John is passionate about social mobility. In 1999, John founded the Shadowing Scheme whilst at Cambridge University. Prior to joining upReach, he spent 11 years on the trading floor as an investment banker, and taught Maths and Economics in state and independent schools. A charity trustee for seven years, John also likes skiing, marathons, coffee and red wine.

Laura manages our Rise and Aim Programmes and is responsible for keeping our tech systems running smoothly, measuring our impact and managing our mentoring and alumni activities. She was drawn to upReach because of its strong social mission, its ambitious outlook and young, fun team.

Kwaku has been with upReach since September 2015 working with Associates to realise their potential. He studied Economics at the University of Cambridge and has a side venture making handmade chocolates. Kwaku joined upReach because he is passionate about supporting young people to discover and achieve their goals.

Doreen leads on content creation for the ‘My upReach’ website and also coordinates the upReach societies. Doreen joined upReach as she identifies with Associates, being from a similar background. Her hobbies include drawing portraits, sleeping and singing badly.

Eugene joined upReach because he wanted to see students access the opportunities they deserve. He specialises in the Banking and Insurance sectors, working closely with Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Nomura and Aviva. He likes hockey, travelling and all things behavioural economics-related.

Stephanie joined upReach after working in the Corporate world as a tax director for 25yrs and is working closely with our partner Deloitte. She wanted to join upReach so she could share insights she gained while developing her own career with Associates as they are launching their careers.

Madeleine joined upReach because she is passionate about education and believes that the collaboration of universities, employers and a charity is the best way to tackle social mobility. She leads on upReach’s relationships with KPMG and North Highland. She loves to run and travel.

Jade works closely with Unilever and McKinsey and is the digital coordinator for all things social media. She sought to work for upReach because she wants young people from her background to feel limitless, and she wanted to play a role in achieving that.

Hannah is the new Programme Coordinator for Banking and Finance. She joined upReach because she wants to help students reach their full potential, and ensure that no one feels their background can stop them from achieving their career goals. Her favourite things are tea, cake, and history.

Olivia is coordinating the new Rise programme in partnership with the John Lyon Charity. After working to help prepare sixth formers for the transition to university, she was attracted to upReach’s focus on the transition which follows, between university and employment. Olivia enjoys travelling and has researched primates in various rainforests in the tropics. She is now improving her photography skills for her next trip.

Sam is on secondment from the Civil Service Fast Stream. Before joining upReach, he worked at the MoD, HMRC, and DWP. He can usually be found enjoying a good book or wandering into people on a rugby pitch.

Anasthasia joined upReach because she wanted to see what is currently being done to help students from the BME community and be part of a company which works towards closing the gap between the privileged and the disadvantaged in terms of education. Her role involves working on the critical analysis of the graphical representation of upReach.

Dan is an engagement manager expert at McKinsey, where he is the founding member of the Public Sector Delivery Hub. Dan completed a PhD that sought to understand how social class and education background affected graduate employability.

Al is an experienced Financial and Operational Turnaround Executive, currently working in McKinsey’s Restructuring Team. Before joining McKinsey, Al qualified as a Chartered Accountant with PwC in their Restructuring Team where he spent 14 years working on assignments based out of London, New York, Zurich and Paris.

Mark is a strategic communications professional who specialises in working with education institutions and research bodies. He started his career working in think tanks and then went on to serve as Director of Communications at the 1994 Group of Universities. He is now Head of Strategic Communications at GSM London.

Monica qualified as a barrister in 1996. After 16 years of being at the bar, she left full-time practice to pursue other interests, although she remains a door tenant at 42 Bedford Row. She recently joined The Council of the Inns of Court as a Programme Designer.

Mikayla is a Senior Associate Consultant at Bain & Company, where she’s been working for two years. Prior to this, she completed a BSc in Government and Economics at LSE.

Alex is currently working as an associate at AllianceBernstein in Fixed Income. Prior to this he completed placements in Corporate Finance and Private Banking. He holds an MSc in Economic History from The London School of Economics.

Neeha is the International Head of Talent at Bank of America Merrill Lynch where she has worked for 6 years. Prior to this, she spent over 10 years at UBS in a number of roles including Head of the UBS EMEA Business University and Global Coaching Practice. Neeha is a Chartered Consultant Psychologist.

