP for Blackpool South from 1997 to 2019. Before entering Parliament Gordon was an Open University Lecturer and tutor for 20 years , helped launch and later advised  English Heritage , and was both Publisher and

Rob is the CEO at ABE, a non-profit organisation which is dedicated to nurturing young entrepreneurs and business leaders by providing access to education across a range of settings. Before joining ABE, Rob held senior roles at education companies such as City & Guilds, Cambridge Assessment, YMCA, and the Federation

In a career spanning over 40 years dedicated to raising aspirations and transforming lives through education and training, Stella worked in Further Education (FE) for 30 years starting as a part time hourly paid lecturer and rising through the ranks to be appointed, in 2001, the first black and ethnic

Martin McKay, Texthelp’s CEO, award-winning entrepreneur and innovator, is an EdTech trailblazer with lofty ambitions for the world of literacy. Martin founded Texthelp when he was in his early twenties to help people with communication difficulties back in 1996. What started as a company focused on people with profound Speech

FED Ambassador and Learners Council Representative: Benjamin N’gonga is the Lead Marketing and PR for an independent music record label founded by Craig Fenton, Big Community Records. An artist-first social enterprise on a mission to surface and celebrate new talent from lower socio-economic areas and give them the stage to

Olly Newton spent 12 years in the Department for Education working on policies including 14-19 diplomas, raising the participation age and finally as Head of Apprenticeship Strategy. Olly is now Executive Director of the Edge Foundation, where he oversees a programme of primary research, is lead author on the charity’s

Paul leads Coventry University’s enterprise and innovation work following a successful career spanning over a quarter of a century with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), representing and promoting the best of British industry and technology across the globe. His aim in his role as Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Enterprise and Innovation

Dr Vanessa Ogden is CEO of the Mulberry Schools Trust (MST). Vanessa is an NLE and has undertaken a range of school turnaround work. She is an Honorary Academic at the UCL, Institute of Education and has a doctorate specialising in education policy and school improvement. Vanessa is the Chair

FED Ambassador: Natasha Oppenheim is an advisor, investor and operator in the fields of education and the future of work with a focus on innovation. Natasha advises a wide range of pioneering education companies from those accelerating SEN reading to life-long skills development for older people. As Chair and co-founding

Ambassador: Mary Palmer is the CEO of the Teaching Awards Trust, an educational charity that celebrate and recognises the impact of educators across the UK via the Pearson National Teaching Awards and the Thank a Teacher campaign. Mary is a passionate advocate for celebrating and raising awareness of the hugely

Vikas Pota: is the Founder of T4 Education, a digital platform he established as a response to the challenges posed by the pandemic on education, globally. T4 seeks to strengthen the cause of teachers and schools by providing them with opportunities to learn and share with each other, and is

Lorenzo is the Digital and Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning Lead at the Tony Blair Institute. He specialises in leading the development of large-scale digital learning platforms and in evaluating the impact of educational activities designed for young people. He is interested in research concerning experiences involving innovative technological tools

Justyn Randall has over 20 years’ experience building and scaling global businesses in recruitment, digital technology, HR consultancy, healthcare and education. Prior to Opogo, Justyn scaled Global Group internationally to £120m. Core to Justyn’s ventures is innovation; for the past three years, he has been working with schools, universities, the

Lord Rami Ranger CBE, FRSA, is a British Peer and a successful businessman honoured by Her Majesty the Queen on Eight occasions. Six times for Business and twice personally for community services and was made a Member of the British Empire in 2005 and Commander of the British Empire in

Founder & CEO, Skills Builder Partnership Tom founded the Skills Builder Partnership in 2009, whilst a secondary school teacher in Hackney. The Skills Builder Partnership brings together a global group of more than 800 partners around a common language and approach to building essential skills like teamwork, communication, and self-management.

