Welcome back!
Teachers and students, we hope you have had a wonderful summer break and we look forward to working with you this academic year on school talks. Speakers and their organisations, we are grateful for your support last academic year and look forward to working with you on talks and work experience placements this academic year!
Now for the important announcement from the charity, please see the press release below.
Speakers for Schools Welcomes New Chief Executive
The Board of Trustees at Speakers for Schools (S4S) today announce that Ashley Hodges will be leaving her role as chief executive, to take up another exciting opportunity. Jason Elsom has been appointed as CEO effective Monday 9th September. Jason joins with a wealth of experience across the education and technology sectors.
Andrew Law, Chair of Board of Trustees at Speakers for Schools said:
“The charity has grown substantially over the past 9 years, both in depth and breadth. We delivered 1,200 talks this past academic year alone, and the work experience initiative has also been established with over 70 companies now actively participating. The Trustees on behalf of all of our speakers and many supporters are enormously grateful for Ashley’s work and wish her well in her future endeavours.”
Robert Peston, founder of Speakers for Schools said:
“Ashley started working with me at Speakers for Schools only a short while after I created the charity about a decade ago. We would not today be an important supplier of inspirational talks and work experience to hundreds of thousands of secondary school students without her drive, diligence and creativity. But although Andrew and I are sad she has decided to take on a new challenge, we are also excited to welcome Jason Elsom on board. We are confident Jason will continue our growth and diversification, all with the aim of encouraging young people to make the most of themselves”.
Ashley Hodges, outgoing CEO at S4S said: ‘It has been a tremendous privilege to be able to help launch, grow and lead Speakers for Schools to bring it to where it is today over the last nine years with support of our Board and fantastic team. I am incredibly proud of what we have achieved in this time and to have worked with such committed leaders, educators and partners to reach over 765,000 young people so far—my thanks to all of them for their continued dedication that makes our work possible. I look forward to passing the baton and seeing Speakers for Schools grow even more under Jason’s leadership.’
Jason Elsom, incoming CEO at S4S, said; “The success of Speakers for Schools has built on the foresight and commitment of its Founder, Chair, and Trustees, and the drive, and creativity of Ashley and her team in delivering their vision. With significant leadership experience in both the Education and Tech Sectors, I am both delighted and excited to head up the important next stage in the S4S evolution, which will see S4S facilitate more high-quality student business experiences, alongside developing its hugely respected speaker programme.”
Our Board thanks Ashley for her many years dedicated to growing the charity and our network. We look forward to continuing to do even more to reach our schools and increase opportunity for young people across the UK.