Estelle started her career as a teacher in an inner city multiracial comprehensive school where she taught for 18 years. In 1992 she was elected as Member of Parliament for Birmingham Yardley and in 1997, she was appointed a Minister at the Department for Education and Employment becoming the Secretary of State in the Department of Education and Skills in 2002. She followed this with 2 years as a Minister at the Department of Culture Media and Sport. Since then, Estelle has held a number of posts in education. Estelle has been a member of the House of Lords since 2005 which she combines with her work as the Chair of the Birmingham Education Partnership. She also helped to establish the Association of Education Partnerships. She is a member of the Pinnacle Multi-Academy Trust, a trustee of the Sunderland AFC Foundation and a trustee of the Royal Institution.
Trustee
Joe’s career has spanned the public and private sector. He is the Co-Founding Partner and COO of Greater Pacific Capital (GPC), an impact investment firm focused on sustainable investments in the area of financial inclusion, energy transition and digital inclusion on behalf of major pension funds and institutional investors. Joe serves on the Investment Committee and major firm committees and sits on the boards of many fund portfolio companies.
Joe was previously a Managing Director in the Investment Banking Division at Goldman Sachs with corporate clients covering multiple industry sectors, financial investors, and government, and played a leadership role in promoting diversity at Goldman Sachs. Formerly, was a partner at KPMG, in roles covering both private and public sector clients. Joe began his public service career within the local authority sector. He is the Non-Executive Chair of the Chartered Institute of Public Finance Accountants (CIPFA), prior to this he was a Senior Non-Executive Director and chair of the Commercial Board. Joe is a BSc graduate in Economics, MBA from Henley Management College, and CIPFA accountant. Amongst Joe’s many diverse interests he is a martial arts black belt in Aikido, a yoga enthusiast and keen scuba diver.
Trustee
Peter Hyman is co-founder of Voice 21 and is a political strategist, educationalist, social entrepreneur and writer.For the past two years he has been senior advisor to Sir Keir Starmer and architect of the five national missions which is shaping the agenda for the new government.Peter worked for Sir Tony Blair for nine years, including 6 in Number 10, as speechwriter, and Head of the Prime Minister’s Strategic Communications Unit.Peter moved from politics to education, working first as a teaching assistant, then training as a history teacher before becoming a headteacher and co-founder of a pioneering 4 to 18 state school in East London, School 21. He was then Co-CEO of Big Education a group of schools based on developing the whole child: head, heart and hand.Peter is the author of 1 out of 10, from Downing Street Vision to Classroom Reality and is a regular contributor to national newspapers on politics and education.
Trustee
Sarah Kaiser is Head of Employee Experience at Fidelity International with responsibility for driving Fidelity’s strategic agendas around Diversity & Inclusion, Wellbeing, Employee Engagement, Flexible Working and the Employee Value Proposition. Previously to joining Fidelity in 2019, Sarah has led diversity and inclusion efforts for organisations in the technology sector, local government and the arts. Prior to that, Sarah was the Director of RenéCassin, an international human rights NGO. She is passionate about creating cultures where everyone can thrive.
Trustee
Simon is Head of Philanthropy at XTX Markets, an algorithmic trading company headquartered in London. The company’s philanthropy focuses on excellence in maths and science education, and on supporting the development of global talent. Prior to joining XTX Markets, Simon started his career as an economics and history teacher in an inner-city school. He then left the classroom to co-found The Brilliant Club, a university access charity that mobilises PhD researchers to work as tutors in state schools. As well as Voice 21, he also sits on the board of the Martingale Foundation and the Teach for All Network.
Trustee
Joysy John MBE is a software engineer, educator, entrepreneur, and edtech advisor. She is passionate about improving diversity in tech and tackling the digital skills gap. She is the former CEO of 01 Founders, tuition-free coding centres to improve diversity in tech, ex-Director of Education at Nesta, UK’s innovation agency and ex-Chief Industry Officer of Ada, the National College for Digital Skills. Joysy was the youngest person selected into the Future Leader Development Programme at JP Morgan Chase. She left her banking career to change education after spending a decade across Singapore, US and UK. She helped launch three non-profits focused on education.
She actively shaped edtech policy as part of the Department of Education’s Edtech Leadership Group and Welsh Government’s expert panel on Schooling Reimagined. Her commitment to innovation in education earned her an MBE in the King’s birthday honours. The Financial Times recognised her as the Top 100 Most Influential BAME leaders in UK Tech.
Joysy holds a Computer Engineering (Honours) degree from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, and an MBA (with Distinction) from London Business School. She contributes to various educational committees and organisations, including The Royal Society, BCS (The Chartered Institute for IT), and Foundation for Education Development. Joysy serves as a Governor at Coventry University and St George’s Primary School.
Trustee
Sonia Thompson is the Headteacher at St Matthew’s C.E. Primary School and the Director of St Matthew’s EEF (Education Endowment Foundation) Research School, in Nechells Birmingham. St Matthew’s is a Talk for Writing Training Centre and previously held DfE Teaching School status. Her school regularly hosts visits for Teachers, Headteachers and MATs, from across the country and internationally, who want to see evidence-informed practice across the curriculum. Sonia published An Ethic of Excellence in Action, in 2022; has had articles published and regularly reviewed blogs for Schools Week. She has a number of chapters in books, including the researchED Guide to the Curriculum and is a contributor to WALKTHRUs 3. Sonia is a board member of the UKLA (United Kingdom Literacy Association), Birmingham Diocese Board of Education and is a trustee for the National Society of Education, Classics for All and the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF). Sonia has been a member of several DFE Reference Group, including the new Review of NPQs and was a commissioner on the Oracy Education Commission. She is also a Secondary School Academy Council Chair. Sonia is regularly asked to deliver keynotes and training, at various conferences and events across the country and internationally.
Are you passionate about oracy and want to support our work? We would love to hear from you – email [email protected].
© 2024 Voice 21. Voice 21 is a registered charity in England and Wales. Charity number 1152672 | Company no. 08165798