Introduce yourself in three words or phrases.
Terminally curious, irritatingly enthusiastic, and – according to what I have now accepted as the time when I’m most creative and on WARP speed – ‘last minute.com’. I prefer to think of it as ‘spontaneous entrepreneurship’!
What do you like most about your job?
It has to be the unpredictability, variety, travel, new people, that fact that no two days (or even two halves of one day) are the same and, best of all, the opportunity to interact with and connect incredible people/educators/investors toward the development of the best opportunities for children worldwide!
Best work trip/worst work trip?
A very challenging trip to combined location in Europe and Asia, involving a visa complication not of my making and resulting in my first (and I hope last!) deportation! As for best to date, such a difficult one to define. There are so many wonderful work trips to date, and I always believe that the best is yet to come! For sheer fascination quality and location, for now perhaps the best would be trip to a school in Semarang in Central Java, Indonesia and of course, given my recently completed role as founding director of schools and education in NEOM, my trips to and residency in the new giga-city in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Brave new world!
If you could learn a language instantly, which would you pick and why?
Arabic! I’m currently in the midst of my first year of learning and I’m right back learning to speak, read and write all over again! Such a beautifully complex language – please don’t test me for at least another two years!
What makes you get up in the morning?
Generally, sunrise (the first chink of light and I’m up) plus an internal ‘5am anywhere’ alarm – the wide-awake club! More seriously, the fact that I genuinely love all aspects of my work. The potential to meet new people daily, and to make a small difference in a variety of aspects of education that will have a bigger impact for the future – and whenever possible, to spend time with children.
Champion/cheerleader which we should all follow and why?
There are so many to choose from and so many ‘shoulders of giants’, on which to stand, awesome thinkers and people who have and continue to have a huge influence in my life and work, and so pinpointing only one is impossible. I would have to say the late Loris Malaguzzi, founder of the Reggio Emilia approach to early childhood, Richard Gerver, a powerful educator, speaker and author, Anita Gleave, CEO of Chatsworth Schools, Lil Bremermann- Richard, CEO of Oxford International – both phenomenal female leaders – and finally, Trung Le (Epic Decade) and Darin Jellison (BHA) a partnership who make design, architecture and future centric learning into groundbreaking reality.
Best international ed conference and why
These are tough questions! The GESS Conferences (Dubai, Saudi) are always fascinating – as are the UK and International Wellington EDFests, COBIS… I could go on! Always a privilege to attend.
Worst conference food/beverage experience
I’m always conscious that there are many people in the world for whom any kind of freely available food/beverage would be a luxury or worse still, for those with no little or no access to food on a daily basis, a game changer and so I’m always grateful for what is offered.
If forced to evaluate, I would have to note lunch at a conference hosted in a football stadium (literally the curled up-almost toast consistency stale triangle-cut, ‘plastic’ cheese sandwiches, paint-stripper strength pickled onions in a Styrofoam dish and weak tea) – although at the time, and having missed breakfast! Let’s not mention the coffee…
Book or podcast recommendation for others in the sector?
As usual, choosing one is very difficult. David Epstein’s Range – How Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World, definitely a manifesto for the gig economy. Also Kim Scott’s Radical Candour and finally Noise’by Daniel Kahneman, Oliver Sibony and Cass R Sunstein
Describe a project or initiative you’re currently working on that excites you.
As a consultant, it’s always simultaneous and multiple projects! At the moment, it’s full on! With my business partner, following on from brokering the successful partnership that has resulted in the opening of Charterhouse School, Lagos on the September 2 2024, we are working with a number of prestigious schools to open new campuses in the US, UAE, KSA and beyond. Details have to be kept under wraps, as do the exciting projects with different Ministries of Education, and a future-centric design group. Watch this space!
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