DAME JULIA CLEVERDON DCVO, CBE
Vice President, Business in the Community
Dame Julia Cleverdon is Vice President of Business in the Community, a unique movement of 800 companies across the UK committed to improving continually their positive impact on society. Dame Cleverdon was Chief Executive of Business in the Community for 16 years, from April 1992 – March 2008. During this period she has established a formidable reputation as a renowned leader and speaker on corporate responsibility and has personally been responsible for introducing new thinking and action from within the UK's top boardrooms.
Her energies in promoting responsible business practice and the significant impact of the campaigns of Business in the Community led to her being listed by The Times as one of the 50 most influential women in Britain. She was appointed CBE in 1996, CVO in the New Year's Honours' list 2002 and DCVO in the Queen's Honours list in 2008. Under Dame Julia's leadership the collective activities of Business in the Community have expanded to impact across local communities, support positive environmental activity, promote diversity and best practice in the workplace and encourage ethical operations in the wider marketplace.
In her voluntary roles, Julia serves as chair of Teach First, whose mission is to address educational disadvantage by transforming exceptional graduates into effective, inspirational teachers and leaders in all fields. She has recently been invited to join the National Council for Educational Excellence to lead a review for the Prime Minister on how education-business partnerships can contribute to educational excellence and is a member of the Prime Minister's Talent and Enterprise Taskforce Advisory Group. Julia is also a director of 'In Kind Direct', patron of both the Helena Kennedy Bursary Scheme and Volunteer Reading Help and an Ambassador for the World Wildlife Fund.
Prior to her work at Business in the Community, Dame Julia served as Director of The Industrial Society's Education and Inner City Division from 1981 – 1988, during which time The Industrial Society became the leading provider of management training for education and voluntary organizations. She started her career working in industrial relations for British Leyland.
Julia was married to the late John Garnett, director of the Industrial Society, and has two daughters.
Vice President, Business in the Community
Dame Julia Cleverdon is Vice President of Business in the Community, a unique movement of 800 companies across the UK committed to improving continually their positive impact on society. Dame Cleverdon was Chief Executive of Business in the Community for 16 years, from April 1992 – March 2008. During this period she has established a formidable reputation as a renowned leader and speaker on corporate responsibility and has personally been responsible for introducing new thinking and action from within the UK's top boardrooms.
Her energies in promoting responsible business practice and the significant impact of the campaigns of Business in the Community led to her being listed by The Times as one of the 50 most influential women in Britain. She was appointed CBE in 1996, CVO in the New Year's Honours' list 2002 and DCVO in the Queen's Honours list in 2008. Under Dame Julia's leadership the collective activities of Business in the Community have expanded to impact across local communities, support positive environmental activity, promote diversity and best practice in the workplace and encourage ethical operations in the wider marketplace.
In her voluntary roles, Julia serves as chair of Teach First, whose mission is to address educational disadvantage by transforming exceptional graduates into effective, inspirational teachers and leaders in all fields. She has recently been invited to join the National Council for Educational Excellence to lead a review for the Prime Minister on how education-business partnerships can contribute to educational excellence and is a member of the Prime Minister's Talent and Enterprise Taskforce Advisory Group. Julia is also a director of 'In Kind Direct', patron of both the Helena Kennedy Bursary Scheme and Volunteer Reading Help and an Ambassador for the World Wildlife Fund.
Prior to her work at Business in the Community, Dame Julia served as Director of The Industrial Society's Education and Inner City Division from 1981 – 1988, during which time The Industrial Society became the leading provider of management training for education and voluntary organizations. She started her career working in industrial relations for British Leyland.
Julia was married to the late John Garnett, director of the Industrial Society, and has two daughters.
MARK FULLER
Chairman & CEO, Monitor Group
Mark Fuller is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Monitor Group, a firm he co-founded in 1983. The Group currently competes in three different businesses: general management consulting, principal investing, and information services, including research and software solutions.
