Our people

We are pleased to have enjoyed the patronage of HM King Charles, since 2008.

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.

As Vice President of ‘Business in the Community’ and former Special Adviser to ‘The Prince’s Charities’ — concentrating on responsible business practice and focusing connecting the unconnected in disadvantaged communities — she promotes collaboration among senior leaders from business, government, education and community organisations to build a more robust civil society.

Dame Vivian Hunt is a founding member of Teach First UK and has supported many other organisations in the Teach For All network. Dame Vivian served as managing partner for McKinsey & Company's UK and Ireland offices and led the firm's Life Sciences practice in EMEA.

A leading campaigner for equality, diversity and excellence in education, Dame Vivian brings a wealth of experience to the role. She has extensive board experience, including sitting on Harvard's Board of Overseers and being the former Chair of Generation UK. Dame Vivian was named one of Britain's top ten most influential black people by the Powerlist Foundation.

The Financial Times recently identified her as one of the 30 most influential people in the City of London.

Humphrey Battcock built a 30 year career in venture capital/private equity latterly as European head of Advent International. Advent International is one of the world’s leading private equity firms with operations in 10 countries. During his tenure, the firm increased its assets under management from £200 million to £30 billion.

Humphrey is a chartered accountant, with an MBA from London Business School, a Physics degree from Cambridge University and a degree in demographics from London School of Economics.

Humphrey has lectured at the Business School at Oxford and been a board member of the Woodland Trust and the Campaign Board of Cambridge University. He is currently a trustee at Sadler’s Wells as well as two charities that he set up: the Institute for Research in Schools and the What Works Centre for Homelessness Impact. He is a panel member of the Competition and Markets Authority.

Djamila Boothman is currently an Assistant Headteacher and DSL in a North London Secondary School.  As a Teach First ambassador (2016), she passionately advocates that addressing educational disadvantage must be addressed through both the curriculum and pastoral offer.

As an English teacher, Djamila values the power that literature has as a gateway to new worlds and experiences and is committed to improving cultural representation in the English literature curriculum as a means of increasing student inquiry, attainment, promoting pride and placing equal value and celebration on the lived experiences of all children sitting in Britain’s classrooms. She is the co-author of Collins Who We Are Key Stage 3 Anthology and Through Our Eyes GCSE anthology.

Djamila has been recognised for her community-based work to engage students and families (100 Teachers Campaign, 2021) including the UK’s first Windrush Day School Festival, a sponsored walk for water and a documentary entitled Hush We Came on Windrush⁠—as well as her work to address the issue of disproportionality in schools.

As a safeguarding lead, Djamila works under the premise that embedding a strong safeguarding culture and promoting student welfare across a school can mitigate against a child's challenging socioeconomic circumstances in order to ensure that they can thrive.

Djamila holds a Masters in Educational Leadership from UCL IOE, a PGCE in Secondary English from Canterbury Christ Church University and an undergraduate degree in History from Royal Holloway, University of London.

Alison has been a partner at EY since 2003. EY is a multinational professional services firm headquartered in London. Alison is responsible for delivering the global audits of a number of UK listed Groups across a number of different industry sectors. 

In 2011, Alison completed 3 years as the Managing Partner for People and member of the Ernst & Young UK & Ireland Board and her role included responsibility for the recruitment of c1,000 graduates each year. Alison studied Microbiology at Trinity College Dublin, and worked for two years as a biologist prior to training as a chartered accountant in London.

Tom Harbour is the Founder and CEO of Learning with Parents, a charity working to narrow the disadvantage gap by supporting all parents to engage in their children’s learning. They do this by providing an online platform for schools, and by leading a group of organisations to improve home learning across the sector.

Tom is a 2011 ambassador, having trained at a comprehensive school in Leicester, where he held a range of middle leadership roles. He also taught in Munich, Germany.

He holds a Natural Sciences degree from the University of Cambridge, a Master’s in Education from the University of Warwick and is a 2020 Acumen Fellow.

