Sarah Waite
Chief Executive and Founder (currently on maternity leave)
Founder, Sarah Waite, began her career teaching maths, seeing first-hand the difference that gaining GCSE maths and English can have on the opportunities that are available to young people. Sarah has also worked as a Political Advisor to the Shadow Education Secretary and as Head of Policy at the Social Mobility Commission – where she started developing the idea for Get Further, recognising that improving levels of basic skills is a key social mobility challenge for our country.
In 2018, Get Further won the Teach First Innovation Award – a nationwide competition to find the next big ideas to tackle education inequality. Sarah is a Shackleton Leader and was shortlisted for the inaugural Virago/New Statesman Women’s Prize for Politics and Economics. She has a first class degree in mathematics and was awarded a distinction for her Masters in Education.
Alice Eardley
Chief Programmes Officer
Alice originally joined Get Further as English Curriculum Manager in September 2022 after nearly two decades working in education. She has a background in educational leadership, research and evaluation, and policy. After developing and leading undergraduate and postgraduate courses and projects in Higher Education, she retrained as a school teacher, achieving QTS via Researchers in Schools. She went on to work in FE colleges, leading projects exploring effective ways to promote achievement in students resitting their English and maths GCSEs, before managing vocational departments, including construction trades, IT, and engineering. She then joined the Department for Education working as a Senior Policy Advisory within the post-16 English and maths team, specialising in qualification reform and review. She is committed to ensuring that students resitting their GCSEs in further education get the support and opportunities they need to succeed.
Stacie Bond
Director of Operations
Stacie Bond joined Get Further in February 2022 as Director of Operations. She has over 10 years’ experience managing the financial and operational aspects of charities and educational organisations, such as RADA (Royal Academy of Dramatic Art), BADA (British American Drama Academy) and most recently The Big House, a charity working with young care leavers. Throughout her career she has developed the operational backbone of organisations, enabling them to fulfill their mission and provide exceptional service to their beneficiaries. Through her work at The Big House, Stacie saw firsthand the challenges young people can face without the foundations of GCSE Maths and English. She is committed to working towards a future where all young people have equal opportunities to fulfill their potential.
Abi Shapiro
Interim Director of Operations
Abi started her career in the creative sector, overseeing the
Selfridges window displays before moving on to manage and grow an independent
design agency. Abi then moved into more
operational roles and has spent ten
years working in senior positions in the private sector, before more recently
transitioning to charities, including roles at Young Womens Trust and the
Jewish Museum London. Abi is passionate about social change and is excited to
be joining the Get Further team.
Toni Harper
Maths Curriculum Manager
Toni joined Get
Further as Maths Curriculum Manager in January 2023 following 10 years of
teaching maths, including some time teaching overseas in the Dominican
Republic. She has a passion for improving students’ life opportunities so they
can be successful in whatever they wish to do.
Toni graduated from the University of Nottingham with Mathematics BSc before embarking on her PGCE. Since then, she has continued to strengthen her knowledge in education and more recently completed a NPQ in Leading Teacher Development. During her career, she has worked closely with school leaders on curriculum development and delivered training to ensure that it is enacted to the highest standard.
Toni is dedicated in
her work to ensure that everyone has access to the best support possible to
truly empower themselves.
Ed Noon
English Curriculum Manager
Ed joined Get Further as English Curriculum Manager in August 2023 following 7 years as a secondary school English teacher and leader. He is a voracious reader and holds a keen interest in breaking down and exploring the writing process.
Ed graduated from Royal Holloway University of London in
2013 with first class honours in English. He spent time travelling and
volunteering before joining the charity sector for the first time as a
Secondary Education Worker in Brighton. This led to Ed beginning his PCGE in
2016. Since then, he continues to develop his subject knowledge, understanding
of how we learn, and the fundamentals of effective instruction.
Ed also has experience as a leader of whole-school literacy,
head of year, and head of faculty. His areas of specialism include developing
the curriculum and coaching early career teachers. He is driven by a moral
imperative to ensure every student he encounters is given the right support to
succeed.