Since its foundation, Monitor has enjoyed significant growth; it currently employs over 2,000 staff in thirty offices located in more than twenty countries. As Chief Executive, Mark's responsibilities include oversight of overall Group strategy and human resource development. He also plays an active role in the development and management of a select number of client relationships, and leads Monitor's Middle East initiative and National Security and Economic Development practice.
Mark formerly served as an Assistant Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration, where he taught courses in strategy formulation and implementation, as well as industry and competitive analysis. While a professor, Mark was Co-Director of Harvard's Project on the Auto Industry and the American Economy, and also served on the staff of Harvard's Project on Negotiation.
In addition to sitting on a variety of Monitor Group boards, Mark serves as a Governor of the Asian Institute of Management, a Foundation Member of the World Economic Forum, a Member of Harvard University's Major Gifts Steering Committee, a Member of the Board of Overseers' Committee on University Resources, a Member of the Advisory Board of the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies, as well as on the University's Task Forces on International Studies and Academic Resources. He is a Founding Member of the University's South Asia Center. Mark also serves as Co-Chairman of the Board of Directors of New Profit, one of the world's leading social venture funds, and a Member of the International Board of SKOLKOVO (the new Moscow Business School). He was formally a Member of the Governor's Council on Economic Growth and Technology in Massachusetts, and was a Founding Director of the Center for Effective Philanthropy.
Mark has authored or co-authored more than 100 books, articles and teaching cases. His most recent book, Japan's Business Renaissance, was published in 2005. His speech on "Prosperity, Competitiveness and Moral Purpose" recently appeared in the Chinese Edition of the Harvard Business Review (December 2007).
Mark graduated from Harvard College where he received a BA degree in history with High Honors and was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. He later received an MBA from Harvard Business School and a JD from Harvard Law School with Honors.
Chairman & CEO, Monitor Group
Mark Fuller is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Monitor Group, a firm he co-founded in 1983. The Group currently competes in three different businesses: general management consulting, principal investing, and information services, including research and software solutions.
Since its foundation, Monitor has enjoyed significant growth; it currently employs over 2,000 staff in thirty offices located in more than twenty countries. As Chief Executive, Mark's responsibilities include oversight of overall Group strategy and human resource development. He also plays an active role in the development and management of a select number of client relationships, and leads Monitor's Middle East initiative and National Security and Economic Development practice.
Mark formerly served as an Assistant Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration, where he taught courses in strategy formulation and implementation, as well as industry and competitive analysis. While a professor, Mark was Co-Director of Harvard's Project on the Auto Industry and the American Economy, and also served on the staff of Harvard's Project on Negotiation.
In addition to sitting on a variety of Monitor Group boards, Mark serves as a Governor of the Asian Institute of Management, a Foundation Member of the World Economic Forum, a Member of Harvard University's Major Gifts Steering Committee, a Member of the Board of Overseers' Committee on University Resources, a Member of the Advisory Board of the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies, as well as on the University's Task Forces on International Studies and Academic Resources. He is a Founding Member of the University's South Asia Center. Mark also serves as Co-Chairman of the Board of Directors of New Profit, one of the world's leading social venture funds, and a Member of the International Board of SKOLKOVO (the new Moscow Business School). He was formally a Member of the Governor's Council on Economic Growth and Technology in Massachusetts, and was a Founding Director of the Center for Effective Philanthropy.
Mark has authored or co-authored more than 100 books, articles and teaching cases. His most recent book, Japan's Business Renaissance, was published in 2005. His speech on "Prosperity, Competitiveness and Moral Purpose" recently appeared in the Chinese Edition of the Harvard Business Review (December 2007).
Mark graduated from Harvard College where he received a BA degree in history with High Honors and was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. He later received an MBA from Harvard Business School and a JD from Harvard Law School with Honors.
