Brett Wigdortz

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Brett Wigdortz
Personal details
BornOcean Township, New Jersey, United States
NationalityAmerican, British[1]
Residence(s)North London, England
OccupationFounder of Teach First
Social entrepreneur

Brett Harris Wigdortz OBE (born in 1973) is the Founder and Honorary President of Teach First,[2] an educational charity working to break the link between low family income and poor educational attainment in England and Wales. He founded Teach First and was its CEO from its launch in 2002 until October 2017.[3] He is originally from Ocean Township, New Jersey, United States and is a dual US/UK citizen.

He is co-founder and was Deputy CEO and for 12 years a trustee of Teach For All,[4] a global charity created with Wendy Kopp (who also founded Teach For America in 1989) to help social entrepreneurs in other countries start similar programs and create a global network of social enterprises dedicated to addressing educational disadvantage.

He is currently the co-founder and CEO of tiney.co, a software driven childcare company whose mission is to revolutionise the world’s childcare, and solve the early years crisis. tiney.co are a tech-centric childminding agency focused on helping great educators operate successful early years settings from their homes.

Wigdortz was a founding trustee of Ada, the National College for Digital Skills which educates and empowers the next generation of diverse digital talent. In 2012, he founded and continues to serve on the board of the Fair Education Alliance,[5] which was incubated in Teach First until spinning out in 2019. In 2018, he worked with Jamie Oliver to found and is currently on the board of Bite Back 2030, a movement of young people who are campaigning for a healthier generation.[6]

Education and career[edit]

Wigdortz grew up in Ocean Township, Monmouth County, New Jersey.[7] he graduated with an Honours bachelor's degree in Economics and International Studies: Politics and Diplomacy from the University of Richmond in Richmond, Virginia[8] in 1995, and a master's degree in Economics from the University of Hawaiʻi[9] and a Masters Certificate in Asian Studies from the East–West Center in 1997.

While studying at the University of Hawaiʻi, he worked as a researcher at the East-West Centre in Honolulu, focusing on energy and economic development issues in Southeast Asia and Pacific Islands. He co-authored a paper on future Asian energy flows ("China and Central Asia's Volatile Mix: Energy, Trade, and Ethnic Relations")[10] and consulted for the State of Hawaii.

During 1998, he worked as a journalist in Indonesia and Hong Kong, covering the Asian economic crisis and political changes in Indonesia. In 1999, he went on to develop South East Asia policy and business programmes at the Asia Society in New York City. In 2000, Wigdortz joined McKinsey & Company[11] as a consultant in Indonesia, Singapore, and the Philippines, focusing on retail banking, organisational effectiveness, and Asian microfinance.

In August 2001, Wigdortz transferred to McKinsey's London office and was placed on a pro bono study for business organisations London First and Business in the Community to look at how their business members could help improve results in London schools. It was during this project that he wrote the original business plan for Teach First 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.[12]

Founding Teach First[edit]

In July 2002, Teach First officially launched in Canary Wharf, with a team of 11 employees and with Stephen O'Brien CBE and George Iacobescu CBE as co-chairs of the Board of Trustees. After the launch, Wigdortz continued to lead the organisation as CEO.[13]

In 2007, Wigdortz was named the UK Ernst & Young Social Entrepreneur of the Year[14] and the 2011 CASE (Council for the Advancement and Support of Education) European Leadership Award[15] for his entrepreneurial success and outstanding efforts in promoting and supporting education. Wigdortz was also awarded "Charity Principal of the Year" at the Charity Times Awards 2012. He was particularly recognised by the judges "for his vision, tenacity and commitment to social change."[16] The Evening Standard named him one of the 1,000 most influential Londoners.[17] He was appointed an OBE (Officer in the Order of the British Empire) for services to education in the 2013 New Year's Honours list.[18] In 2015, Wigdortz was named one of the "Debrett's 500"[19] most influential people in the UK. In 2016, he received an Honorary Doctorate of Laws from the University of Warwick,[20] from Birmingham City University in 2017[21] and the Open University in 2019.