Nick Owen is the former Chair of Deloitte in the UK. He focused on how Deloitte makes an impact that matters: building close relationships with Boards, charities and government to support Deloitte’s purpose in the UK. He was Co-Chair of the Professional & Business Services Council, which works with the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy to drive the UK’s growth agenda.  He was a member of the previous Prime Minister’s Financial & Professional Services Business Council.

Nick chairs the Business Leaders’ Advisory Council of Teach First, is a senior independent trustee at Macmillan Cancer Support and Chair-Elect at Royal National Children’s SpringBoard Foundation. He also is an advisor and Non-Executive Director to private sector companies. He is passionate about inclusion and social mobility, having sponsored and initiated Deloitte’s boardroom programmes to support greater gender and ethnicity inclusion on UK boards.

Paul Geddes joined QA as CEO in September 2019. Prior to joining, Paul was CEO of Direct Line Group (DLG), where he led the successful IPO of the business, delivering strong customer and business performance. Under his leadership, DLG was recognised in the top three of the Sunday Times Best Big Companies to Work For ranking.

Paul is a Non-Executive Director of Channel 4 Television Corporation.

Prior to Direct Line Group, Paul was CEO of RBS Group’s mainland UK retail banking business, following a successful career in multichannel retailing and marketing at leading companies such as Kingfisher, GUS and Procter & Gamble. He read PPE at Oxford.

Richard is Chair of Greenhill International, an independent investment bank. Prior to joining Greenhill, Richard performed a number of other roles in the banking sector, including the Co-Head of Barclays’ Investment Banking division and head of UK Corporate & Investment Banking at Merrill Lynch. He qualified as a Chartered Accountant with Arthur Andersen prior to entering banking.

Richard is the youngest of twelve children and attended a comprehensive school in Southwark, London. He went on to study Civil Engineering at Southampton University. Given his background, Richard has been particularly interested in social mobility and education. He has been involved with The Sutton Trust since 2014 and is a member of its Board, and participates in the Speakers for Schools initiative. He is also a Campaign Board member of Historic Royal Palaces.

Lord Kestenbaum is a Director of Windmill Hill Asset Management, Director of JPMorgan Japanese Investment Trust plc and an adviser to a range of interests associated with the Rothschild family. He is also the Chancellor of Plymouth University. 
 
He was previously the Chief Operating Officer at RIT Capital Partners, the publicly quoted investment trust, having earlier served as Chief Executive of Five Arrows Limited the private investment vehicle controlled by Lord Rothschild. Jonathan has also been the Chief Executive of the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts, prior to which he was Chief of Staff to the Chairman of Apax Partners, Sir Ronald Cohen.

Jonathan was on the Board of the charity the Design Council and Enterprise Insight, and was Non-Executive Chairman of Quest, a large accounting business. He served on the Governing Body of the Technology Strategy Board, acted as a Commissioner of the Manchester Independent Economic Review and also Chairman of the City of Manchester Science Review. He has completed his term of office on the Innovation Advisory Group at Imperial College and is now Adjunct Professor at the Imperial College Business School. He also served on the Board of the Royal Shakespeare Company, and was involved in developing the new Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-Upon-Avon.

Professor Samantha Twiselton is the Director of Sheffield Institute of Education at Sheffield Hallam University, Vice President (External) of the Chartered College of Teaching and Deputy Chair of Opportunity Area Partnership Board. She uses her research and practice in the progression of teacher expertise, and curriculum design to improve school-embedded approaches to teacher development.

Sam has been involved in influencing Government policy on teacher education and is the Chair of the DfE ITT Framework Group, a member of the DfE Teacher Recruitment and Retention Advisory Group, the specialist NPQs Group, the Carter Review of ITT and Expert Behaviour Management Panel, and the OFSTED Curriculum Review Panel. She is a recent recipient of an OBE for services to Higher Education.