WALTER ISAACSON
President & CEO, The Aspen Institute
Walter Isaacson is the president and CEO of the Aspen Institute. He has been the chairman and CEO of CNN and the managing editor of Time Magazine. He is the author of Benjamin Franklin: An American Life (2003) and of Kissinger: A Biography (1992) and is the coauthor of The Wise Men: Six Friends and the World They Made (1986).
Isaacson was born on May 20, 1952, in New Orleans. He received a B.A. in history and literature from Harvard College and an M.A. in philosophy, politics and economics at Pembroke College of Oxford University, where he was a Rhodes Scholar.
He began his career in journalism at the Sunday Times of London and then the New Orleans Times-Picayune/States-Item. He joined Time Magazine in 1978 and served as a political correspondent, national editor and editor of new media before becoming the magazine's 14th managing editor in 1996. He became chairman and CEO of CNN in 2001, and then president and CEO of the Aspen Institute in 2003.
He is on the Board of Directors of Reader's Digest Association, Tulane University and Teach For America. He is also on the board of trustees at the National Constitution Center and is chairman of the national council of The Shakespeare Theatre in Washington.
He lives with his wife and daughter in Washington, DC, and in Aspen, Colorado.
President & CEO, The Aspen Institute
Walter Isaacson is the president and CEO of the Aspen Institute. He has been the chairman and CEO of CNN and the managing editor of Time Magazine. He is the author of Benjamin Franklin: An American Life (2003) and of Kissinger: A Biography (1992) and is the coauthor of The Wise Men: Six Friends and the World They Made (1986).
Isaacson was born on May 20, 1952, in New Orleans. He received a B.A. in history and literature from Harvard College and an M.A. in philosophy, politics and economics at Pembroke College of Oxford University, where he was a Rhodes Scholar.
He began his career in journalism at the Sunday Times of London and then the New Orleans Times-Picayune/States-Item. He joined Time Magazine in 1978 and served as a political correspondent, national editor and editor of new media before becoming the magazine's 14th managing editor in 1996. He became chairman and CEO of CNN in 2001, and then president and CEO of the Aspen Institute in 2003.
He is on the Board of Directors of Reader's Digest Association, Tulane University and Teach For America. He is also on the board of trustees at the National Constitution Center and is chairman of the national council of The Shakespeare Theatre in Washington.
He lives with his wife and daughter in Washington, DC, and in Aspen, Colorado.
WENDY KOPP
CEO & Founder, Teach For America; CEO, Teach For All
In her senior thesis as an undergraduate student at Princeton University, Wendy Kopp outlined a plan to recruit outstanding recent college graduates to teach for two years in America's neediest urban and rural schools. Upon graduation, she founded Teach For America, a national corps that would have an important impact on the nation's education system, putting a dent in the lingering problem of educational inequality.
Under Kopp's leadership, Teach For America is in the midst of an effort to grow to scale while maximizing the impact of its teachers and alumni as a force for short-term and long-term change. She is also serving as Teach For All's CEO, responsible for charting the organization's course and ensuring it fulfills its potential.
Kopp is the author of One Day, All Children: The Unlikely Triumph of Teach for America and What I Learned Along the Way, and is the youngest person and the first woman to receive Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson Award, the highest honor the school confers on its undergraduate alumni. In 2006, she was named one of America's best leaders by US News and World Report, and in 2008, Time Magazine named her as one of the world's 100 most influential leaders.
Kopp holds honorary doctorate degrees from Mount Holyoke College (2007), Rhodes College (2007), Pace University (2004), Mercy College (2004), Smith College (2001), Princeton University (2000), Connecticut College (1995), and Drew University (1995).
Kopp has also been recognized with The Harold W. McGraw, Jr. Prize in Education Award (2006), the John F. Kennedy New Frontier Award (2004), the Clinton Center Award for Leadership and National Service (2003), the Schwab Foundation's Outstanding Social Entrepreneur Award (2003), Aetna's Voice of Conscience Award (1994), the Citizen Activist Award from the Gleitsman Foundation (1994), and the Jefferson Award for Public Service (1991). Kopp serves on the board of directors of The New Teacher Project, and on the advisory boards of the Center for Public Leadership at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government, Duke University's Center for the Advancement of Social Entrepreneurship and the National Council on Teacher Quality.
