Dr Edge Watchorn Chair Expand Dr Edge Watchorn Edge is Managing Director of Parliament’s Participation Team. She was previously Head of Education and in 2015 delivered Parliament’s first ever dedicated Education Centre with themed learning spaces and award-winning immersive, interactive technology. More recently, as a Director for the House of Commons she led a people development programme for 2,500 staff focusing on organisational behaviours, management capability and leadership development. Edge’s passion for democracy education grew out of her academic study where she explored the introduction of citizenship education to the National Curriculum in England and Wales. She pursued this interest from a range of angles through roles at the General Teaching Council and Citizenship Foundation. She serves as a Magistrate on the North Essex bench and is a Fellow of the RSA and Westminster Abbey Institute. Edge has been a Trustee since 2011 and Chair since 2019.
Jason Arthur Joint Vice Chair Expand Jason Arthur Jason Arthur is Director of Strategy and Communications for Step Up To Serve, the charity that coordinates the #iwill campaign. Jason is also co-founder of For Our Future’s Sake, a campaign set up to mobilise and energise young people to engage in the Brexit debate and support a People’s Vote. Jason was formerly the Cabinet Member for Finance and Health for Haringey Council. As part of the council’s political leadership team, he shaped the borough’s £340m revenue and capital spending was responsible for the council’s public health initiatives. Jason also taught in two secondary schools in London is a trustee of the education charity Teach First. Jason holds an undergraduate degree in Politics, Philosophy and Economics from the University of Oxford and a masters degree in Politics, Development and Education from the University of Cambridge. He tweets from @Jason_Arthur. Jason joined the Board in 2018.
Laura Hamm Joint Vice Chair Expand Laura Hamm Laura is the Founder of Fabled - a digital platform for kids to create and share their own stories. She spent six years working as Senior Policy Advisor in HM Treasury, No.10 Downing Street, and the Cabinet Office across a range of domestic and international policy areas. Prior to this Laura worked for President Mary Robinson’s human rights programme at the Aspen Institute in Washington DC on health issues in sub-Saharan Africa. Laura began her career in parliamentary lobbying at Weber Shandwick Public Affairs. She has been a Trustee at the Citizenship Foundation since 2010.
Cécile Durand-Agbo Treasurer Expand Cécile Durand-Agbo, Treasurer Cécile is an experienced financial professional and an ACCA chartered accountant. After graduating from HEC Paris, France leading business school, in 2002 Cécile joined the corporate investment branch of Société Générale in London, where she worked for the UK Leveraged Finance team. In 2007 Cécile moved to the European Leveraged Finance team at Fitch Ratings, where she was promoted to Senior Director. She was responsible for assessing the credit risks of leveraged issuers, publishing research on the market and representing Fitch at public and private events. During that period, she also became a director for Chatsworth Court Freehold Company, the Freehold Company of a building block of some 200 flats. In 2014 Cécile decided to make a career change and in 2017 she became an ACCA chartered accountant. Cécile is now pursuing a career as a non-executive director. She joined the Board in 2017.
Brian Walton Trustee Expand Brian Walton Brian Walton has been a head teacher in four outstanding or good schools (London, Bristol and Somerset) over the past 15 years. He has worked extensively in school-to-school support since 2008 as a national and local leader of education, supporting schools in challenging circumstances. His current school is Brookside Academy providing education from 0 – 11 to over 600 pupils. He also runs a 30 place Specialist Provision in the primary range, catering for children with complex needs from across the Mendip area of Somerset. Brian is a regular contributor to the Times Educational Supplement and blogs on the challenges of Educational Leadership as @Oldprimaryhead1 He joined the Board in 2018.
Fazana Hakim Trustee Expand Fazana Hakim She works part time as a senior stakeholder manager for Govia Thameslink Railway and as the Chief Operating Officer of ISS Magazine, Head of Trading and Transaction Banker news websites on their operation, marketing and design needs. Faz previously worked as Political adviser to the Chair and Chief Executive at the Equality and Human Rights Commission and served as Director of corporate and government relations at the Commission for Racial Equality. In 2008, the Power List named her one of the twenty most powerful Muslim women in the UK. She handled CRE’s relations with Government and Parliament in the aftermath of the 9/11 and 7 July attacks, was a member of the Defeating Extremism Together Task Group and advised Government on relations with Muslim communities. She served as a senior Political Adviser to the former UK Prime Minister, Tony Blair between 1994 and 2000. She has been a Vice-President at JP Morgan Investment Bank, where she headed up their media relations for the EMEA region. She is also a member of the Board of Trustees of the Runnymede Trust and the Cedar Network for Professional Muslims. Farzana holds a BA in sociology from Stirling and is a Fellow of the RSA. She joined the Board in 2013.
Professor David Miles Trustee Expand Professor David Miles David Miles DL joined the Board of Trustees in 2008 following the merger of the Council for Education in World Citizenship, where he was Chair of the Executive Board, with the Citizenship Foundation. David prior to his retirement was Pro Vice-Chancellor (External Affairs) at Kingston University where, inter alia, he was responsible for the marketing of the University to prospective students at home and abroad, and the development of international partnerships with other institutions. Prior to that he was Dean of the Faculty of Business and Law. He is a Trustee and Vice-chair of the Union of Kingston Students. He is Vice-Chair of the Shenehom Housing Association, a Mental Health Charity. In his earlier life David was a Councillor in the City of Westminster, a member of the Inner London Education Authority education committee, and a failed parliamentary candidate. He retains a passionate commitment to the importance of politics in civic life.
