Governance

Adam Small is a Senior Parliamentary Assistant to a Shadow Minister in the UK Parliament. Originally training and working as a theatre director and producer, he is a highly creative and analytical professional with a diverse experience and passion for greater opportunity and social equity. He is committed to empowering all young people to seize their passions and build fulfilling independent lives. 

Felicia Asare, originally from Ghana, has lived in South Acton for 28 years, witnessing significant changes and growth within the local schools, estates, and communities. Having attended schools in Acton as a child, Felicia initially struggled to find her confidence and voice until she received support from her English teacher, headteacher, and school mentor. This encouragement ultimately helped her fulfill her dreams in the creative field later in life.

Felicia understands that a school’s collective support and belief in its students create the best environment for learning. Guided by this belief, she has been volunteering as a class rep and has become one of the parents association social media admin in order to support parents, teachers, and to help raise funds for school trips, resources, and other enrichment opportunities that benefit students at Ark Priory Primary Academy. Felicia has a strong interest in continuing her support within the school community, constantly seeking ways to enhance and build a better school experience for every individual.

Dr Moqi Groen-Xu is a Senior Lecturer for Finance at School of Economics and Finance at Queen Mary University of London. She specialises in empirical work on Corporate Finance and Corporate Governance. Groen-Xu joined Queen Mary in 2020 and worked previously at the LSE. She has a PhD from INSEAD, France. Prior to her academic career, she worked as a consultant with McKinsey. Dr Groen-Xu has two daughters, born 2015 and 2017. She is passionate about education and equality of opportunities. She blogs on moqixu.com and tweets @moqixu.

Miada is an active member of the local community. She went to university and obtained a masters in engineering in Chemical Engineering, after graduating she went on to work for technology departments as a product manager helping companies identify and resolve issues with in their offerings and helping them by creating revenue generating opportunities.

Miada went to one of the local state schools in the borough and attributes a lot of her life achievements to teachers that believed in her, and the local community who held the schools accountable and is hoping that she can meaningfully contribute to other children's journeys.

Jo is the Primary Music Specialist for the Ark Central Music Team and joined Ark in April 2021.  She has been a primary teacher for 20 years, working various schools across London as well as seven years as Director of Primary Music at the British School in the Netherlands.  She was appointed as a teacher-governor at Betty Layward School in Hackney where she worked for just under a decade as a class teacher across KS1 and KS2, became the music specialist and also stepped up as Assistant Head.

Tom is a Teach First alumni and former maths teacher who has worked in education for the last 10 years, including with Ark Ventures. Tom believes passionately in the potential for technology to support teachers in the classroom and help to provide equality of education and opportunity for all.