Brett Wigdortz OBE has led Teach First as its CEO since its launch in July 2002. Teach First is currently the 3rd most prestigious graduate recruiter in the United Kingdom and is working to close the achievement gap in England and Wales Brett 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 in February 2002 to develop and build support for the idea.

Before coming to London, his previous time at McKinsey was spent as a consultant in Indonesia, Singapore, and Manila - focusing on retail banking, organisational effectiveness, and Asian microfinance. Prior to McKinsey, Brett developed southeast Asia policy and business programmes at the Asia Society in New York City. He has also worked as a journalist in Asia and as a researcher at the East-West Center in Honolulu, focusing on energy and economic development issues.

He is originally from New Jersey and has also lived in Virginia and Israel. Brett has an Honors Bachelors degree in Economics from the University of Richmond and a Masters degree in Economics from the University of Hawai'i. He currently serves as a trustee of PEAS (Promoting Equality in African Schools) and Future Leaders, which recruits and train the next generation of outstanding headteachers for challenging urban secondary schools. He is also a co-founder and a trustee of Teach For All, an organization created in partnership with Teach For America to help other countries start similar programs and create a global network of leaders dedicated to addressing educational disadvantage.

He was recently named the 2007 UK Ernst & Young Social Entrepreneur of the Year and the 2010 CASE (Council for the Advancement and Support of Education) European Leadership Award. Brett is married with two small children.

As the Executive Director of Programme, Amanda leads on Teach First’s work to develop and equip leaders in the UK to make an impact towards a vision of educational equity. In this role she has oversight over our Graduate Recruitment, Leadership, Community Impact and Knowledge & Impact Research, Evaluation & Impact functions.

Amanda joined Teach First in 2006 to lead on the charity’s geographic expansion outside of London and then led on the design, development and delivery of the two-year Leadership Development Programme, which is delivered in seven eight regions in partnership with schools and universities. An alumnus of Teach For America, Amanda taught in a primary school for three years in Compton, California and worked at both Teach For America and the Los Angeles Unified School District in southern California.

James joined Teach First in October 2009 to head up the External Relations department where he leads on fundraising and development, communications and events, and data and impact. Prior to this, James worked for BBC News as its education and social affairs correspondent. During a distinguished 18-year career in broadcasting, James appeared regularly on flagship TV & radio programmes including the Six & Ten O'clock News and the Today programme. As well as helping launch News 24 in 1997, he has held a number of senior posts including that of the BBC's health correspondent. James has won several awards including Programme of the Year from the Royal Television Society. He also reported from around the world on major news stories, including the Asian tsunami and the flooding of New Orleans, spending two years posted abroad as one of the BBC's Washington correspondents.

John joined Teach First as Chief Operating Officer (COO) in January 2011. As head of the operations team he was responsible for HR, Finance, IT, Facilities and Governance. He is currently Acting CEO during Brett Wigdortz's sabbatical. Prior to Teach First, John had a 22-year career in investment banking at JPMorgan Cazenove where he held a number of senior positions (including COO) and was a member of the Executive Committee. Before joining the City, John was an economist at HMTreasury. He has a long-standing interest in education including two years teaching Economics at the start of his career and being the governor of a primary school. He is married and has four teenage children.

Dame Julia Cleverdon is Vice President of Business in the Community and a Special Adviser to the Prince's Charities on responsible business practice. Prior to this she was Chief Executive of Business in the Community from April 1992 to March 2008 and grew the business-led organisation from £2million to £24 million turnover with 400 staff. In addition to this she developed with the Prince of Wales his Seeing is Believing programme involving more than seven thousand business leaders visiting inner city schools, prisons, homeless hostels, community groups and social enterprises in the most deprived communities in the UK.

Dame Julia was listed by The Times as one of the 50 most influential women in Britain and was appointed CBE in 1996, CVO in the New Year's Honours' list in 2002 and a DCVO in the Queen's Honours list in 2008. She chairs the board of trustees of Teach First and also sits on the board of Teach for All.

John Rink spent 35 years with international law firm Allen & Overy. In 1993, he was elected Managing Partner, a position he held until his retirement. In addition to his career at Allen & Overy, John spent two years seconded to British Aerospace plc (as it then was) as their Legal Director. Since his retirement in 2003, John spent three years as the senior non-executive director at Brixton Plc, a public company in the property sector. He also spent three years as a non-executive director with a major firm of accountants and was a non-executive director with the largest 'domestic' law firm in the UK until April 2009. In his spare time he is an active golfer, fell walker and opera fan. John has been a trustee of Teach First since June 2007 and became Deputy Chair in 2010.

