Professional Experience:

Current Role:

• Education and Strategy Consultant for start-ups, schools and organisations across the education sector - recent clients include Emerge Education, Europe’s most powerful education network, and Oxford Scholastica Academy, which in 2023 was the recipient of the King’s Award for Enterprise for International Trade

Past Highlights:

• Managing Director of The Unreasonables, which designed and delivered leadership development programmes for thousands of staff and students at over 50 exceptional UK schools including Cranleigh School, Francis Holland School and Westonbirt School

• A-Level teacher of Politics and Economics at Merchant Taylors’ (Northwood), one of the 'Great Nine' schools of England

• Chief of Staff to the Leader of the Opposition, Head of Research and Communications and, latterly, Parliamentary Operations Director for the Democratic Alliance (DA) - South Africa’s official opposition party

Advisory Roles and Fellowships:

• Board member, OxFizz - an ambitious social enterprise which delivers educational services to widen access to higher education, raise funds for education causes and engage graduates in volunteering

• Member of the Educational Impact Council, Founders4Schools - an award-winning charity that connects educators with a network of inspirational business leaders, to improve the employment chances of young people

• Mentor, Charityworks - the UK non-profit sector’s graduate programme

• Fellow, The Royal Society of Arts

• Member of the Dulwich College Entrepreneurship Working Group - a group of Old Alleynians and industry experts advising the College on the meaningful integration of entrepreneurship into the curriculum

I'm passionate about how best we can prepare young people, and the organisations and institutions which work with them, to thrive in an uncertain future. 

It's often said that people who work in education either had a terrible time at school, or a wonderful one. I'm very happy to say that mine was the latter! The exceptional grounding my education offered sparked a passion for this sector which has only deepened over the next two decades. 

My experience as both a former A-level teacher and an entrepreneur has given me invaluable insights into the classroom of today, and the world of tomorrow. There is no question that it will be nebulous, fast-paced and unpredictable. How we can best prepare young people for that future is a complex but urgent question, and one I have dedicated my professional life to help answer. 

Born in London and raised in Cape Town, I'm a vocal advocate for inspiring young people to explore entrepreneurship.

In 2016/7 with my husband Dom, I co-led a nine-month expedition from Alaska to Argentina (here we are, left, after a meeting with the Hyperloop team in Los Angeles). The purpose of this venture was to uncover and share the stories of over 70 pioneering social entrepreneurs and investors across the Americas to inspire the next generation of social entrepreneurs in the UK and beyond. The expedition was successfully completed in February 2017 and our team was publicly commended by Virgin Founder Richard Branson, and Lord Paul Drayson, former UK Minister for Science and Innovation, among others.

Having read Politics, Philosophy and Economics, I began my career in Politics in South Africa and worked for the country’s main opposition party, the Democratic Alliance. Identified as a future young leader of the party, I held the position of Chief of Staff to the Parliamentary Leader and, latterly, Head of Communications and Research. 

My expertise is rooted in first-hand knowledge of the education and entrepreneurship sectors.

I am the former Managing Director of The Unreasonables, which designed and delivered leadership programmes for the UK’s most ambitious education institutions including Dulwich College and Cranleigh School. My experience as a teacher of A-Level Politics and Economics at one of the UK’s top schools, Merchant Taylors’ (Northwood), gave me invaluable insights into the challenges and opportunities of the education front line. As a consultant, my recent clients include Emerge Education, Europe’s most active edtech seed investor, and Edspace, the UK’s only dedicated education co-working space - where I also served as Acting MD until May 2019.

Committed to using the skills and knowledge I've gained for the benefit of others, I also hold a number of advisory positions. I am a board member of OxFizz – an ambitious social enterprise which delivers educational services to widen access to higher education, raise funds for education causes and engage graduates in volunteering. I also sit on the Educational Impact Council of Founders4Schools, and am a mentor for Charityworks, the UK non-profit sector’s graduate programme.