About ImpactEd Group

Jonny has held director positions at Accenture and BCS Consulting and is also former CEO & Chair of the Peter Jones Foundation. Jonny has been listed as one of the UK’s leading social entrepreneurs.

Chris is the former CEO of The Brilliant Club and launched the consulting model which has developed to become ImpactEd Consulting. He is a trustee at the Delta Academies Trust and Get Further.

Elin de Zoete is Group Director and Co-Founder of ImpactEd Group and brings 20 years of experience in education policy, government relations and impact communications. At ImpactEd she has led high-profile, cross sector convening projects on inclusion, oracy, school improvement, AI, critical thinking and resilience. Prior to ImpactEd, Elin was Managing Director of PLMR, an award-winning education public affairs and communications agency. She also served as Government Relations Director at Bite Back (Jamie Oliver's campaigning charity).

Outside of work Elin sits on the Board of Inspiration Trust and is the lead trustee for SEND and inclusion and AI. She is also the Vice Chair of intergenerational charity, The Together Project.

Rajbir has experience as a researcher, Assistant Professor in HE & leader of a social enterprise incubator working across the world. She is a certified HR Manager & Change Management Practitioner.

Hayley has worked in a variety of roles within the education sector including product development, curriculum management and operations. As well as her role as ED, she is also Director of Operations.

Lauren is a cognitive psychologist who specialises in measuring educational outcomes. She is a Lecturer at UCL and a Fulbright Scholar. Previously, Lauren led The Brilliant Club’s research consultancy arm.

Maddy brings experience as Director of Fundraising for Future Frontiers, developing fundraising at The Brilliant Club and as a Trustee for Boxing Futures. She holds a PGCert in Philanthropic Studies.

John Jerrim is Professor of Education and Social Statistics, and is Director of the Quantitative Social Science research centre at IOE

Agnes has a diverse leadership experience working across the sector, most recently as a former Associate Director of a Teaching School Hub, and in school partnerships at Teach First. She serves as a Governor of a school, and trustee at a multi-academy trust.

Annette is an experienced research and evaluation professional with 12+ years of expertise in delivering high-impact evaluation projects for education organisations across multiple countries. Having previously worked in academia and international development, she has a proven track record in partnership management, quantitative, experimental and mixed methodologies.

Beth has worked at ImpactEd for five years, leading on our national research projects, Understanding Attendance and Inclusive Environments, and delivering evaluations in a variety of areas including early career learning, phonics and place-based change for organisations such as Careers & Enterprise Company, Little Wandle, St John's Foundation and the Colyton Foundation. Prior to joining ImpactEd, Beth worked at the university access charity The Brilliant Club, and with the Children's Commissioner for Wales conducting research & workshops on Children's Rights.

Chris joins from Teach First where he was Head of Evaluation & Impact. Prior to Teach First he was Head of Geography at Queen Mary's Grammar School.

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Ciara has experience as a French & Spanish teacher & a School Onboarding Manager for Third Space Learning where she delivered Maths interventions to primary children in disadvantaged areas of the UK.

Corina is an economist and MPP from UChicago, passionate about measuring & monitoring policy results to extend their impact, with experience in research, policy, and data analysis.

Dani is an education specialist working to help schools, charities and organisations to understand their impact and improve programmes. She has over 16 years’ experience across education, as a senior leader and SENDCo, and is currently completing an MA in Education Studies.

Deepta is an education specialist with 4 years experience in education research & practice in the 3rd sector. She holds an MSc in Comparative & International Education and an MA in Development Studies

Emily has 8 years' experience as a teacher and HoD and before joining ImpactEd Group, she was the Practice Development Lead, supporting Early Career Teachers to develop their practice with Teach First

Georgia brings experience from a variety of operational and client-facing roles across a wide range of sectors. She's motivated by helping people and thrives on learning both inside and outside of work.

Holly has over a decade of experience working across the education and social impact sectors. She began her career as an English teacher before moving into social and economic evaluation and research. At ImpactEd, she works with education and purpose-driven organisations on strategic consultancy, operating model design and evidence-based programme development, and has held interim Director responsibility in the Evaluation practice. Holly holds an MA in Educational Leadership and is also a school governor.

Katherine has 15+ years in education, teaching in London and Mexico. National roles include leading conferences at The Brilliant Club, ITT programmes at Teach First, and DfE ECF and NPQ contracts at EDT. She holds an MA in Public Policy from KCL.

Kristy has over 10 years experience across the education and impact sectors, starting at ImpactEd in 2020. She previously worked as a teacher in Singapore, a researcher for an educational publisher and a consultant in research impact.

Lauren has worked in the education sector for over a decade as an Evaluation Specialist, Early Years Curriculum Leader and Tutor. Lauren is also a lead SEN Governor at a local SEND school and has also taught English to students overseas.

Lena advises senior leadership teams throughout the operating model design process whilst focusing on creating positive and inclusive work environments. She previously led the Centre for Public Impact

Lucy has 10 years' experience in school partnerships, edtech and evaluating school programmes through working in widening participation and as Programme Director at Learning with Parents.

Matt has 16 years experience as a software engineer and teaches programming to primary pupils. He has worked as a public sector consultant to the Ministry of Justice & Hackney Borough Council.