Programme Manager
Annabel joined the Get Further team as a Programme Manager in July 2021. She has worked with young people for nearly 8 years in different roles across the country. Most recently Annabel was the Centre Director for a tuition centre, supporting the education of over 200 pupils for 3 years and leading the development of a team of tutors. Annabel has also worked on developing children’s confidence through vocational activities, working at a local youth theatre group, and then with a charity which focuses on providing educational day trips to engage children with their community. Annabel is passionate about providing young people with skills for life and supporting them to reach their full potential.
Programme Manager
Rebecca joined Get Further in September 2020 as the organisation’s Programme Manager. She has worked in education management for over 5 years and has since developed a strong passion for exploring the value and impact of educational programmes within society. Rebecca began her career as a Centre Director, where she managed a number of tuition centres across the UK. Following this, she became a Programme Manager for an international educational charity, where she led a team of Programme Coordinators and developed and implemented unique programmes to engage young people in learning about social issues within society.
Sophie Fogg
Programme Manager
Sophie joined the Get Further team as a Programme Manager in February 2023. She has worked with young people for 4 years in different roles across the country. Most recently Sophie was a Tutor Success Manager for a tuition company, leading the development of a team of tutors. Sophie has also been the Centre Director for a multiple tuition centres, working with over 400 families, different schools and supporting tutors with their journey. Sophie is passionate about supporting young people from all backgrounds in being able to realise their potential.
Sarah Collins
Digital Project Manager
Sarah recently joined Get Further as our Digital Project Manager. She has over 20 years’ experience in project and program management and began her career in finance working for top 10 Legal and Insurance companies. She then moved to Dell Technologies where she worked as a Senior Project manager managing a variety of projects from commercial IT to internal business process improvement projects. Over the last 5 years Sarah has changed her career path and is now passionate about working for high-impact charities. In 2019 she began working for Little Gate Farm working with Adults with Learning Disabilities and Autism teaching them work skills to enable them to gain employment. Here, she reengineered their skills curriculum, learned animal husbandry for various farm animals as part of their training program and sourced and successfully implemented a charity wide CRM.
The mission of Get Further is personal to Sarah as she has seen the impact of not being able to access further education through her charity work and more recently in her own family life.
James Barradell
Fundraising Manager
James is the Fundraising Manager at Get Further. He is responsible for managing strategic projects and high-priority donor relationships, with the aim of establishing and growing partnerships that will support our objectives. He joined in November 2023 having most recently worked in development at the University of Oxford. Prior to this he spent almost ten years working as a teacher and manager in education, having previously worked for a number of young person charities based in London.
Jennifer Cutcliffe
Senior Operations Officer
Jennifer joined the Get Further team in October 2021 as a Senior Operations Officer. Jennifer has had a varied career through the education, politics and public sectors, whilst maintaining a continuous focus on helping children and young people overcome barriers to achieving their full potential. She believes passionately that achievement in education is key to the future life chances of young people and that equity of opportunity is paramount to social mobility. Jennifer studied Social and Public Policy at the London School of Economics.
Tina Owen
Salesforce & Systems Administrator
tbc
Ardonnique Da Santos
Recruitment Officer
After
working with Get Further as a freelancer, Ardonnique officially joined the
award-winning charity as the HR and Onboarding Recruitment Officer in April
2023. She has previously completed her apprenticeship with the local council,
during which she supported young adults to find new opportunities and access
work, while recognising the
difference education can make. She is now determined to help bridge the gap
between education and career while supporting young people to achieve their
educational goals and realise their dreams.
Clare Scanlon
Recruitment Officer
Clare recently joined the Get Further team in April 2023 as
Recruitment Officer for Attraction and Partnerships. She has worked in Human
Resources and Recruitment for the last 2 years in sectors including banking,
technology, and education. She is a Psychology International Graduate from
Ireland who is motivated by meeting new people, establishing and maintaining
strong relationships, and working collaboratively toward a common objective.
