Nicola has been in the business of educating children for over 20 years. As a science graduate, she started her career as a research scientist who ultimately wanted to share her passion for science with young people. Nicola has taught and led in various schools in London, Bristol and Buckinghamshire and, after gaining a Master of Education in Educational Leadership, is currently the headteacher of an independent girls’ primary school in Amersham. The school is part of a wider group, the Berkhamsted Schools Group, where Nicola sits on the executive leadership team.
After a life-changing couple of years living and working in Zambia, the challenges young girls face from the get-go were brought into sharp focus. A pivotal moment was the realisation that education not only changes lives in obvious ways but also fosters imagination, the ability to hope and dream a different future, and these elements are the alchemy needed to make that happen.
Nicola wants to use her position to highlight the inequality that still exists in leadership teams across all sectors globally and, more importantly, promote and stimulate change to create a different picture in the future. Questioning why women still do not have an equal seat at the table, Nicola thinks that we all have a part to play in our own fields to change the status quo. Nicola believes that empowering and enabling young girls from the Early Years in school to have the audacity to imagine, hope, dream big, believe in their worth and visualise a pathway ahead will make a different future. One in which global issues can be addressed by an equal and inclusive representation of society using every approach from every angle and the very best players from team humanity to be a force for good.