CITY YEAR UK - Key Persons

Job Titles:

• Senior Development Manager ( Corporate )

Amy joined City Year UK in November 2016 as part of our Development Team. Having worked in the Charity sector for over 13 years (at organisations including Great Ormond Street Hospital Children's Charity and the British Heart Foundation), Amy has a wealth of experience working with companies, building relationships between the organisations, and supporting the delivery of their Corporate Social Responsibility goals. Who is your hero? My mum, she is incredibly strong and has been a great role model to me. What is the most powerful book you have ever read? "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee. What is your best career advice? Own your mistakes, there is always a solution to any problem.

Job Titles:

• Head of Programmes ( DSO )
• Senior Leader

For the past 20 years, Dean has worked as a Senior Leader in Education, Consultant and Director in some very challenging urban environments. Dean's previous roles have seen him establish himself as a business leader in education, with responsibility for growth and educational experience. He understands that working to develop a different approach is vital. Who is your hero? My dad. A man who always taught me to never stop learning, strive to achieve your goals and always be the person you want to be. What is the most powerful book you have ever read? Maya Angelou's "I know why The Caged Bird Sings". What is your best career advice? Kaizen: a Japanese business philosophy, meaning continuous improvement.

Job Titles:

• Head of Human Resources and Operations

Over the past 6 years, James has worked in the third sector, starting his work in HR at the NCS The Challenge before joining the City Year UK team. A committed people and operations generalist, James is currently completing two masters degrees: MBA, MSc HRO, alongside his work for CYUK. Who is your hero? Stephen Fry, who said, ‘"I am a lover of truth, a worshipper of freedom, a celebrant at the altar of language and purity and tolerance. That is my religion, and every day I am sorely, grossly, heinously and deeply offended, wounded, mortified and injured by a thousand different blasphemies against it". What is the most powerful book you have ever read? "On Liberty" by John Stuart Mill. What is your best career advice? "You must be the master of your own kingdom" - Guy Ritchie

Job Titles:

• Chairman of the Board of Trustees

Jonathan is Chair of the Board of Trustees of City Year UK. He is an experienced financial services executive currently serving as Chairman of the Fintech software provider Red Deer. He also serves as a Strategic Advisor for Marble Bar Asset Management and as a non exec director at TMT Analysis. He previously held senior roles in the investment banking sector including Head of Global Equities at Barclays and Head of European Equity Trading at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. He is also an active private investor consulting with various start up companies and Financial Tech Venture Capital funds. In addition to his work at City Year, Jonathan has also previously provided executive consulting to other charities through the Pilotlight programme. Having previously mentored young students from challenging backgrounds in America, he took up the opportunity to mentor a City Year UK volunteer following his move to London and has tutored year six pupils in Tower Hamlets. These experiences convinced Jonathan of the incredible potential impact of City Year. Both by providing inspirational ‘near peer' support to help disadvantaged pupils succeed and offering young adults leadership experience through a combination of volunteering and its careers and training programme, City Year is truly making a difference in our communities across the UK. Who is your hero? Just one example but Stan Brock who founded the charity Remote Area Medical. Seeing people devote their lives to a cause bigger than themselves is still an incredible source of inspiration for all of us. What is the most powerful book you have ever read? David Foster Wallace - "This is Water". A fascinating take on the freedom education can bring, but also the struggles facing all of us each and every day. It is rare to hear such honesty and insight about what it takes to lead a positive and impactful life. What is your best career advice? Intellectual curiosity can be the difference. Choosing to learn and explore on your own is what creates the possibilities to grow. It is the most common trait I've seen from successful and happy people.

Job Titles:

• Chief Executive
• Trustee of the Centre for Youth Impact

Kevin is passionate about helping young people achieve their full potential and became the Chief Executive of City Year in September 2018. Prior to joining City Year UK, he was the founding Chief Executive of ThinkForward, a programme providing young people with long-term and intensive support to ensure they make a successful transition from school to work. ThinkForward was incubated in Impetus - The Private Equity Foundation and he previously worked with them as an Investment Director. Before creating ThinkForward, Kevin worked in children's services at the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, where he was Deputy Head of Youth Services and then Head of 14-19 Education. Other roles have included as Deputy Chief Executive of the National Council for Voluntary Youth Services and with the national charities Community Matters and St. John Ambulance. He is a qualified youth worker and teacher, has an MBA from Ashridge Business School and is currently completing a Doctorate in Education. In his spare time Kevin is a trustee of the Centre for Youth Impact, a director of the Catch 22 Multi Academies Trust and the volunteer National Youth Engagement Adviser for St. John Ambulance. He is a Clore Social Fellow, was named by The Guardian in 2008 as one of the ‘Future 500' leaders in public life and by Striding Out in 2011 as one of the UK's top 100 Social Entrepreneurs. Who is your hero? Martin Luther King, for his commitment to building a beloved community and to giving service to others. He believed in a community in which people of different backgrounds recognise that we are all interconnected, and that our individual well-being is inextricably linked to the well-being of others. He said: "Everybody can be great, because everybody can serve. You only need a heart full of grace, a soul generated by love." What is the most powerful book you have ever read? "The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas", by Ursula K. Le Guin. I like fantasy stories and this one comes with a moral dilemma and asks us all what we would do when faced with a tough choice. What is your best career advice? "Build on what you are into". Work takes up such a big portion of our lives, you ideally want to do something you love. Developing personal interests and skills, including through volunteering, can be a great way of getting into your first job or progressing in your career.

Job Titles:

• Head of School Partnerships and Volunteer Recruitment

For the past nine years, Louisa has worked within the third sector as part of recruitment, sales and partnership teams. She has led regional sales teams across the North West and Yorkshire for NCS The Challenge, and was thrilled to be able to join City Year UK in 2019 as the Schools Partnership and Volunteer Recruitment Manager, leading both teams nationally. Who is your hero? A hard one! I don't think I have one particular hero but am inspired by lots of different people I have in my life: friends, family, colleagues past and present... What is the most powerful book you have ever read? "A Thousand Splendid Suns" by Khaled Hosseini. What is your best career advice? Don't over-complicate things, keep it simple and get the basics right first.

Job Titles:

• Chief Transformation Officer

Stephanie Wu is the Chief Transformation Officer at City Year. She oversees the development and replication of City Year's programs and school-based services, which are delivered by over 3,000 amazing City Year AmeriCorps members and Impact Managers in more than 330 schools in 28 cities nationwide. As a founding staff member of City Year, she has led multiple program initiatives that fueled the organization's national service and education strategies. During City Year's first decade, Stephanie developed and led in-school and out-of-school community youth programs. She was responsible for putting in place foundational concepts and practices supporting City Year's culture, ideals, and youth development techniques, the core of which remain essential to City Year's work in schools and communities. Her career at City Year started as an Impact Manager, leading teams of Americorps members in service and partnering with Boston communities to advance their priorities. She has also held other leadership positions such as Chief Operating Officer, Senior Vice President of U.S. Site Operations, and Senior Vice President for Human Resources. Prior to joining City Year, Stephanie was a journalist and worked in communications in the private sector. She is a graduate of Boston University with a dual degree in mass communications and political science. Stephanie currently serves on the Achievement Network board, and she is a Pahara Education Fellow and member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network.