Most recently, Clare was a Candidate Consultant for an education recruitment
agency, where she was inspired to continue working within education to help
support individuals and promote equal access and opportunities to learning.
Clare is passionate about tackling educational inequality and improving social
mobility by creating positive and impactful partnerships with organisations
motivated to support learners in their academic ambitions
Marketing & Communications Officer
Connie joined Get Further as a Programme Coordinator in the Summer of 2021 after graduating with distinction from an MA in Communications and Media from the University of Leeds. Her academic interests centred around digital feminism and activism, and she continues to volunteer for feminist magazine The F-Word as a section editor. Having worked as a tutor on and off since she was a teenager, Connie is passionate about educational inequality and tackling the barriers to social mobility this poses.
Joey Castle
Senior Programme Coordinator – Data & Insights
Having graduated with an MA in Economics and Environmental studies from the University of Edinburgh in 2021, Joey joined Get Further as a tutor in September 2021 and then as a Programme Coordinator in January 2022. Joey has worked with several NGOs, ranging from medical service delivery in rural Ghana to social capacity building in Belarus. Now with Get Further, Joey is excited to begin work addressing educational inequalities across the UK, a field that he is
particularly passionate about.
Jasmine Bishop
Programme Coordinator
Jasmine joined the Get Further team as a Programme
Coordinator in 2022, after graduating with a First from the University of Leeds
in BSc Philosophy and Physics. During her studies, she volunteered with the
charity listening service Nightline, providing support to students across Leeds.
She also mentored as part of the ASCENTs programme, helping disadvantaged
students with their GCSE Science. Continuing to tutor after her studies, she grew
her passion for providing education to others, and saw first hand the impact
that it can have in improving confidence and progress. She now works to provide
this impact on a wider scale and to the learners who would not usually have
access to tuition.
Laura Foster
Programme Coordinator
Laura joined Get Further as a Programme Coordinator in January 2022, after graduating with a first-class degree in Human Geography from the University of Southampton. Her academic interests center around tackling social issues, which, coupled with her work as a tutor, has ignited her passion for educational inequality and removing the barriers which prevent social mobility, particularly for young people. Whilst volunteering with RAG (Raise and Giving Society) at University, Laura developed a keen interest in charity work, witnessing first-hand the transformative impact that charities have on disadvantaged people.
Olivia Greenwell
Programme Coordinator
Olivia has a degree in Physics from the University of Manchester and, following this, spent a year as a teaching assistant in London. She began her work in the charity sector as a workshop facilitator for Israel-Palestine peace charity, Solutions Not Sides.
Olivia joined Get Further as a Lead Tutor in November 2022 and progressed to a Programme Coordinator in February 2023. She was drawn to the charity due to their social mobility mission and her interest in the education sector.
Libby Forsyth
Programme Coordinator
Libby recently graduated with a PGCE in Humanities and Social Sciences. She spent the last year in Further Education Colleges which sparked her passion for tackling educational inequality. Prior to this, she graduated with a degree in Politics and Sociology with a strong focus on researching inequalities within social mobility.
Libby has experience in leading small scale workshops and advocates for their success in building the confidence of young people. She is dedicated to challenging educational barriers for students from all backgrounds.
Eleanor Smith
Programme Coordinator
Eleanor holds a BA in Education from the University of East Anglia, where she graduated with a First and served as an Outreach Officer for the University. She further pursued her academic journey by completing an MA in Gender Studies. Her research focused on intersectional feminism, educational psychology, disability studies, and the use of social media as an educational tool.
Through her first-hand experience studying Education at UEA, she developed a thorough understanding of educational inequality, particularly within Further Education, and hopes to become a dedicated advocate for addressing this issue. With a strong commitment to her community in Norfolk where she was raised, Eleanor is driven to effect positive change for disadvantaged students in Norwich and across the country.
Faye Bunko
Programme Coordinator
Faye has worked in the Education sector for 7+ years, focussing on special needs, outdoor education, mentoring of secondary school students through GCSE’s and those from disadvantaged backgrounds. Her passion to help people with their wellbeing, their education and reaching their full potential comes from a background of studying psychology and philosophy at Manchester Metropolitan University.