Lord Andrew Adonis served 12 years in government as a Minister and special adviser. He was Secretary of State for Transport, Minister for Schools, Head of the No.10 Policy Unit, and senior No. 10 adviser on education, public services and constitutional reform. After the last general election he became Director of the Institute for Government (2010-12).

In government he pioneered key public service reforms including the Academy programme, which established over 200 independent state schools to replace failing secondary schools, the radical university tuition fees and grants reform of 2004, and the plan to develop a high-speed rail line from London to northern England and Scotland. He was also a key supporter from the beginning of Teach First.

Before entering politics, Andrew was a journalist and academic focusing on public policy and constitutional analysis. He was Public Policy Editor of the Financial Times, and Fellow of Nuffield College, Oxford, where he gained a PhD in modern political history.

Andrew is also author of seven books including “Education, Education, Education” (September 2012) on educational reform. He has been a member of the House of Lords since 2005 and currently sits on the frontbench as Shadow Infrastructure Minister.

Glenn Earle retired in December 2011 from Goldman Sachs International, where he was most recently a Managing Director and the Chief Operating Officer. Glenn had previously worked at Goldman Sachs in various roles in New York, Frankfurt and London since 1987.

Glenn is a graduate of Emmanuel College, Cambridge and of Harvard Business School, where he earned an MBA with High Distinction and was a Baker Scholar and Loeb, Rhoades Fellow.

Glenn is a Board Member and Trustee of the Royal National Theatre and Chairman of the Advisory Board of Cambridge University Judge Business School. He is also a member of the Advisory Board of the educational charity the Sutton Trust, the Development Advisory Forum of Emmanuel College, Cambridge and The Higher Education Commission. His previous responsibilities have included membership of the Board of Trustees of the Goldman Sachs Foundation and of the Ministerial Task Force for Gifted and Talented Youth. Glenn became a Trustee of Teach First in 2011.

Lou is a Teach First Trustee, appointed in 2009, and is a Managing Director at Citigroup. He has been an active member of the Teach First National Advisory Council and speaker at Teach First events for over five years. Lou also sits on the Invest in Futures Board for the Prince's Trust. Lou has graduated with Honors from Rutgers College.

Mary Meaney is a partner in McKinsey's London office. She leads the Transformational Change practice for Europe, Middle East and Africa; is one of the global leaders of McKinsey's Organization practice and is the founder and leader of the McKinsey women's initiative in EMEA and McKinsey's 'Women as Leaders' programme. She has served a variety of energy, basic materials, high-tech, metals and mining, private equity, public sector and consumer product organisations focusing on performance improvement. Before joining McKinsey, Mary worked for the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Centre for Strategic and International Studies. She directed a junior high school in the South Bronx and worked with semi-nomadic polygamous tribes in western Kenya. Mary graduated Summa cum Laude with a BA in Public and International Affairs from Princeton University. She earned a D.Phil in Politics from the University of Oxford on a Rhodes Scholarship.

Vanessa Ogden is Head teacher of Mulberry School for Girls. She is a National Leader in Education, supporting schools in challenging circumstances to improve. She is also a Visiting Academic Fellow at the Institute of Education and she has a doctorate specialising in education policy and school improvement. Vanessa's teaching career has spanned two decades of practice in inner-city schools across London, and involved significant work in school turnaround, school effectiveness and education tailored to the differing needs of young women and men.

Vanessa is a trustee of Teach First and Chair of the Impact Committee. She has been President of the Association of Maintained Girls Schools. Vanessa won the Women of the Future Inspirational Educator Award in 2009. In 2012, she was listed as one of the top 30 inspirational City women.

Vanessa has published both academic and professional writing on education.

Jo Owen is one of the co-founders of Teach First. He is also one of the founders of Future Leaders and of Teaching Leaders, which develop head teachers and middle leaders for schools in the most challenging circumstances. Jo has additionally founded four other charities in education and re-offending: STIR, Achievement for All, Start Up for Ex-offenders and Spark Inside.

Jo is the author of fourteen best-selling business books, including “How to Lead”, “How to Manage” and “Tribal Business School” examining what modern business can learn from traditional societies. He was formerly a strategy partner in Accenture's financial services group. Jo has also built a business in Japan and was the architect of HBOS business banking in the UK. He is a speaker on the subjects of tribes and leadership as well as being a C-suite coach. Jo earned his MA at Queens' College, Cambridge, and his MBA at London Business School.

