Nick Bent (He/Him) Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer Expand Nick has been involved with a number of educational and youth work charities for twenty years. He is a Director of the academies charity Oasis Community Learning and was previously Chair of Governors at the Oasis Academy MediaCityUK in Salford. During 2017, Nick was a Clore Social Leadership Fellow. An Associate of the think tank Demos, Nick spent seven years working in Westminster and Whitehall, including four years as a Special Adviser to Rt Hon Dame Tessa Jowell MP during the last Labour Government. He has also served as Director of the think tank Policy Network. In July 2020, Nick received his first public appointment, as a member of the Advisory Board for the Children's Commissioner for England. He has also served as a lay member of the General Assembly of the University of Manchester since 2011. Nick is a graduate of the universities of Oxford (law) and Harvard (public policy).
Abigail Shapiro (She/Her) Co-Founder and Executive Director Expand Abigail has been involved with youth work and charities for many years. Her numerous roles in public affairs and media relations includes extensive experience of the education sector, through spending time working at both the Association of Teachers and Lecturers and the Pre-School Learning Alliance. Abigail's previous role as a freelance communications consultant has included work for GMPTE and Manchester City Council. An alumni of The University of Leeds, Abigail is a graduate of the prestigious Politics and Parliamentary Studies course. Abigail has also worked in Westminster and Washington DC. Abigail is a lay member of the General Assembly of the University of Manchester and a Governor at King David Primary School.
Jason Heaford (He/Him) Chief Operating Officer Expand Jason has joined the Tutor Trust with many years’ experience of leading high quality early years provision. His most recent being a Social Enterprise based in Stockport. The setting received an ‘Outstanding’ Ofsted Inspection late in 2013. In addition to his work as a Director there he also helped to create and develop the charity ‘ACCES’. In his role as CEO, Jason has helped ACCES in supporting disadvantaged families and children across the Stockport area. During this period Jason was invited to become one of the founding Trustees’ of Anchorpoint Stockport of which he served as a Trustee for 2 years. Anchorpoint followed Stockport’s CVS in providing a voice and support for ‘Third Sector ’organisations. Jason began his working life as a professional footballer most notably with Derby County FC, but had to retire through injury. He went on to work within the Transport Industry becoming the UK operations Manager for the large French company GCA. Providing new learning opportunities for children who could not afford tuition attracted Jason to Tutor Trust and he hopes to continue and expand on the amazing work that has already taken place.
Sarah Horne (She/Her) Finance Director Expand Sarah joined the Tutor Trust as Finance Director in November 2020, having spent most of her career with the Co-op working in senior finance, tax and governance roles, initially in her home town of Stoke-on-Trent then later in Rochdale and Manchester. She is a both a chartered accountant and chartered tax adviser, and trained with Price Waterhouse in Manchester. Sarah has been involved in the charity sector for many years and is currently a trustee of three charities - AidCamps International, a small charity which delivers international volunteering projects; Northern Broadsides Theatre Company, a touring theatre company based in Halifax; and We Love MCR Charity, the Lord Mayor of Manchester's charity which supports communities and young people within the City of Manchester. She also chairs Northern Broadsides' Finance, Risk and Audit Committee.
Jo Meredith (She/Her) Director of Tutoring Plus Expand Jo joined Tutor Trust in January 2019 as Quality Manager, responsible for our work in Alternative Provision. After graduating from Bangor University Jo began her career as a teacher of Chemistry. Jo has over 20 years’ experience in senior leadership including Headship, with wide-ranging involvement in both mainstream and Alternative Provision settings. Having worked in senior positions in both mainstream and Alternative Provision settings across Greater Manchester, Jo is well placed to lead and drive the quality of teaching and learning in the Department for Education funded project in Alternative Provision, ‘The Right Angle’, in collaboration with TLC; Talk, Listen Change. Jo is now Director of Tutoring Plus (formerly Alternative Provision and Looked After Children), which provides a bespoke service of one-to-one tutoring and other supportive interventions for the children and young people with even greater barriers to overcome than their peers.
Jenny Muter (She/Her) Director of Impact Expand An experienced secondary teacher and middle leader, Jenny joined the Tutor Trust in September 2017, working alongside Matt to ensure that all tuition sessions are of the highest quality. After graduating from the University of Oxford, Jenny went into teaching through the TeachFirst programme, which fit with her commitment to improving educational opportunities for young people from disadvantaged backgrounds. She stayed in her initial placement school for five years, and undertook a variety of leadership roles, including Assistant Head of English, Head of Humanities, and leader of Key Stage 3 Assessment. She successfully completed the Teaching Leaders fellows programme for high potential educational leaders. Jenny is a keen traveller and has also previously taught in China, as well as having volunteered on educational projects in Belize, Kenya and Sri Lanka.
Matt Wallis (He/Him) Director of Training and Quality Assurance Expand Matt joined The Tutor Trust in summer 2016 with over 14 years of experience working in primary schools and teaching across the primary range. He has always worked in inner city areas in a range of roles, supporting the children and families who live there. He started teaching in Sheffield and spent two years there before moving to London and working in Hackney for two years. He then spent five years in East London working as an Assistant Headteacher responsible for supporting children with Special Educational Needs. This gave him the experience of supporting children and families to overcome barriers for learning which has remained a firm foundation for his ethos to learning and education. Relocating to Manchester in 2011, Matt started as a supply teacher in a large primary school in Moss Side and quickly moved to support the school’s senior leadership team as Assistant Headteacher for over 4 years. He was responsible for various areas such as English, KS2 and Inclusion and was proud to teach in a school that won the DfE’s Pupil Premium Award for the North West region for their work supporting disadvantaged pupils to achieve their potential. Matt is now the Director of Training and Quality Assurance for The Tutor Trust, overseeing training, tutors’ continued professional development and monitoring the quality of tuition.
Mark Wyss (He/Him) Programme Director Expand Mark joined Tutor Trust in January 2019 as Schools Partnership Manager and was appointed to the role of Programme Director in September 2022. Mark worked in secondary education for over 20 years, teaching Modern Foreign Languages, as well as spells of English, PE and ICT. He is an alumnus of the Future Leaders Accelerate to Headship programme and was a Senior Leader in the North West for nearly a decade. This includes leading Ormiston Bolingbroke Academy in Runcorn as Principal. Mark is also an Associate for the Partners in Excellence (PiXL) school improvement organisation, working with Headteachers and Senior Leadership Teams to raise aspirations and improve outcomes. Mark is also a Member of the Great Schools Trust, which features the King’s Bolton, Liverpool, Warrington and Hawthornes Leadership Academies. He is deeply committed to enhancing the life chances of all young people, irrespective of circumstance or postcode. Mark looks forward to driving Tutor Trust’s impact on the next leg of its amazing journey.