Wanting to further support the larger community, she is always positive and eager to motivate and encourage people to fulfil their own personal ambitions.
Kalila Dahm
Programme Coordinator
Kalila moved to London from Ottawa, Canada in 2019 following the completion of her undergraduate degree in Political Science and History. Since then, she has worked within education in a variety of roles, including as an EYFS teaching assistant, an English tutor and eventually as an English teacher in a London comprehensive state school. She is passionate about social mobility, sustainable development, and equitable and accessible education.
Melissa Greenough
Programme Coordinator
Melissa
Susan Shepherd
Programme Coordinator
Susan joined the Get Further team in 2023, having worked in both primary and secondary schools as a teacher, since receiving her PGCE in 2016. Susan has two Masters degrees, the first in History from the University of Dundee and the second in Publishing from Oxford Brookes University. She is committed to banishing educational inequalities that currently exist in the U.K and believes every young person should have access to a first-class education, tailored to their individual learning needs.
Natasha Porter
CEO, Unlocked
Natasha is the founder and Chief Executive of Unlocked Graduates – a charity that attracts high-calibre graduate talent to work in the UK prison service. Before this, Natasha was a founding teacher and Senior Leader at King Solomon Academy, leading the English department and then the upper school from pre-opening stage until their first GCSE results which were some of the best in the country. She has extensive experience in educational policy development, both at think tank Policy Exchange where she published research into post-16 English and maths, and the Department for Education. Natasha continues to be involved in setting up new schools, and is a founding governor of One Degree Academy.
Former Principal and Chief Executive, FE
Michele is a former Principal and Chief Executive of several further education colleges including in Rochdale, Bradford, Birmingham and London. She has also represented the FE sector in senior positions including as a FE National Leader of Governance and President of the Association of Colleges, for which she was awarded a CBE in 2014. She is currently a Non-Executive Director for Aspire I – a not-for profit Independent Training Provider delivering careers and study programmes in Yorkshire and The Humber. She is also a board member of the Association of Education Advisors (AOEA). Michele is committed to equality of opportunity, especially for students from diverse backgrounds and cultures, and for her work on this issue she was awarded an OBE in 2009.
Chris Wilson
Director & Founder, Responsible Business Unit (RBU)
Chris founded the RBU in 2022 to help mission-driven organisations design and implement strategies to realise their potential. He is the former CEO of the education charity, The Brilliant Club, an Executive Director at ImpactEd and a trustee at the Delta Academies Trust. During his time at The Brilliant Club, the charity became the second best non-for-profit organisation to work at in the UK. Chris was winner of the inaugural Sir Damon Buffini Leadership Award in 2018. He has a PhD in medieval history.
John Peel
John has worked in and around education for over 30 years, mostly
in educational publishing. He has managed sales and marketing teams in the UK,
US, and Europe with Oxford University Press, Elsevier, and Pearson. He has been
a school governor at primary and secondary schools for over 20 years and is
currently Chair of governors at Wallingford School in Oxfordshire. John is also
a Trustee of a local charity focusing on youth development. He most recently
worked in the FE sector as a study coach where he got to see first-hand the
importance of one-to-one tutoring for post-16 GCSE success. John is a qualified
rugby coach and runs a Tag rugby team for young people with special educational
needs.
Phil McGuire
Finance Director, BMJ
Phil has worked in
and around education and academic publishing for over ten years. In his current
role, as Finance Director of BMJ, he regularly interacts with both external
auditors and the BMJ board on governance and financial matters. Previously, his
role in Pearson commercial finance involved the review and challenge of
investment proposals, strategic plans and draft budgets, all focused on the UK
education sector. Phil qualified as an accountant with Deloitte, after studying
Modern History at New College. He applied to university after completing A
Levels, including Maths and English, in his hometown of Wigan, where his
parents, both retired teachers, still reside.
