NCS is governed, delivered and supported by thousands of incredible, dedicated people across the country. The Board oversee all actions taken by NCS Trust, including our transition to a Royal Charter body, which took place in December 2018.
CHAIR
Brett Wigdortz joins NCS Trust with a wealth of knowledge from a career spanning policy, management consulting and educational reform. In 2002, he founded Teach First, which he led for fifteen years, building into one of the country’s leading movements tackling education inequality. Teach First is now the UK’s largest graduate recruiter, running an accredited world-class teacher training programme that supports more than one million children in classrooms across England and Wales. In 2018 Brett co-founded Tiney.co in order to improve childcare for parents, practitioners and children.
CHIEF EXECUTIVE
Mark joins NCS Trust as CEO having previously worked in several significant roles across the John Lewis Partnership and most recently as the Director of Shop Trade for Waitrose & Partners. As a people-oriented leader, Mark is adept at creating and nurturing high-performing teams focused on achievement with a notable example of included changing the way shops were run which drove a fundamental change in the operating model as well as improved productivity and enhanced Customer & Partner experience. Outside of work, Mark is a father and husband who actively engages in his local community as a Chair of Governors at a primary school and as a Safeguarding lead for a junior football club...he’s also proud to be called a Mancunian!
With a wide range of experience drawn from different sectors and backgrounds, our non-executive board oversee the delivery of NCS’ future objectives, including expanding our reach, delivering more impact and improving value for money. They also work with our incredible Youth Boards, making sure there’s always a youth voice in the decisions that affect them.
Over the past 30 years, Paul has worked in local and central government and, for 16 years, was a partner at Price Waterhouse Cooper. There, he led the Government and Public Sector practice, founding the Africa Business Group. He has been a non-executive director and advisor to several organisations, including Kingston University, the Sainsbury’s Foundation and the Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission. Paul is passionate about diversity and works with a variety of educational institutions, acting as a mentor to many young people.
Dame Julia Cleverdon is a passionate campaigner who has gained an international reputation for inspiring individuals and organisations to work together in challenged communities. She was Chief Executive of Business in the Community (1991-2007) and Chair of Teach First (2007-2014). In 2013 she co-produced an independent review for the Prime Minister which led to the founding of Step Up To Serve and the #iwill campaign. She has led many charitable initiatives and has been an NCS Trust Board Member since 2014.
Dame Sally Coates has worked in inner city schools since 1976. She has been Principal, Executive Principal and Head of School at academies and schools across London. She is the Director of Secondary Education for North and South at United Learning, one of the biggest Multi-Academy Trusts, which manages more than 50 academies nationwide. Her book ‘Headstrong – 11 lessons of school leadership’ was published in February 2015. Sally was made a Dame Commander of the British Empire (DBE) in the 2013 New Year’s Honours List.
Ian Livingstone CBE is one of the founding fathers of the UK games industry. He co-founded iconic games company Games Workshop in 1975, launching many hugely successful games. He was ranked 16th most influential person in the UK’s digital economy in the Wired 100 list in 2012. He chaired the Next Gen Skills campaign, working with government to introduce a new computing curriculum in schools in 2014. He co-authored ‘Hacking the Curriculum’ in 2017.
John has a portfolio of Non-Executive roles including Chair of Good Energy Group PLC, an AIM-listed renewable energy company, Chair of Pepper Money and is a Non-Executive Director of Bank of Ireland UK and Simplyhealth PLC. His previous appointments include Chair of BlueStep Bank AS, CEO of Williams and Glyn and Group Director of the Commercial Bank of Lloyds Banking Group, the division specialising in lending to small businesses. He was also Group Chief Executive of Kensington Group PLC for seven years.
Tristram served as a tank and infantry commander in the Royal Dragoon Guards, retiring as a captain in 1997. He spent three years with Coca-Cola and GE Capital before founding Go Ape in 2002 as ‘Chief Gorilla’. Go Ape is a multi-award-winning forest adventure business operating across Britain and the USA with a vision to ‘create adventures and encourage everyone to live life more adventurously’. He is responsible for youth sailing at Bosham Sailing Club, is an alumni of London Business School and is a member of the Young Presidents’ Organisation.
Lord McNicol of West Kilbride is a British Labour politician and trade unionist. Between 2011-2018 he was General Secretary of the Labour Party and was previously the National Political Officer of the GMB Union. Iain began his involvement in political organising as president of the Student Union at Dundee Institute of Technology in 1991. From then he has worked with both Scottish Labour Students and NOLS (The National Organisation of Labour Students).
Ndidi is an inspirational public speaker, passionate about social justice, youth voice and quality access to education for all. A proud former teacher and school leader for ten years, she has spent the last six years as the Executive Director of the UK’s largest graduate recruiter, Teach First. In 2018, she joined Pearson PLC to lead on Digital and Customer Voice Strategy. Ndidi is a Board Director of the Mulberry Schools Trust, CentrePoint UK and an Ambassador for Teach For Nigeria.
Ashley Summerfield has experience across a range of sectors, including finance, commercial property, marketing, sustainable technologies, commodities and private equity. He co-founded Central Europe Trust with former Chancellor of the Exchequer Nigel Lawson, a corporate finance advisory business specialising in Central and Eastern Europe. He currently leads Egon Zehnder’s global Board Consulting Practice. Ashley has an MA from Cambridge University and an MPPM from Yale University and volunteers as a biology teacher for Teach First/Teach for All.
Jermain Jackman 24, was born and raised in Hackney, East London. Winner of The Voice 2014, he combines his musical fame with his passion for youth activism. He believes that too often young people’s voices are ignored, and spends his time visiting youth clubs,schools and estates around the country to listen to what they have to say. He then acts as a mouthpiece on behalf of young people, voicing their issues and concerns to those who can change things (whether that's to the NCS Board, or more broadly). As an NCS graduate himself, his unique ability to bring such a broad youth perspective as well as a specialised knowledge of NCS, is deeply valued.