Phillip is a Distinguished Research Professor in the School of Social Sciences at Cardiff University, having previously worked at the University of Cambridge and University of Kent at Canterbury. He is widely recognised for his international work on education, employability and labour markets. He is currently studying talent management, corporate change and the future of work.

Trang has over 20 years experience leading and running global businesses at major investments banks in the City and on Wall Street. Building on this experience and her 10 years as managing director and as an executive coach, she now helps senior leaders build high-performing leadership teams.

Dr. Louise Ashley specialises in researching diversity and inclusion across leading professions. In 2015 and 2016, she led the teams appointed by the government’s Social Mobility Commission to identify and understand barriers to the elite professions on the basis of socio-economic background.

Katy is the Head of Junior Talent at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, covering Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region. She has been with Bank of America Merrill Lynch collectively for over 12 years, across a variety of leadership roles in Staffing and Global Human Resources across the UK and Ireland.

Dinti began her career as an international lawyer at Linklaters and FremantleMedia, gaining an MBA at INSEAD. Politically active for over a decade as a policy-maker and campaigner, she is also a trustee of the Fawcett Society and board member of the Arnold Foundation.

Pat has over 30 years experience in the financial sector, both in public and private strategic business leadership roles. A former upReach trustee, she has an extensive portfolio of Board, advisory committee and consultancy roles.

Sarah led City Gateway’s corporate partnerships team and oversaw the creation of over 1000 jobs for disadvantaged young people.  Today she is responsible for fundraising at the Diocese of London.  She is also trustee of youth charity TwentyTwenty.

Joanne is an employment law barrister who joined a niche solicitors’ firm after working at a top London chambers. She is passionate about social mobility, especially within the legal profession, and has a particular interest in supporting young people who have been in local authority care.

Deborah was part of the founding team at upReach, where she worked for almost four years in a number of different roles including leading the first Associate programmes. She is currently a diversity recruiter at McKinsey & Company.

Georgina is a senior HR professional with experience working in international companies across Pharma, Technology, Telecommunications, and FMCG sectors. She is currently European Early Careers Manager at Unilever. Georgina is passionate about helping individuals succeed with their career aspirations.

Kate has over 20 years’ experience working as a careers Consultant/Coach and is passionate about supporting individuals to fulfil their career potential. Based for the last 10 years in the Higher Education sector with a particular focus on widening participation, she is now working at the University of Exeter.

Emma Moore is the Employer Engagement Manager at the University of Liverpool. She chairs the AGCAS Employer Engagement Task Group sharing best practice around university and employer engagement nationally. Emma is also a member of the AGR Policy Group.

Tania is Career Mentoring Manager and Doctoral Researcher at the University of Reading. Her research focuses on the impact of social diversity on the success of career mentoring partnerships in Higher Education. Tania also has experience of graduate recruitment for PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Richard Kennett is the Director of UK Student Recruitment and Outreach at the University of Southampton. He chairs the Southern Universities Network Management Group that contains the six Hampshire and Dorset universities working together on the National Collaborative Outreach Programme. Previously he chaired the Russell Group Widening Participation Association.

Phil is the Chief Psychologist and Chief Assessor of the Civil Service Fast Stream, focusing on assessment design and diversity initiatives. Prior to this, he was Head of Occupational Psychology at the London Fire Brigade and Acting Head of Occupational Psychology for Greater Manchester Police.

Kim is the Global Future Talent Manager at Aviva. She started her HR career in retail and has been with Aviva for 14 years in various roles across the business and the People Function taking up her current position to roll out Aviva’s first truly Global Graduate Leadership Programme.

Julia manages the sourcing, selection and screening of candidates for junior positions in a dynamic management consultancy. Strongly committed to diversity and inclusion, she is involved in setting up D&I initiatives for the London office to include leading the partnership with upReach.

Nick works within Graduate Recruitment and Outreach at KPMG. Since 2015, Nick has created and delivered Professional Experience Programmes for students across the UK as well as attending policy discussions and debates around social mobility, barriers to work and higher education.

Kate is an Oxford University graduate with professional experience within Accenture’s Change Management division, and over four years as The David Freeman Outreach & Student Support Officer at Balliol College, Oxford University. She is currently Deputy Director of Widening Participation at King’s College London.