Founder, Off the Fence Marketing
Fiona started her career at Unilever before setting up a boutique marketing consultancy, Off the Fence Marketing. Fiona’s key charitable interest is Social Mobility in the UK. She sponsors an Ark school, is on the Advisory Board of the Sutton Trust and is the founder of parent group Sept for Schools, campaigning for children and education to be prioritised in the pandemic. Fiona attended state schools in Warrington and read Modern Languages at Durham University.Jack Davidson
Project Leader, Boston Consulting Group
Jack is a Project Leader at Boston Consulting Group (BCG), a global management consulting firm. He advises large corporations on business strategy, with a particular focus on the transformation of large industrial companies. During his time at BCG Jack has worked for clients across Europe, the USA, China, and Australia. Prior to this, Jack was a maths teacher at a secondary school in Kent, completing the Teach First programme. Jack has a degree in Economics & Management from Oxford University.
Head of Brand & Marketing Insight EMEA, Google
Laura Roberts is Head of Brand & Marketing Insight EMEA, Google. Laura plays a central role in strategy development for Google marketing priority campaigns, including Grow with Google, a digital skills training programme. Prior to this, she was Managing Director of brand and insight consultancy, Sparkler, working with a wide range of organisations (not-for-profits and commercial) on product and programme development, including with schools and teachers. Laura attended a further education college in London, before studying Modern Languages at King’s College, Cambridge
Chief of Staff, Ark
Chioma is Chief of Staff at Ark. She was previously an Engagement Manager at McKinsey, where she developed strategy for youth charities, and served private and public sector clients. She has held senior roles at education-to-employment charities Generation and SEO London. She is a governor at her former primary school and was Chair of governors at Lambeth Academy. Chioma has a master’s and undergraduate degree in Economics from Cambridge University.
Ian Ashman
Chair, Get Further Advisory Group
Ian Ashman is an experienced senior manager, consultant, coach and trustee.
A qualified Further Education teacher, Ian has worked in voluntary, local government, education and private sectors. He has 20 years of successful executive experience, including 12 as a College Principal. He was President of the Association of Colleges in 2016/17, a fixed term role acting as an ambassador for the sector, leading the development of services to support student mental health and wellbeing.
Following retirement, Ian qualified as an executive coach and mentor. He uses skills as a consultant, to help education, charitable and commercial organisations solve problems and to implement outstanding practice. Through his coaching, individual clients are developed and enabled to become more skilled and effective.
Ian is also an experienced Trustee in the Charitable Sector. He has recently volunteered to assist Get Further, an awarding winning tutoring organisation, by Chairing their Advisory Group.
Antoinette McLean
Head of Maths and English 16 – 18, Barking and Dagenham College.
Antoinette is in her second year of headship at the college having developed her FE career within adult Education, first as an English Lecturer and then as the Curriculum Team Leader. Her current role focuses on 16-18 Maths and English, but also has strategic oversight over cross college Maths and English delivery and quality.
Barking and Dagenham College are currently going through a period of transformational change following two challenging Covid years. This is an exciting time for Further Education as we build on developing digital skills and explore new, innovative ways to support our learners.
Jonathan Kay
National Education Lead, Create Development
Jonny has previously worked as a Teacher, Second and Head of English in the Secondary sector, before working as Head of English and maths in two colleges in the North East. As part of his previous roles, Jonny led a team which was nominated for a TES FE Award and achieved the best FE maths results in England in 2019. Jonny also works as an examiner, Lead English Expert for a major exam board and has spoken at a number of conferences and national events about English and maths and teaching, learning and assessment. His award-nominated book, ‘Improving English and Maths in Further Education: A Practical Guide’, was released in June 2021.
Professor Martin Doel CBE
FETL Professor of Leadership in Further Education and Skills, Institute of Education (UCL)
Martin was appointed as the first FETL (Further Education Trust for Leadership) Professor of Leadership in Further Education and Skills at the Institute of Education in April 2016, after having previously been the Chief Executive of the Association of Colleges (AoC). Prior to this, Martin served for 28 years in the Royal Air Force where his final appointment was as Director of Training and Education for all three Armed Services, working in the Ministry of Defence, the largest employer of apprentices in the UK.
