We’re pleased to announce changes to Working Options’ board as we enter the next phase of scaling our impact with young people.
Founded 15 years ago by Paul Monk, Working Options empowers 14-19-year-olds in state schools across England and Wales to fulfil their potential. We deliver digital content at scale to spark career lightbulb moments for all young people, while our in-person sessions create high-quality employer interactions that bring the world of work to life. As a trusted guide to the future of work and careers, we help young people build confident, informed career pathways.
After dedicating five years to this mission as our Chair, Julie Sneddon is stepping down. A former senior Disney executive, Julie has led us through the pandemic and into becoming a significant organisation that has now reached 199,000 young people in person and over 4 million through the screen. Her wisdom and guidance have been invaluable.
Nigel Morris, our current President, will now take on the role of Chair. Nigel chairs global communications firm IDX and is an active investor and advisor across more than 20 tech start-ups, including Faculty AI, Sia Partners, and Synthesia. He was formerly CEO Americas & EMEA of Dentsu, having founded Isobar and built it into the world’s first global digital marketing network. He served as a Non-Executive Director at The Guardian for over 10 years.
Stepping into the role of President is Sufian Sadiq, the teacher whose classroom conversation with a young person originally sparked the founding of Working Options, and current President-elect of the Chartered College of Teaching.
Our board, including Naynesh Desai has been further strengthened by the recruitment of two new Trustees – Andrea Davis and Nijma Khan.
Andrea joins us with deep expertise in finance and strategy. She spent ten years as Managing Director in Investcorp’s European Private Equity group and four years as their Head of Corporate Strategy. She currently serves on multiple boards, including Modulr, Sanos, POC, and Zacco, and is Honorary Treasurer at Loughborough University, supporting initiatives to encourage women in STEM.
Nijma Khan brings deep expertise in AI, machine learning, and emerging technologies. As a Director at Faculty, she leads major public sector projects, including partnerships with the UK Home Office and National Crime Agency, the UK Defence AI Centre, and the Counter Disinformation Platform. Previously at Accenture, she focused on automation and AI for good. Nijma’s experience will be invaluable as we continue to scale our impact.
Sue Maskrey continues to lead our charity, fully supported by our Trustees, as we enter this next phase of growth.
If you’d like to support our work through industry insights or opportunities for young people, we’d welcome the conversation, please get in touch with our Chief Executive, Sue Maskrey, here.
