Jason Elsom’s early career centred around internet innovation – leading some of the most progressive early ‘dotcoms’ to launch the UK’s first free internet service and first home broadband. At 32, Jason turned his heart to education, becoming a teacher of ICT, secondary school Head of Faculty, and then senior leader in Further Education.
Jason went on to launch global skype-a-thons for over two hundred thousand children from across more than sixty nations, and PopUp College, which took over around 150 Costa Coffee stores after they close as adult learning venues.
More recently, Jason joined Robert Peston’s social mobility charity, Speakers for Schools, which he scaled through the pandemic from being a highly respected but quiet charity of eight colleagues to almost 160, delivering inspirational talks from 1,500 societal leaders such as former Prime Ministers and ministers, corporate leaders, actors, sports personalities and more, life-changing work experiences from the likes of Google, Spotify, the Bank of England and around 900 other employers, as well as National Teen Book Club, and the vInspired youth volunteering programme.
As a passionate educator, leader and father to a blended family of eight, Jason understands the importance of parental participation in every child’s education. Joining as CEO of Parentkind, the federated charity whose Parent Teacher Association members make up 5% of all UK charities, and 1% of all donations, Jason continues to champion the role of parents in successful educational outcomes.
Jason also sits on the advisory councils of the Foundation for Education Development and The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust and is a Trustee at Cauldwell Youth.