Kopp holds a bachelor's degree from Princeton University, where she participated in the undergraduate program of the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs.
She is married and has four children.
CEO & Founder, Teach For America; CEO, Teach For All
In her senior thesis as an undergraduate student at Princeton University, Wendy Kopp outlined a plan to recruit outstanding recent college graduates to teach for two years in America's neediest urban and rural schools. Upon graduation, she founded Teach For America, a national corps that would have an important impact on the nation's education system, putting a dent in the lingering problem of educational inequality.
Under Kopp's leadership, Teach For America is in the midst of an effort to grow to scale while maximizing the impact of its teachers and alumni as a force for short-term and long-term change. She is also serving as Teach For All's CEO, responsible for charting the organization's course and ensuring it fulfills its potential.
Kopp is the author of One Day, All Children: The Unlikely Triumph of Teach for America and What I Learned Along the Way, and is the youngest person and the first woman to receive Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson Award, the highest honor the school confers on its undergraduate alumni. In 2006, she was named one of America's best leaders by US News and World Report, and in 2008, Time Magazine named her as one of the world's 100 most influential leaders.
Kopp holds honorary doctorate degrees from Mount Holyoke College (2007), Rhodes College (2007), Pace University (2004), Mercy College (2004), Smith College (2001), Princeton University (2000), Connecticut College (1995), and Drew University (1995).
Kopp has also been recognized with The Harold W. McGraw, Jr. Prize in Education Award (2006), the John F. Kennedy New Frontier Award (2004), the Clinton Center Award for Leadership and National Service (2003), the Schwab Foundation's Outstanding Social Entrepreneur Award (2003), Aetna's Voice of Conscience Award (1994), the Citizen Activist Award from the Gleitsman Foundation (1994), and the Jefferson Award for Public Service (1991). Kopp serves on the board of directors of The New Teacher Project, and on the advisory boards of the Center for Public Leadership at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government, Duke University's Center for the Advancement of Social Entrepreneurship and the National Council on Teacher Quality.
Kopp holds a bachelor's degree from Princeton University, where she participated in the undergraduate program of the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs.
She is married and has four children.
AMY L. ROBBINS
Executive Director, The Nduna Foundation
Amy Robbins serves as the Executive Director of The Nduna Foundation, her family foundation which focuses efforts and investments on improving the lives of children everywhere. In particular, with improved nutrition and food security; supporting those who work diligently to treat and eliminate pediatric HIV/AIDS in developing countries; supporting innovative education programs; on conservation and wildlife restoration efforts in the US and in Africa; and encouraging and empowering others to believe that improving this wonderful world is not only possible, but it is our privilege and gift to be able to do so. The Foundation provides advice and counsel, humanitarian aid and direct investment with select, chosen partners in its efforts.
Robbins, a dedicated philanthropist, businesswoman, and mother of four young sons, recently received Unicef's AudreyHepburn Humanitarian Award for her support and transformative leadership in countries such as Niger, Ethiopia, Sudan, including Darfur, and Somalia. Robbins has not only provided humanitarian aid, but has co-invested with in-country business partners for local production of life-saving nutritional supplements. Additionally, Robbins co-founded the Mercury Fund for Emergency Response to provide Unicef with a readily accessible pool of dedicated resources in the critical early stages of humanitarian crises and emergencies.
Robbins was a Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of Glenview Capital Management, a New York-based, multistrategy hedge fund until 2004. Prior to forming Glenview, Robbins spent 8 years with First Chicago/Bank One in Corporate Banking in their Chicago, New York and Hong Kong offices.
Robbins also serves on the Boards of Directors for the USFund for Unicef, The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, KIPP Academy Charter Schools, and the newly-formed Teacher's Training Institute in partnership with Hunter College. Robbins is actively involved with the Robin Hood Foundation, The Acumen Fund, International Medical Corps, and The Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, among others.