In April 2019, Martin was appointed Interim Chair of West Kent and Ashford College. He is also a Trustee of the Royal London Society for the Blind and of The Challenge, a social integration charity delivering the National Citizen Service. He is the independent member of the Audit and Risk Committee of the Institute for Technical and Further Education and is Governor of Cambridge Regional College. In what little spare time he has left, he is a Life-Vice President of the RAF Football Association and a qualified FA Coach.
Martin was appointed OBE in 1998 for his work in support of operations in the Balkans and for his contribution to Anglo-German relations, and CBE in the 2016 New Year Honours for his contribution to education.
Jamie Purser
Deputy Principal, Newham College
I am an experienced Senior Further Education leader and currently the Deputy Principal of Newham College. I have been working in Further Education for 17 years. Prior to my current role, I have held a number of middle and senior management positions in FE after starting my teaching career as a lecturer in Milton Keynes College. Prior to working in education, I previously worked in the construction industry, working on small and large projects, firstly as an Apprentice and tradesperson and latterly in a variety of management roles. I have a breadth of experience in Colleges, working in a variety of roles, especially in London. After completing my teacher training, I have continued to study and hold an MSC in Educational Leadership and Management. I am a Fellow of the Society for Education and Training and a member of the Chartered Institute of Management.
I am a passionate advocate of vocational and skill based learning and believe that all young people should be afforded the opportunity to achieve their goals and ambitions, no matter what their starting points are. I am particularly interested and have a passion to improve Language, numeracy and digital skills of learners, to enable successful careers, stable employment and life progression.
Naveen Rizvi
Maths Curriculum Adviser, United Learning
Naveen is a maths curriculum advisor at United Learning. She began her career teaching maths in South Manchester, completing the Teach First programme. Since then, she has taught maths at transformative schools around the country, including the Great Yarmouth Charter Academy in Norfolk, all the while developing her understanding of maths curriculum design. She consistently applies insights from cognitive science into her teaching practice and has an uncompromising belief in high expectations of what students can achieve.
Bruno Reddy
Founder, Times Table Rockstars
Bruno studied psychology at university and then followed his dream of becoming a maths teacher. At the age of 28, he and a small group of friends opened a secondary school in London which went on to become the highest performing school in England in 2016. Now he runs a successful maths app business (Times Tables Rock Stars – ttrockstars.com) and sits on expert panels at the DfE, Ofsted and the AQA exam board.
Bodil Isaksen
Programme Director, Unlocked Graduates
Bodil is Programme Director at Unlocked Graduates, a two-year graduate scheme that develops outstanding leaders in prisons to address the damage of reoffending. She was a founding teacher and the Head of Maths at Michaela Community School in Brent, where she designed and implemented a mastery-based curriculum. Bodil started her teaching career through Teach First.
Lia Martin
Head of English, Jane Austen College
Lia is an English teacher who currently co-runs an English department at Jane Austen College in Norwich. Lia began her teaching career at a secondary school in North London, after working in journalism. She writes about English teaching and school culture at Hearts and Minds, and has written for various other publications, such as the forthcoming ResearchEd book. She has given talks on English pedagogy and curriculum at national education conferences and hopes to do more of this in the future.
Sarah Cullen
English Teacher
Sarah is an English teacher, currently working at an international school in Vietnam. She has contributed chapters to educational theory books and created curricula for schools, the prison service and the Metropolitan police. She has taught in Essex, London, India, Oslo and Vietnam, and is constantly looking for new ways to simplify and improve teaching practices.
Andrew Otty
Team Leader, Department for Education
Andrew Otty is a Team Leader at the Department for Education. Prior to this, he led English at one of the largest Further Education colleges in the country and as a TES columnist he consistently advocated the benefit of the GCSE-resit policy for disadvantaged students. He is an ambassador for the education charity SHINE and founder of the ‘Write On’ project (@writeoncharity) that aims to improve the learner experience of GCSE English Language in schools and colleges.