After completing his economics & management degree at Oxford University, Tom taught business and enterprise at Cardinal Pole School in East London. In his second year he founded Enabling Enterprise, to encourage students to meet and work with students from other schools, and to develop vital enterprise skills, whatever the subject.

This year, over 2,500 students will be involved in Enabling Enterprise's programme across London, Manchester and Birmingham. Tom's work has been recognised with the Teach First Excellence Award, and he was also the 2009 UK Entrepreneurship Teacher of the Year.

Sarah has been a partner at Deloitte since 2002. Deloitte is a professional services firm with over 12,000 partners and staff in the UK, and recruits approximately 1,100 graduates a year. Sarah provides audit and transaction support services to clients in the media, technology and services sectors. Sarah was Deloitte's graduate recruitment partner for seven years and in this role has worked with Teach First for over five years. Sarah studied economics and maths at Bristol University and went travelling during a gap year after graduating, after which she trained as a Chartered Accountant.

Clare joined the inaugural cohort of Teach First in 2003, after completing her Physics Master’s degree at Cambridge University. She taught in Quintin Kynaston School in Westminster for three years, with one year out in an international school in Abu Dhabi. Clare moved to Paddington Academy in 2007 as Head of Science. She has been on Paddington Academy’s SLT since 2008 in various different roles, including Assistant Principal for Teaching and Learning, and is currently Vice Principal for Standards and Ethos.

Stephen is a private investor with interests in impact investing, education and mental health. For 30 years he was involved in the family retail business. He then became interested in Impact investing, creating the Andromeda Fund. After exiting the fund in 2007 he founded Willows Investments with the aim of supporting promising ventures with a social mission. On the philanthropic side he is trustee of NTYE (Network for Teaching Young Entrepreneurs) and chairman of NFTE Germany, as well as a number of non-profit organisations. Next to his business interests he is a passionate jazz musician and enjoys a variety of sports.

Ian joined Teach First as Finance Director in March 2012. His career in finance started at Ernst & Young in 1997 and continued with a number of media finance roles with ITV, Virgin Media and most recently Channel 4. Ian spent a year as an English Assistant in a school in the Correze in France, enjoying the experience immensely. He holds a BSc in Mathematics and French from Southampton University and is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales. Ian is married with two young children and has a passion for the mountains.

As a 2003 Ambassador Ndidi has been a part of the Teach First journey from the very beginning. After spending three years in her placement school she moved to Burlington Danes Academy in 2006. There, as an Assistant Principal in Ark’s foundation Academy, Ndidi contributed to the rapid improvement that lifted the school out of special measures and saw it established as one of the best state schools in the country. She oversaw the development of whole school and cross network strategies including; pastoral programs, curriculum design, student leadership/voice, inclusion, and careers development. Ndidi joined the Teach First employee community in January 2012, working on developing our strategy around Youth and Family Engagement. She was appointed the Executive Director of Regions in January 2013. As a division – Regions, is accountable for the 10 geographical areas in which Teach First operates across the UK, (currently spanning 9 English regions and Wales) Regional teams are responsible for understanding the specific nature and extent of educational disadvantage and working with partners to change that landscape for the young people who live there. The division is accountable for the relationships with schools, participants, ambassadors and regional alliances, working closely with Programme to ensure that all our activities are effective and targeted for greatest impact.

Sir David Bell KCB became Vice-Chancellor of the University of Reading in January 2012. Sir David studied history and philosophy at Glasgow University and obtained his PGCE from Jordanhill College of Education. He also has a Master of Education degree in management and administration from Glasgow University. He then held teaching posts at primary schools in Glasgow, moving on to become a deputy head, and then a headteacher at Kingston Primary School, in Thundersley, Essex.

Between 1990 and 1995, he was Assistant Director of Education at Newcastle City Council. During this time he spent a year as a Harkness Fellow at Georgia State University, Atlanta, studying education and local government reform across the United States of America. Sir David trained as an Ofsted team inspector in 1993. He became a Registered Inspector in 1994 and carried out inspections in primary schools. He was promoted to Director of Education and Libraries at Newcastle City Council in 1995 and became Chief Executive of Bedfordshire County Council in 2000.

Sir David was appointed HM Chief Inspector of Schools in England (HMCI) in May 2002. He was Chief Inspector for over three years and, in January 2006, he became Permanent Secretary at the Department for Education and Skills which later became the Department for Children, Schools and Families and then the Department for Education. As the most senior education civil servant in the country, Sir David served four Secretaries of State and three Prime Ministers. Sir David became a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB) in the 2011 Birthday Honours.