Mayowa has 8 years experience in the children’s tuition industry, supporting students from early years to GCSE level. She has worked in various education delivery roles and more recently within people and operations management.

Nina is an education specialist with experience in research and evaluation design for national research projects. Before joining ImpactEd, she worked in academia, assessing the effectiveness and feasibility of psycho-educational interventions in schools.

Olia has been working in finance for over 7 years. The majority of her experience has been linked to the education sector - specifically within an education trust and adult education. Olia has supported these organisations with meeting their financial goals through budgeting, financial planning, and decision making.

Róisín was previously co-CEO at the Centre for Education and Youth and Head of Programmes and Evaluation Challenge Partners. Alongside work, Róisín is also a part-time PhD student at UCL in the IoE.

Tabitha has worked as a Project Worker for a children’s rights organisation, striving to improve the quality of children's and young people’s lives while ensuring they are seen and heard.

Tom has over 10 years experience using data to inform & inspire those who work to make a difference to young people. He has been awarded a Fulbright Scholarship and a Winston Churchill Fellowship.

Zoë has recently graduated with an MSc in Cognitive Neuroscience from the University of Sussex. Before this, she studied Psychology, focusing on self-affirmation research in higher education.

John is Director of Grants at Peter Cundill Foundation & was the founder of PEAS network of schools in Africa providing high-quality education to children who otherwise would struggle to go to school.

Devaki has extensive Board level experience within tech-based start-ups & scale-ups & has recently been recognised as one of the top 50 women in European tech by InspiringFifty Europe.

Mark has over 20 years' experience working at the highest level of the Edtech sector, both in the UK and internationally & recipient of the Software Information Industry Life Time Achievement Award.

Pat is the Chief People Officer at Send and former VP People & Operations at MetomicGlobal. He was recognised as an OUTstanding and Yahoo! Finance Top 100 LGBT+ Executive globally.

Sue has held directorships at the Brilliant Club, DfE & Future and Teaching Leaders. She is the Chair of the South London Teaching School Hub & Charles Dickens Research School.

Sonia Thompson is Headteacher and Director at St Matthew’s Research School in Nechells, Birmingham. She has written widely on curriculum and pedagogy, contributing to numerous publications including WALKTHRUs 3, Reading Teachers, and a chapter in The ResearchED Guide to the Curriculum. Sonia is the author of An Ethic of Excellence In Action, part of Tom Sherrington’s In Action series. She serves on councils and trusts; such as the Education Endowment Foundation, CofE National Education Society, Classics for All, and Voice 21. Sonia has advised the DfE on writing frameworks, sits on the NPQ review panel, and was a Commissioner for the Oracy Commission.

Dr Sonia Ilie's research explores education inequality, looking at the socio-economic factors which shape children's and young people's access to, and outcomes from, education. She focuses particularly on fair access and equitable participation in higher education and how earlier educational experiences affect this. Sonia investigates these issues primarily in relation to the English education system, and also at a macro scale in low- and lower-middle income contexts. Sonia has substantial experience leading large-scale research in education, exploring the effectiveness of established interventions to improve student learning and narrow socio-economic attainment gaps, using experimental and quasi-experimental designs.

Dr Robert de Vries is Senior Lecturer in Quantitative Sociology and Deputy Head of the School of Social Sciences at the University of Kent. His research focuses on inequality, social mobility, and public attitudes towards welfare and social policy. He has led and contributed to research projects funded by UKRI, the Leverhulme Trust, and the European Research Council. Robert teaches quantitative methods and data analysis and has published widely in leading sociology and social policy journals. He is also the author of Critical Statistics and contributes to public discussions on evidence-based policy and the interpretation of social data.

Professor Neil Humphrey is the Professor of Psychology of Education at the Manchester Institute of Education, University of Manchester, UK. His research focuses on what we mean by wellbeing, why wellbeing matters, what matters for wellbeing, and what works for wellbeing, in children and young people. Neil’s research has been funded by NIHR, ESRC, TNLCF, DfE and others. When he is not working at the University, Neil moonlights as an unpaid taxi driver for his three daughters.

Matt Jones OBE has served as Principal of Ark Globe Academy since May 2012. Globe Academy is a mixed all-through school for students aged 4–18 in Elephant and Castle, with a Sixth Form that launched in September 2014.

Matt serves nationally as a RISE Advisor for the Department for Education and senior education advisor and member of the Premier League’s Education Advisory Board.  

He founded The Elephant Group in 2018 to improve fair access to top universities and now chairs its board. Since 2015, Matt has chaired the Southwark Association of Secondary Headteachers, collaborating with local leaders on key education issues.

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Jane was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Northern Education Trust in April 2025, overseeing 30 academies in disadvantaged communities. Her leadership is defined by a sustained track record of success in school improvement. As Deputy CEO (2018–2025), she partnered with the executive team to drive a transformation resulting in every academy being rated 'good' or 'outstanding', with outcomes consistently exceeding national averages. Her expertise spans her time as a Head Teacher, Executive Head Teacher, National Leader of Education, and Deputy Director for the Regional Schools Commissioner, consistently delivering rigorous improvement and exceptional results.  

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