In 2013–2023, Teach First was one of the largest graduate recruiter in the UK, with over 1,400 new participants a year.[22]

National Citizen Service Trust[edit]

In July 2018 Wigdortz was appointed as the chairman of the board of the National Citizen Service (NCS) Trust, the public body responsible for the management of the government's NCS programme, following its reconstitution as a Royal Charter Body.[23]

In July 2021, Wigdortz was re-appointed for another 2 year term. [24]

In 2022, NCS grew to over 100,000 participants, carrying out a significant organisational restructure that ensured it was set up to deliver a new strategy.[25]

Wigdortz completed his second term on 11 July 2023 and was succeeded by Harris Bokhari OBE.[26]

Personal life[edit]

Wigdortz is married and lives in North London with his three children. He has travelled to over 70 countries in the past 18 years. He has also written a book, about the first decade of Teach First as a guide to other entrepreneurs, entitled Success Against the Odds – Five lessons in how to achieve the impossible; the story of Teach First.[27] It was named WHSmith's Business Book of the Month in September 2012.

References[edit]

  1. ^ Teaching's man with a mission to free young Britons from 'slavery', The Guardian, 29 October 2012
  2. ^ Teach First."Teach First official website" Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 29 October 2012.
  3. ^ "Brett Wigdortz to leave Teach First". 27 January 2017.
  4. ^ Teach For All."Teach For All official website" Archived 2012-07-23 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 29 October 2012
  5. ^ "Board". Fair Education Alliance. Retrieved 2023-07-28.
  6. ^ "Our People | Bite Back 2030". www.biteback2030.com. Retrieved 2023-07-28.
  7. ^ Lovegrove, Nick. The Mosaic Principle: The Six Dimensions of a Remarkable Life and Career, page 53. PublicAffairs, 2016. ISBN 9781610395571. Accessed May 16, 2017. "At the time, Wigdortz was just the junior analyst on the McKinsey team, an American from Ocean Township, New Jersey, who had recently transferred to the London office after a series of early professional experiences in the United States and Far East, and who had been almost randomly assigned to this engagement."
  8. ^ University of Richmond."University of Richmond official website" Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 29 October 2012
  9. ^ Department of Economics Newsletter, Winter 2003. "Economic Currents" Archived 2013-11-04 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 24 October 2012
  10. ^ JAMES P. DORIAN, BRETT H. WIGDORTZ, DRU C. GLADNEY (May 1997), No.31 "China and Central Asia’s Volatile Mix: Energy, Trade, and Ethnic Relations" The AsiaPacific Issues. Retrieved 24 October 2012.
  11. ^ EducationState [file://tf-filesvr01.teachfirst.org.uk/public/External%20Relations/Press%20and%20Public%20Affairs/Press/Press%20coverage/2011/March/EducationState%20-%20McKinsey%20On%20Trial%20Where%20Now%20For%20Gove,%20Barber%20&%20Teach%20First.htm "McKinsey On Trial: Where Now For Gove, Barber & Teach First?"]. Retrieved 29 October 2012
  12. ^ Jenny Knight (10 July 2012) "Where only the very best will do". The Times. Retrieved 24 October 2012
  13. ^ Teach First. "Teach First official website" Archived 2013-07-24 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 25 October 2012
  14. ^ Ernst and Young "Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the year London and South Region Award Receipts" Archived 2015-05-28 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 23 October 2012
  15. ^ The Council for Advancement and Support of Education. "CASE official website". Retrieved 23 October 2012
  16. ^ Charity Times Awards 2012 "2012 Charity Times Awards winners announced". Retrieved 26 October 2012
  17. ^ Evening Standard (7 November 2011)"London's 1000 most influential people 2011: Education". Retrieved 26 October 2012
  18. ^ "New Year Honours 2013: full list of recipients". The Daily Telegraph. London. 29 December 2012. Retrieved 16 February 2014.
  19. ^ "Debrett's 500 2015". Debrett's. Retrieved 23 August 2016.
  20. ^ "List of all Honorary Graduates and Chancellor's Medallists".
  21. ^ "Teach First founder to receive Honorary Doctorate". Birmingham City University. Retrieved 2023-07-28.
  22. ^ "Teach First scheme 'biggest recruiter of graduates'". BBC News. 10 July 2013.
  23. ^ "Founder of Teach First to chair National Citizen Service Trust".
  24. ^ "Brett Wigdortz reappointed as Chair of the National Citizen Service Trust".
  25. ^ Frazer, Lucy (7 July 2023). "DCMS official letter".
  26. ^ "Harris Bokhari OBE appointed as Chair of the National Citizen Service Trust". GOV.UK. Retrieved 2023-07-28.
  27. ^ Afua Kokayi (October 2012) "Non Fiction – the books that really live?".Impact magazine. Retrieved 29 October 2012
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