Our trustees
Fred Sharrock (Chair of Trustees)
Fred has spent his career working in roles focused on improving education and life chances for disadvantaged young people. He is currently the Chief Executive Officer of Day One Trust, a small group of sixth form colleges that prepare young people, whatever their background, for careers in the Film & TV, Music & Computer Games industries. Previously he was Director of Operations for the Haberdashers’ Academies Trust South, a group of nine state schools serving diverse and disadvantaged communities in South East London. Before this he was a civil servant, working mostly in the Department for Education on a wide range of different policy areas for the Blair, Brown and Cameron governments.
Carly Wickham (Vice Chair of Trustees)
Carly is the Group Digital Marketing Manager at Aviva and Director of The Giving Department, a specialist consultancy that believes in the business case for corporate social responsibility. With almost two decades of experience in marketing and communications, Carly has a passion for embracing the ever-changing digital landscape.
Laura Bruce
Laura currently works as Director of Programmes and Partnerships at The Sutton Trust. At the Trust, she is responsible for overseeing all beneficiary facing work including supporting access to university and the workplace for less advantaged students. Prior to this, Laura has held roles in both the higher education and voluntary sectors where she managed and developed a range of programmes and initiatives. Laura is also a trustee of PRIME Commitment and sits on the information, advice and guidance advisory group for the Office for Students.
Colin Horswell (he/him)
Colin is Managing Director of Cordis Bright. He works with local authorities, central government and the third sector to help improve outcomes for vulnerable children, young people and families. Colin also has experience in supporting schools on achievement, attendance, inclusion, and transition.
Michelle Loughrey (Chair of Impact Committee)
Michelle is an education leader with over two decades’ experience working in education, leading schools including, most recently, as Headteacher. As an educational consultant, she provides support to individuals, schools and to trusts; her specialism is in leadership development and values-led cultural and organisational change. Michelle is also a lay Education Quality Assurance Inspector for Social Work England.
Nikolai Petrou (Chair of Finance Committee)
Nikolai is Finance and Data Director at Winmark. He has over 20 years’ experience providing financial governance and developing the data strategy for leading organisations in both the public and private sectors. Nikolai is a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants (ICAEW).
Lisa Robinson (Chair of Fundraising and Marketing Committee)
Lisa has over 15 years’ experience in fundraising for the voluntary sector across a range of organisations and causes including WWF, Windsor Leadership and the Disasters Emergency Committee. She has worked closely with influential leaders and donors to build relationships and grow income throughout her fundraising career. Lisa is currently
Director of Development & Communications at Islington Giving.
Dan O’Brien
Dan is a director and advisor to a number of events industry companies: Cuil Bay Capital, Raccoon Media Group and Pendragon Media Group. He was CFO and Chief Operating Officer at events organiser Tarsus Group for 12 years until its recent sale, and is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants (ICAEW). He has worked as a finance director of listed and private equity owned companies across the media sector over the last 20 years.
Yun Hui Teoh
Yun Hui is the General Counsel of a global financial services, having been in the sector for nearly 20 years working with senior stakeholders and executive management on matters of strategic and operational importance. Yun Hui is a dedicated advocate for diversity and inclusion in all aspects of her life, and in her career has striven to introduce and implement real structural change as well as changes in mindset, norms and perceptions as a driver for improving access and equality of opportunity. Her contributions have been recognised as those of a leader in conduct and ethics culture. Yun Hui is also a trustee at Sporting Equals promoting diversity across sport and physical activity at all levels.
David Dickson
David is a highly experienced Executive Head Teacher of an All-through 3-19 community school. He has worked in diverse inner-city schools for 40 years. He is passionate about social justice and improving the life chances of every child through access to high quality education and health care.
Alice Wilcock
Alice is Education Policy Unit Head at the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ). She works with the CSJ’s Alliance Charities to form evidence-based policy solutions to some of the biggest challenges in the education landscape. Her research ranges from supporting children who are severely absent and excluded from school to creating training opportunities to address regional skills gaps. Alice advocates for policy change in Westminster. Through her role at the CSJ, Alice has experience in devising political campaigns and working with politicians to help deliver legislative reform.
Emma Fay
Emma is currently Operations Manager at the London School for Economics and Political Science. She has previously held leadership roles in the charity sector, including Director of Education for LGBT+ young people’s charity Just Like Us. She specialises in effective organisational management, as well as how external providers can work with schools to improve life chances for children and young people. She began her career as a secondary school teacher and has always been committed to making the most of the transformative power of education.
Joseph Howes
Joseph has 23 years of experience working in charities supporting children, young people and their families in the UK to build better futures. Joseph has been Chief Executive of Buttle UK for five years and has previously held senior fundraising, and communications roles at Depaul UK, Action for Children and The Prince’s Trust. He is also Chair of the End Child Poverty Coalition, a group of 110+ organisations dedicated to the cause of alleviating child poverty.
Charles Gannon
Charles is a strategic business leader, financier and growth specialist with expertise across banking, small-medium and large corporates as well as charities. He is founder of consultancy and investment firm Karlsrock. Previously, he has held senior roles at firms including Anglo Irish Bank, Novell Inc., and Wall Street Systems. While at these firms, he successfully drove profit through prudent investment, treasury, asset and liability management, deal origination and structuring, sales and marketing. In his spare time, Charles has represented Ireland at an international level, most recently playing in the European and World Cup touch rugby championships.
Matthew Koster-Marcon
Matt is the Founding CEO of Learning Ladders Education, a mission-driven EdTech platform that improves school data management and parental engagement for International Schools. Matt is a former teacher, education author, speaker and also an elected Executive Council member for BESA (British Educational Suppliers Association), and a co-founder of the EdTech Evidence Group. Prior to switching to a career in education Matt was MD of a successful Marketing agency in London. He is also a parent, school governor and charity trustee.