Richardson’s passion for blending his technology background with education stems from his time as a US Peace Corps Volunteer in Senegal (1993-1995) and as Country Director of The International Rescue Committee in Liberia (2006-2007.)  . He has been on the Brookings Institute’s Center for Universal Education Leadership Council since its

Catherine Roche is the Chief Executive of Place2Be. She began her career in teaching before completing an MBA and joining KPMG. Her pro bono support for Place2Be from 1996 inspired her to join the charity as Chief Operating Officer in 2003 and then Deputy CEO. In 2014 she became Chief

Sir Anthony Seldon is one of Britain’s leading contemporary historians, educationalists, commentators and political authors. Artificial intelligence and well-being in education are two of his specialist areas. He was a transformative head for 20 years, first of Brighton College and then Wellington College before becoming Vice-Chancellor of The University of

Robert is Chairman of Royal National Children’s SpringBoard Foundation, an educational charity providing boarding bursaries and other educational opportunities to children from some of the most deprived communities in the UK, many in care. He is also Chairman of the LP Advisory Committee of Ahren, an investment company based on

FED Ambassador: Steve Smith joined SIAS in January 2022 as Managing Director, under his stewardship SIAS has quickly become one of the fastest growing End-Point-Assessment and Awarding Organisations nationally, positively disrupting traditional models and markets through the introduction of a new and different approach awarding and assessment. Steve is passionate

Tony Staneff has over three decades of experience in education, with an impressive track record of improving teaching and learning outcomes. His career has spanned roles as a teacher, Advanced Skills Teacher, Head of Department, senior leader, and senior examiner, equipping him with a deep understanding of the challenges and

Alastair Stewartis a presenter on GB News and will host a news and current affairs programme on Saturdays and Sundays. Before that, he presented a range of news and current affairs programmes on the ITV network and was one of the longest serving newscaster-journalists on British television. Over many years,

David has over 35 years’ business experience, of which 25 years has been at board-level. He has deep expertise in PR, communications, strategy, sales and negotiation, from working at a very senior level with many SMEs, global trade bodies and blue-chip multinationals in numerous industrial sectors, as well as five

FED Ambassador: Patrick Wall is the founder of edpol.net, a research project to support better and more enduring policy change. Patrick set up the first Oxford University access program, Target Schools, in 1982 and first became a school governor in 1988. For the last ten years he has been chair

Les Walton has a unique record of being a successful leader and innovator within most education sectors. As Headteacher, his school was identified by HMI as ‘one of the most successful urban schools in the country’. In his time as Director of Education the Council achieved Beacon Status for ‘tackling

Dawn is Chair of the World Federation of Colleges and Polytechnics and is the Chief Executive of Burton and South Derbyshire College in the UK.  She is also Deputy Chair of the Chartered Institution for Further Education.  She has a wealth of experience across professional technical vocational education and is

Professor Steve West CBE, DL is Vice-Chancellor, President and CEO of the University of the West of England, Bristol. Professor West is the President of Universities UK (UUK) and Chair of the UUK Mental Health in Higher Education Working Group. He is Chair of the West of England Academic Health

Tarquin Wethered is an investor in private companies with a growing specialism in Education, Services and Technology companies. He is a Director at THI Investments, a pan European investor in private companies with >€2bn AUM, as well as a board member of Impact Food Group, the UK’s highest quality and

Sue Williamson is Chief Executive of SSAT. She joined SSAT in 2002 and focused on leadership and innovation.  Sue worked with Professor David Hargreaves on the personalising learning agenda and developed SSAT’s suite of leadership programmes.  She was Headteacher of Monks’ Dyke Technology College for eight years.  She is trustee

Rebecca Winthrop is a senior fellow and co-director of the Center for Universal Education at the Brookings Institution. Her research focuses on education globally, with special attention to the skills young people need to thrive in work, life, and as constructive citizens. Dr. Winthrop works to promote quality and relevant

Floyd is a former Special Forces Soldier who delivered unparalleled success over a full career with 22 Special Air Service Regiment (SAS). He was awarded a DCM, the second highest gallantry award, for work in Iraq, and an MBE for work in Afghanistan. He was graded in the top 1%