Executive Director, The Nduna Foundation
Amy Robbins serves as the Executive Director of The Nduna Foundation, her family foundation which focuses efforts and investments on improving the lives of children everywhere. In particular, with improved nutrition and food security; supporting those who work diligently to treat and eliminate pediatric HIV/AIDS in developing countries; supporting innovative education programs; on conservation and wildlife restoration efforts in the US and in Africa; and encouraging and empowering others to believe that improving this wonderful world is not only possible, but it is our privilege and gift to be able to do so. The Foundation provides advice and counsel, humanitarian aid and direct investment with select, chosen partners in its efforts.
Robbins, a dedicated philanthropist, businesswoman, and mother of four young sons, recently received Unicef's AudreyHepburn Humanitarian Award for her support and transformative leadership in countries such as Niger, Ethiopia, Sudan, including Darfur, and Somalia. Robbins has not only provided humanitarian aid, but has co-invested with in-country business partners for local production of life-saving nutritional supplements. Additionally, Robbins co-founded the Mercury Fund for Emergency Response to provide Unicef with a readily accessible pool of dedicated resources in the critical early stages of humanitarian crises and emergencies.
Robbins was a Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of Glenview Capital Management, a New York-based, multistrategy hedge fund until 2004. Prior to forming Glenview, Robbins spent 8 years with First Chicago/Bank One in Corporate Banking in their Chicago, New York and Hong Kong offices.
Robbins also serves on the Boards of Directors for the USFund for Unicef, The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, KIPP Academy Charter Schools, and the newly-formed Teacher's Training Institute in partnership with Hunter College. Robbins is actively involved with the Robin Hood Foundation, The Acumen Fund, International Medical Corps, and The Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, among others.
DAME MARY RICHARDSON DBE
Retired Chief Executive, HSBC Education Trust
Dame Mary Richardson was the Chief Executive of the HSBC Global Education Trust from September 2000 - April 2008. In her voluntary roles, Dame Richardson also has many ongoing positions in charity and education: President of the UK charity SOS Children; Deputy Chairman of The English Speaking Union; a board member of both the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust and the National College of School Leadership; Chairman of the steering group for the pilot iniative to introduce cadets in state schools at the Department for Children, Schools and Families; a member of the development committee at Ripon Theological College Oxford; and a consultant to the Ogden Trust.
Dame Mary is also a trustee of numerous organizations: Dulverton Trust, The Marine Society and Sea Cadets, Vitol Foundation, Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, Waterford School Swaziland, Future Hope Calcutta and Oxford Literary Festival. Additionally, she is a Governor at Thornton College, City of London Schools (Boys), and Sandwell Academy; and a Fellow of the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust and the Royal Society of Arts. Previously, Mary served on the Global Boards for Junior Achievement Worldwide and Students in Free Enterprise, was a Trustee of Belvedere Academy, Liverpool, and served as a volunteer at the Independent Monitoring Board at Her Majesty's Prison, Wormwood Scrubs. She is also a member of Worshipful Company of Basketmakers and the Guild of Educators.
For 15 years, she was a Headteacher of an inner city state school — the Convent of Jesus and Mary Language College. Before her marriage, she was an officer in the Womens Royal Army Corps.
Mary has a BA and a Post Graduate Certificate of Education, both from Liverpool University. She holds Honorary Doctorates from Brunel University (2005), Richmond University (2007) and City University (2008). She has two adult children, both doctors.
Retired Chief Executive, HSBC Education Trust
Dame Mary Richardson was the Chief Executive of the HSBC Global Education Trust from September 2000 - April 2008. In her voluntary roles, Dame Richardson also has many ongoing positions in charity and education: President of the UK charity SOS Children; Deputy Chairman of The English Speaking Union; a board member of both the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust and the National College of School Leadership; Chairman of the steering group for the pilot iniative to introduce cadets in state schools at the Department for Children, Schools and Families; a member of the development committee at Ripon Theological College Oxford; and a consultant to the Ogden Trust.
