Our people

We are pleased to have enjoyed the patronage of HRH The Prince of Wales 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 senior partner for McKinsey & Company; a company which has supported Teach First since its beginning. Dame Vivian served as managing partner for the McKinsey & Company UK and Ireland from 2013-2020 and led the firm’s Pharmaceutical & Medical products practice in EMEA prior to that time.

A leading campaigner for equality, diversity and excellence in education, Dame Vivian brings a wealth of experience to the role. She serves on the boards of leading organisations including Business in the Community, and has been a member of Teach First’s Business Leaders’ Council since 2012. 

Dame Vivian has been named as one of the top ten most influential black people in Britain by the Powerlist Foundation; the Financial Times recently identified her as one of the 30 most influential people in the City of London.

Sarah is a PhD researcher at The University of Manchester where she is assessing the impact of school leadership on teacher wellbeing. Sarah also works as an academic researcher with Mulberry Schools Trust in East London, leading on strategic projects exploring the experiences of disadvantage and inequity of students in education.

A 2014 ambassador, Sarah qualified as an English teacher and taught in Greater Manchester and the Middle East for seven years before beginning her academic career. Sarah has a Law degree and a master's in Education and Leadership from The University of Manchester.

James Bilefield is a Serial Digital Entrepreneur and Chief Digital Officer turned Chairman/Board Director, Strategy Advisor and Technology Investor.  He has a particular interest in STEM education, and chairs the Digital Advisory Board at the Science Museum Group.

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.

Caroline Carr is the Chief Human Resources Officer for the private equity firm, Permira. Based in London, Caroline joined the firm in 2017 and is responsible for all HR matters within Permira across 14 offices globally, and for advising on talent matters in relation to the firm’s investments in portfolio companies.

Previously, Caroline was a Managing Director at Goldman Sachs, spending 11 years in the HR and Legal Departments, having qualified and practised as a lawyer at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Slaughter and May in London and Hong Kong.

She is an active supporter of not for profit organisations, having been a founding member of the 30 Per Cent Club steering committee on diversity in the boardroom and leader of the professional services firms’ initiative on gender, she also sits on the Development Board for Christ’s College, Cambridge and the Permira Charitable Foundation. Caroline holds an undergraduate degree in Classics from Christ’s College, Cambridge.

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.

Lord Hill is a former European Commissioner, Leader of the House of Lords and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Schools.

Before joining the Government in 2010, he worked in the private sector, running his own communications business. He is currently the Lead NED at Her Majesty’s Treasury, Chairman of the Ditchley Foundation, an Independent National Director at Times Newspapers, and an adviser to a range of international businesses.

Dame Mary was Chief Executive of the NSPCC from 2000 – 08. She was Chair of Trustees, at the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) from  2016 until 2021. She is also a non-executive director of HSBC Bank plc, a member of the Governing Body at London Business School and Director on the board of the London Symphony Orchestra (LSO). In the earlier stages of her life journey she was a teacher, including as a deputy head and then headteacher of two comprehensive schools. After leaving NSPCC went on to be the Founding Director of Clore Social Leadership until 2015.

Nick Owen was 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.

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, as well as participating as a Community Board Member for Digital Poverty Alliance. Russell recently joined the Education Committee at the Royal Society.
 
Russell was awarded a CBE in the New Year Honours List 2022. 

Shelley is responsible for the high-quality delivery of our programmes in England and Wales. Shelley joined the charity in 2009 and has held numerous roles in teacher support and development, learning and development, talent management and programme delivery. Prior to joining Teach First, Shelley spent seven years serving communities in Houston, Texas. First as a 2002 Teach for America corps member teaching reception and later as a founding teacher and leader at KIPP SHINE Prep, the KIPP network’s first early childhood and elementary school.  

A native of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Shelley holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature from Louisiana State University and a Master of Education from the University of St. Thomas in Houston, Texas. She proudly serves as chair of governors at East London Arts and Music (elam.co.uk).

Rob is responsible for Teach First’s relationships with external audiences and stakeholders and is accountable for income generation to meet its goals. The engagement directorate covers brand, marketing, public affairs, government relations, media, and all fundraising teams.  

Rob joined Teach First in November 2019 having held senior marketing, fundraising and strategy roles at Friends of the Earth, Tate and The Scouts as well as acting in an advisory role for Members of Parliament. Rob is Chair of Governors of a local primary school in Hertfordshire and a Trustee of Roald Dahl’s Marvellous Children’s Charity. 

Reuben is responsible for developing new programmes that attract great people and support them to be expert teachers and leaders. He and his team also work to make sure all programmes, current and new, meet the needs of schools that need it most. 

He has been with Teach First for eleven years, first as Local Director and then leading Initial Teacher Education work with universities. Before that, he spent 12 years as teacher and leader in schools and higher education. 

Reuben is a founding fellow of the Chartered College of Teaching, served as a member of the Expert Advisory group that created the Early Career Framework,  and Chair of Governors at a local primary school in Leeds.

Andrew is accountable for ensuring our programmes attract the best possible talent who will thrive, making sure we’re getting more great teachers to the schools and children who need them most.   

Andrew joined Teach First in 2013 as Director of Local Areas and was accountable for the relationships with over 1000 schools, 3000 participants and 7000 alumni. Before joining Teach First Andrew was a Senior Director at Microsoft where he held senior positions in the Customer Services and Support division leading large delivery teams across Europe Middle East and Africa focused on delighting customers.   

Andrew delivers internet safety training in schools. He is also Vice Chair of trustees at a secondary academy trust.

Francis is responsible for developing & implementing Teach First’s strategy and ensuring Teach First’s work is evidence-led. The Strategy, Research & Performance directorate embeds data, analysis and research into organisational decision making and ensures our work is having the intended impact on schools serving pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds. The directorate helps the organisation make changes to deliver on its strategy including digital changes and initiatives to put schools at the heart of our work.

Francis joined Teach First in 2021 having been a Partner at The Boston Consulting Group, focusing on Financial Services and Social Impact sectors.   Francis has broad experience in strategy, digital innovation, data analytics, large scale transformation, org design and risk management topics.

Steve joined Teach First in September 2019 building on eight years in the charity sector serving disadvantaged children and young people.  Prior to that, he spent twelve years in the music industry, primarily with PRS for Music, and twelve years with PwC in business advisory and consultancy services. 

As Executive Director for Charity Services Steve is responsible for finance, technology, contracts and workplace. 

Flora leads Teach First’s work to develop high impact networks within its community of over 1,000 schools, 12,000 ambassadors, several hundred businesses and several hundred thousand young people. All with the aim of making sure that more teachers, school leaders and schools in the most disadvantaged areas thrive because of the support of a strong community.

She is a 2004 alumni, having taught history and A-Level politics at Albany School, Enfield (now Oasis Hadley Academy) between 2004-6. Following a four-year stint advising some of the world’s largest banks and law firms as a strategy consultant, she joined the Teach First in 2010, running a series of high-impact ambassador programmes. She set up and ran the Teach First Innovation Unit from 2012-18, which has accelerated the growth and impact of over 90 social enterprises working in the lowest socio-economic areas in England and Wales. She has three young children and is a governor of her local primary school and Member of the Alban Academies Trust.

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.