Brett Wigdortz
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Brett Wigdortz has led Teach First as its CEO since its launch in July 2002. Teach First is currently the 3rd most prestigious graduate recruiter in the United Kingdom and is working to close the achievement gap in England and Wales Brett wrote the original business plan for the charity while working as a management consultant at McKinsey & Company and then took what was originally planned as a six-month leave of absence in February 2002 to develop and build support for the idea.

Before coming to London, his previous time at McKinsey was spent as a consultant in Indonesia, Singapore, and Manila - focusing on retail banking, organisational effectiveness, and Asian microfinance. Prior to McKinsey, Brett developed southeast Asia policy and business programmes at the Asia Society in New York City. He has also worked as a journalist in Asia and as a researcher at the East-West Center in Honolulu, focusing on energy and economic development issues.

He is originally from New Jersey and has also lived in Virginia and Israel. Brett has an Honors Bachelors degree in Economics from the University of Richmond and a Masters degree in Economics from the University of Hawai'i. He currently serves as a trustee of PEAS (Promoting Equality in African Schools) and Future Leaders, which recruits and train the next generation of outstanding headteachers for challenging urban secondary schools. He is also a co-founder and a trustee of Teach For All, an organization created in partnership with Teach For America to help other countries start similar programs and create a global network of leaders dedicated to addressing educational disadvantage.

He was recently named the 2007 UK Ernst & Young Social Entrepreneur of the Year and the 2010 CASE (Council for the Advancement and Support of Education) European Leadership Award. Brett is married with two small children.

Blog Entries by Brett Wigdortz

How Teach First Is Tackling Educational Disadvantage in Britain's Schools

Posted 17 November 2011 | 17/11/11 23:00 GMT

As Children In Need kicks off today, we are once again reminded of the disadvantaged young people in the UK who do not have the same life chances as their more privileged peers.
At Teach First our focus is on education, and the power of education to change these...

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GCSE Results Will Expose a Divide in British Society

Posted 25 August 2011 | 25/08/11 01:00 BST

It would be hard not to notice that GCSE results were released this morning, and the headlines could probably have been written weeks in advance - lots of As and A*s; a general upwards trend in grades; thousands of children jumping for joy and celebrating as they receive their exam...

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