Dame Mary is also a trustee of numerous organizations: Dulverton Trust, The Marine Society and Sea Cadets, Vitol Foundation, Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, Waterford School Swaziland, Future Hope Calcutta and Oxford Literary Festival. Additionally, she is a Governor at Thornton College, City of London Schools (Boys), and Sandwell Academy; and a Fellow of the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust and the Royal Society of Arts. Previously, Mary served on the Global Boards for Junior Achievement Worldwide and Students in Free Enterprise, was a Trustee of Belvedere Academy, Liverpool, and served as a volunteer at the Independent Monitoring Board at Her Majesty's Prison, Wormwood Scrubs. She is also a member of Worshipful Company of Basketmakers and the Guild of Educators.
For 15 years, she was a Headteacher of an inner city state school — the Convent of Jesus and Mary Language College. Before her marriage, she was an officer in the Womens Royal Army Corps.
Mary has a BA and a Post Graduate Certificate of Education, both from Liverpool University. She holds Honorary Doctorates from Brunel University (2005), Richmond University (2007) and City University (2008). She has two adult children, both doctors.
BRETT WIGDORTZ
CEO, Teach First; Deputy CEO, Teach For All
Brett Wigdortz has led Teach First since its launch in June 2002. He wrote the original business plan for the charity while working as a management consultant at McKinsey & Company and then took what was originally planned as a six-month leave of absence in February 2002 to develop and build support for the idea.
Before coming to London, his previous time at McKinsey was spent as a consultant in Indonesia, Singapore, and Manila — focusing on retail banking, organizational effectiveness, Islamic banking and Asian microfinance. Prior to McKinsey, Wigdortz developed south-east Asia policy and business programs at the Asia Society in New York City. He has also worked as a journalist in Asia and as a researcher at the East- West Center in Honolulu, focusing on energy and economic development issues.
Wigdortz is originally from New Jersey and has also lived in Virginia and Israel. He currently serves as a trustee of PEAS (Promoting Equality in African Schools) and Governor of Wembley High Technology College in Brent, London. He was recently named the 2007 UK Ernst & Young Social Entrepreneur of the Year. Teach First has been recognized as one of the most successful new charities in the UK and was voted the 9th most prestigious graduate employer in the UK in the Times 2008 survey of final year university students.
Wigdortz has an MA in Economics from the University of Hawaii and a BA (Hons.) in Economics and International Politics from the University of Richmond. He is married with two small children.
CEO, Teach First; Deputy CEO, Teach For All
Brett Wigdortz has led Teach First since its launch in June 2002. He wrote the original business plan for the charity while working as a management consultant at McKinsey & Company and then took what was originally planned as a six-month leave of absence in February 2002 to develop and build support for the idea.
Before coming to London, his previous time at McKinsey was spent as a consultant in Indonesia, Singapore, and Manila — focusing on retail banking, organizational effectiveness, Islamic banking and Asian microfinance. Prior to McKinsey, Wigdortz developed south-east Asia policy and business programs at the Asia Society in New York City. He has also worked as a journalist in Asia and as a researcher at the East- West Center in Honolulu, focusing on energy and economic development issues.
Wigdortz is originally from New Jersey and has also lived in Virginia and Israel. He currently serves as a trustee of PEAS (Promoting Equality in African Schools) and Governor of Wembley High Technology College in Brent, London. He was recently named the 2007 UK Ernst & Young Social Entrepreneur of the Year. Teach First has been recognized as one of the most successful new charities in the UK and was voted the 9th most prestigious graduate employer in the UK in the Times 2008 survey of final year university students.
Wigdortz has an MA in Economics from the University of Hawaii and a BA (Hons.) in Economics and International Politics from the University of Richmond. He is married with two small children.