Staff


The Senior Leadership Team
	Brett Wigdortz Founder and CEO London Office 020 7517 2721 bwigdortz@teachfirst.org.uk Brett Wigdortz has led Teach First since its launch in June 2002. 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, Islamic banking 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. He currently serves as a trustee of PEAS (Promoting Equality in African Schools) and Governor of Wembley High Technology College in Brent, London. He is also the co-founder and a trustee of Teach For All, an organisation created in partnership with Teach For America to help other countries start similar programmes 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. Brett is married with two small children. ^ back to top
	David Stephens Director of Finance and Operations London Office 020 7517 4834 dstephens@teachfirst.org.uk David joined Teach First in February 2009 as Director of Finance and Operations to oversee the key areas of Corporate Governance, Facilities, Finance, Human Resources, IT and Systems. He has a great assortment of experiences that he brings to the role, including as an Arthur Andersen consultant, Group Finance Director of a leisure company, Chief Financial Officer of an internet start-up, Controller at WPP group, and Investment Director at IBIS Capital. Even more importantly, he brings with him a great enthusiasm for our work and mission. David graduated from Cambridge and is a qualified Chartered Accountant. >> Operations Team Functional Heads ^ back to top
	Sonia Blandford Director of Research and Development London Office 020 7517 6417 sblandford@teachfirst.org.uk Sonia has an extensive portfolio in education encompassing teaching, leadership, research and publications. As former Pro-Vice Chancellor and Dean of Education at Canterbury Christ Church University, Sonia has been involved with Teach First since the beginning of the programme. She has published over 20 books focusing on middle leadership, special educational needs, financial management and classroom management and behaviour. Sonia has taught in primary and secondary schools in Yorkshire, Wiltshire, Bath, London and Bristol. She is also the founder of two community arts charities and Trustee of two Academies. Sonia has a Doctorate in Education from the University of Bristol, an MPhil from the University of Bath, an MA in Music from the University of Reading, and a Cert Ed and a BEd from Bretton Hall College, University of Leeds. ^ back to top
	James Darley Director of Graduate Recruitment London Office 020 7517 2737 jdarley@teachfirst.org.uk James has proudly headed up the graduate recruitment department since 2004 and has seen Teach First grow from a ‘modest’ recruiter to an established ‘volume’ recruiter, consistently appearing in the top twenty of the prestigious Times Top 100 Graduate Employers. James has been in graduate recruitment for over 10 years and came to Teach First from Credit Suisse where he was European Head of Graduate Recruitment. Before this he took a year off to travel around the world and fulfilled life-long ambitions including walking on the Great Wall of China, climbing the highest mountain in SE Asia, swimming with wild dolphins and hiking along the ancient Inca trail to Machu Picchu. Prior to travelling, James spent 2 years at Deutsche Bank as Global Head of Fixed Income graduate recruitment and at the same time served as a Director of the AGR (Association of Graduate Recruiters). Before this James headed up graduate recruitment for United Biscuits and worked for a number of years in Purchasing for both UB and Spiller Petfoods. James graduated from Liverpool University with a BSc in Psychology and Computer Science and Information Technology. ^ back to top
	James Westhead Director of External Relations London Office 020 7517 8925 jwesthead@teachfirst.org.uk James brings a wealth of experience in both the media and education to his role at Teach First. Until recently he 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 as 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 Tsunami and the flooding of New Orleans, spending two years posted abroad as one of the BBC's Washington correspondents. ^ back to top
	Sarah Connor Director of Ambassadors London Office 020 7517 2729 sconnor@teachfirst.org.uk Sarah brings a background in business, education and the not-for-profit sector to her role at Teach First. Prior to joining the staff team, she was Managing Partner of a communications consultancy that worked with charities on their branding, messaging and campaigning. Before this, she spent two years teaching English and Drama at a secondary school in Kent and a further two as an educational journalist for the BBC. In her spare time, Sarah is a trustee for the sport and development charity ‘Alive and Kicking UK’, which she helped to found. Sarah graduated from the University of Bristol with a PGCE and the University of Kent with a BA in English & Drama. ^ back to top
	Amanda Timberg Director of Leadership Development London Office 020 7517 8929 atimberg@teachfirst.org.uk After successfully leading the first expansion region outside of London into Greater Manchester, Amanda now looks after the two year Leadership Development programme, ensuring a high quality and consistent experience for all Participants, pupils and schools. The Leadership Development Department is also responsible for the running of our five regions: East Midlands, London, the North West, West Midlands and Yorkshire. An alumnus of Teach For America, Amanda taught primary school for three years in Los Angeles and went on to join the Los Angeles staff of Teach For America as the Managing Director of Program. Most recently she worked in the Superintendent’s office of the Los Angeles Unified School District before relocating to Manchester and Teach First in February 2006. >> London Office >> North West Office >> East Midlands Office >> West Midlands Office >> Yorkshire Office >> Participant President ^ back to top