Nabila Jiwa is a 2012 Teach First Ambassador and currently works as Regional Executive Principal across a large, national multi academy trust. She has served as a Headteacher of a thriving secondary school in West London and more broadly the education sector for over a decade in a range of roles.

She is currently Chairperson of the Aga Khan Education Board in a voluntary capacity. She received her Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from the University of St Andrews and her Masters Degree in Education from UCL.

Helen Weir is an experienced Non-Executive Director. Since January 2023, she has been Chair of Mobico Group (formerly National Express).

She is also Chair of the Nominations and Governance Committee and a member of the Supervisory Board of Ahold Delhaize, Senior Independent Director and Chair of the Nominations Committee of SuperDry and Audit Committee Chair a Non-Executive Director of Bata Shoes (a privately held business).

She previously served on the Boards of Greencore, Just Eat, SAB Miller and Royal Mail.  She has recently stepped down from her roles as a Trustee of Marie Curie and as an Independent Non-Executive Director of the RFU. 

Helen is a former CFO of Marks & Spencer, having previously held positions as Group Finance Director at John Lewis Partnership and Lloyds Banking Group where she was also CEO of the retail bank.

She has enjoyed successful and varied roles in leading businesses such as Kingfisher, B&Q and McKinsey and Co. She is a qualified accountant and was awarded a CBE for services to Finance in 2008.

Clare is a an experienced business leader, having spent her career to date predominantly in the technology sector.  She is currently Senior Independent Director on the board of Wise plc, and a non Executive Director and Chair of Compensation for Get Your Guide GmBH.  She is also a Senior Advisor with KKR, and an Advisor to Active Partners.

Clare was previously CEO of Trainline, VP of Europe at eBay, and held various roles at Boston Consulting Group and Unilever.

Clare has long been a believer in the power of a great education in furthering social mobility, and has worked with Speakers4schools, Future Frontiers and others focused on achieving that aim.

Clare is originally from Dublin, and studied International Commerce and German at University College Dublin.

Russell joined Teach First as CEO in September 2017, building on more than 15 years developing and promoting leadership in schools.

Prior to joining Teach First, Russell was General Secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) and before that worked as a management consultant, helping found Hay Group’s education practice.
 
Russell serves as a trustee of Fair Education Alliance and Teach for All UK Charity Board, along with being a member of the Education Committee at the Royal Society. In 2023 he joined the Queen Victoria Hospital NHS Foundation Trust as a Non-Executive Director.
 
Russell was awarded a CBE in the New Year Honours List 2022 and was presented with the honorary title of Doctor of Education from Bath Spa University in 2023.

Sabrina is responsible for driving our voluntary income, meaning we are able to deliver on our programmes not funded by the Department for Education. Sabrina’s team oversees the charity’s main fundraising income streams: corporate partnerships, trusts and foundations and philanthropy.

Sabrina has been a fundraiser for nearly 20 years. She joined Teach First in January 2025, covering Lizzie Emilion’s maternity leave. Sabrina has worked with large charities such as Cancer Research UK and Alzheimer’s Society, and has held leadership positions for the last 10 years. Sabrina is a trustee for Firebird Theatre, a radical theatre company led by learning disabled people in Bristol.

Emily looks after Teach First’s governance structures, which enable us to operate effectively and safely, and works with the Board to provide assurance and oversight of the charity’s activities. She is responsible for building an inclusive, high-performance culture, with the right people, passion and capability to deliver our strategy. She is passionate about enabling organisations to thrive and about supporting young people facing disadvantage.

Emily joined Teach First in June 2023, having previously overseen the governance function at the University of Bath. Before that, she worked as a Clerk in the House of Commons, advising select committees and working on legislation, and spent six years living in France with her young family. She has held a variety of non-executive roles and is currently a Trustee of Bath Abbey Music Society. In her spare time, she plays the cello and goes for long-distance runs.

Sujata is responsible for making sure that the charity is operating effectively and sustainably, and that we have the capability and resources aligned to enable us to deliver our strategy. She is currently leading the Finance and Performance Directorate which includes our finance team, contracts and procurement, planning and change, and data and reporting functions.