James Cathcart Trustee Expand James Cathcart James is the Founder/Director of Young Voices Heard, an initiative established in 2017 to enable greater youth participation in decision-making and democracy. Prior to this he was the Chief Executive of the British Youth Council 2008-2016, which also manages the UK Youth Parliament, working in partnership with national and local government across the UK. His interest in empowering young people as active citizens has developed from a career spanning youth work, juvenile justice and social work (qualified Social Worker/Probation Officer). This progressed to training, management and international development, working for several national charities including the National Children’s Bureau and the Prince’s Trust. He is strong advocate of youth volunteering and mentoring, and currently volunteers for the #iwill youth social action campaign and the Royal Commonwealth Society. He is an Ambassador of the British Citizens Awards. Born in Northern Ireland, educated at Durham/Southampton universities, but now living in Kent, James likes music, flying, travelling and tweeting @JamesCatChats. He joined the Board in 2018.
John Cooper QC Trustee Expand John Cooper QC Professor John Cooper QC is one of the country’s leading Silks, regularly appearing in high-profile cases before the courts. He is also an experienced broadcaster and writer. Having written a column for The Times for 10 years, had his plays produced on stage and television and authored a number of legal textbooks, Professor Cooper now writes for a number of National publications, on current affairs, the law and other areas of interest, including his regular column in the popular Dogs Today magazine about his passion for dogs and animal welfare, having been the Chair of an animal welfare charity for 16 years. Proudly educated at a Comprehensive School in Wolverhampton, John is determined to promote the interests of State School education and equal opportunity for everyone. He has been assisting us for over 10 years with the organisation of our Mock Trials Competition and as a Special Advisor to Lord Bach on the Access to Justice Commission was determined to ensure that the consequent Report recommended better public legal education in schools. Professor Cooper has advised the Shadow Attorney General and the Home Affairs Select Committee on legal issues and formerly worked as a lawyer at Clifford Chance. He joined the Board in 2017.
Nick Johnson Trustee Expand Nick Johnson Nick joined the Board in 2010 and was Treasurer between 2011-2017. He has been the Executive Director of the British Educational Research Association (BERA) since April 2012. He has a considerable background of leadership and strategic direction in organisations concerned with public policy. Between 2004-07, he was the Director of Policy and Public Sector for the Commission for Racial Equality. He subsequently started his own consultancy working across public policy and research and worked, amongst others, with Chatham House, the Barrow Cadbury Trust, the Institute of Community Cohesion and the Local Government Association. Nick is a Fellow of the Royal Society for the Arts and a member of the Ethnicity Advisory Group for the United Kingdom Household Longitudinal Study. He is also a Research Fellow at the Smith Institute and a School Governor. Nick has advised government centrally, locally and internationally and has written extensively on citizenship, social capital, extremism, immigration and other related areas of policy and practice.
Jacquie Ayre Trustee Expand Jacquie Ayre Jacquie has more than 30 years’ experience as a secondary school teacher and Faculty lead for Citizenship and PSHE in the North West of England. She has taught an extensive range of subjects including Citizenship and PSHE, Geography, History, RE and Sociology. In addition, within school Jacquie worked as a Professional Mentor in charge of teacher training, which involved liaising with North West universities and supporting their PGCE courses. This experience was extended further whilst on Secondment at Edge Hill University where she supported the PGCE course and acted as an MTL Tutor (Masters in Teaching and Learning). Jacquie has gained significant experience of delivering Citizenship education across a large secondary school. She has worked with many North West charities as well as Young Citizens, running drop down days, social action projects and mock elections. Jacquie has recently taken on a role with the Liverpool World Centre working on projects around the Sustainable Development Goals.
Victoria Speed Trustee Expand Victoria Speed Victoria is a qualified employment lawyer working in the Pro Bono Centre at BBP Law School since 2006, for the last 8 years as Director of Pro Bono & Corporate Social Responsibility. She has managed the growth of the Pro Bono Centre in this time and oversees a number of projects aimed at improving access to justice, including clinics and phone lines, and improving understanding of legal issues, through a student volunteering project, Streetlaw. Victoria previously worked as a solicitor at Simmons & Simmons and at Russell-Cooke Solicitors and this background in practice has been most useful when building pro bono projects reliant on volunteer professionals. Victoria has been on the National Pro Bono Week Committee and the Attorney General’s Pro Bono Committee for a number of years. In the course of her career Victoria has often worked alongside Young Citizens and feels strongly that the charity’s mission and values closely match her own
Matt Lambert Trustee Expand Matt Lambert Matt is Business Development Director of leading digital marketing agency, TMW. With 10 years’ experience in marketing – working for some of the biggest names in the business including M&C Saatchi and the Engine Group – Matt has risen through agency ranks at a remarkable pace, being promoted to the management board at M&C Saatchi as Head of Business Development at just 28. In that time, Matt has secured over £25m of new client revenue and has been involved in a number of high-profile behaviour change campaigns, including Public Health England’s Change4Life programme and Start Today, the sustainable living initiative run by Business in the Community. Matt joined the board in 2018. His interest in citizenship education was sparked when he took part in the Bar Mock Trials Competition at school and he is looking forward to giving something back to the charity which inspired him and the young people it serves.