The Board of Trustees for The Brilliant Club are delighted to confirm that Susie Whigham will succeed Anne-Marie Canning as permanent Chief Executive Officer of the charity.
Susie, who is currently acting as Interim CEO, has been at The Brilliant Club for almost 10 years. Previously as Chief Programmes and Communities Officer, Susie led our programmatic development and delivery, including growing The Scholars Programme to reach almost 100,000 young people in our current strategy, Join the Club; developing interventions to support students to be “uni ready” and leading the Parent Power initiative to support parents and carers to be advocates for higher education in their community.
Before joining the charity, Susie was Executive Director of Services at School-Home Support where she led a range of programmes tackling the barriers to learning within the home, including working with the DfE to deliver the Parent Support Advisor initiative.
Susie started her career on the first cohort of Teach First, where she taught English in a London secondary school and worked as a Literacy Consultant for the DfE’s National Strategies programme.
Speaking about her appointment, Susie said:
“I am thrilled to have been appointed as CEO of The Brilliant Club. Since 2011, the charity has supported almost 150,000 students across the UK to access leading universities, boosting academic attainment and setting young people up to thrive in higher education and beyond. Our mission is now more urgent than ever, and I am looking forward to setting out our new organisational strategy in the summer as we look to engage even more young people and their families in the areas of the country that will most benefit from our work.”
Chair of the Board of Trustees, Dr Josephine Valentine, said:
“Throughout her career, Susie has demonstrated a sustained commitment to addressing educational disadvantage, from her early work in the classroom as part of the inaugural Teach First cohort, through to senior leadership roles focused on removing barriers to learning and widening opportunity. During her time as Interim CEO, she has led The Brilliant Club with clarity, integrity and steadiness, alongside a deep knowledge of our work and a strong commitment to tackling educational inequality.
Throughout what was a rigorous and competitive recruitment process, Trustees were confident that her experience, leadership and understanding of our mission make her the best person to lead The Brilliant Club into this next phase.”