Sujata is a chartered accountant by profession. She joined Teach First in October 2022, having held executive roles in charities, including Crisis UK and Sustrans, the NHS, and in education, where she had an instrumental role in establishing one of the country's first multi-academy trusts. Sujata is a trustee at We The Curious, the science centre in Bristol.

Anna is Executive Director of Transformational Programmes having been at Teach First for over 10 years. Anna started her career in education as a 2008 ambassador teaching design and technology in London before joining Teach First in School Partnership roles and later moving to Regional Leadership. Anna is passionate about the design and delivery of programmes which inspire and ignite the same passion for social change that continues to motivate her in her career.

Anna holds an MA in Leadership from UCL IOE and a BA (Hons) from Loughborough University.

Bridget oversees our partnerships with schools and the design, implementation and impact of the programmes that we deliver together with our education partners.

Bridget completed the Teach First Training Programme herself and is a former maths teacher, who has since worked with schools on their professional development. She co-authored Unleashing Great Teaching, a handbook for great learning for teachers and pupils, and was formerly Director of School Programmes at the Teacher Development Trust. She is a trustee of The MTPT Project and lives in Brighton with her young family.

Paddy is responsible for making sure we recruit the next generation of exceptional talent for the Teach First Training Programme. Paddy has been with Teach First since 2012 and before that completed the Teach First Training Programme, teaching science in schools in London. Paddy co-founded the ambassador led careers education charity Future Frontiers and serves on the board of the charity Change Mental Health.

Paddy lives in Edinburgh with his husband and has an MBA from Aston University, a PGCE from Canterbury Christ Church University and a degree in biochemistry from St Andrews University. 

James is responsible for our digital strategy and for the design, development and operation of our digital, data and technology services. This includes the platforms that support our programmes, delivery partners and trainees, including our contact centre operations.

James joined Teach First in July 2023.  He has worked in digital, technology, governance and architecture roles across the higher education, local and central government sectors for more than 20 years; most recently as a leader of Digital Design and Architecture at Ofsted and as a technology assessor in the NHS and UK Civil Service.

He has an interest in how new digital and data services can be used to make things easier for schools and students. He holds a degree in computing and information systems.  He has three children and is based in Bristol.    

Charlotte is responsible for ensuring that we engage all our audiences with Teach First’s mission to end educational inequality. The directorate works with our ambassadors, change makers and other stakeholders to communicate how we are working together to drive change within and around the classroom.

Charlotte has been with Teach First since 2024 prior to which she was Director of Marketing and Culture at Global Action Plan, having held prior leadership roles mainly in health charities. She is passionate about the role which the organisation’s brand can play in providing clarity and increasing impact. Charlotte is a Governor at Green Dragon School and a parent to three grown up children.

Brett led Teach First as its Founder & CEO from its launch in July 2002 to September 2017, and now serves as Founder and Honorary President. He wrote the original business plan for the charity while working as a management consultant at McKinsey & Company and then took what was originally planned as a six-month leave of absence to develop and build support for the idea.

Previously he has worked as a consultant, a journalist and researcher. He is originally from New Jersey and has an Honours Bachelors degree in Economics from the University of Richmond and a Masters degree in Economics from the University of Hawaii. Brett was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Law from the University of Warwick in January 2016.

Brett is Co-Founder and Trustee of Teach For All, he also serves on the board of Future Leaders and on the advisory boards of the Educational Endowment Fund and STIR.  In autumn 2015, Brett joined the UK Holocaust Memorial Foundation Education Advisory Group as vice-chair and joined the Gems Varkey Teacher Alliance of worldwide educational experts in March 2016.

Brett was awarded an OBE in the 2013 Queens New Year’s Honours list for Services to Education. His book Success Against the Odds, a candid account of the first ten years of Teach First, was named WHSmith’s Business Book of the Month.