Impetus shapes UK education and employment policy by championing solutions that have a real and lasting impact on young people from disadvantaged backgrounds.
As a leading impact funder, Impetus partners with non-profits that work directly with young people to support them to engage in school, get good GCSEs, and find and keep a good job. Our Public Affairs team then combines insights from our partner organisations with findings from our own research, to offer original, evidence-based analysis of the most pressing issues affecting young people today.
We understand the vital role media plays in our mission, keeping the public informed about the topics that matter and equipping policymakers with the knowledge they need to drive meaningful change. Whether it’s providing a timely quote on education or employment policy, arranging a briefing with our policy experts, or providing a compelling case study from our partner organisations, we’re always ready to support media coverage that calls attention to the barriers facing young people from disadvantaged backgrounds.
For all media enquiries, please contact:
Alex Freeman, Communications and Media Officer: press@impetus.org.uk | 07414 405 029
Nicola Robbins, Head of Communications: press@impetus.org.uk | 07967 644 427
Our spokespeople
Susannah Hardyman
Chief Executive, Impetus
Susannah Hardyman MBE has extensive experience in education and youth-focused charities, with a deep commitment to tackling educational inequality. A powerful voice in the policy sector, Susannah has called on the Government to unlock resources to deliver high-impact, evidence-led interventions for young people from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Before joining Impetus, Susannah was the founder and Chief Executive of Action Tutoring, one of the UK’s leading education charities and an Impetus portfolio partner that has supported tens of thousands of young people from disadvantaged backgrounds to improve their academic outcomes. Under her leadership, Action Tutoring partnered with the Department for Education as a key provider in the National Tutoring Programme.
Expertise: Impact investing, charity sector, tutoring policy, attainment gap
Steve Haines
Director of Public Affairs, Impetus
As Director of Public Affairs, Steve leads Impetus’ Policy and Communications functions, influencing decision makers and communicating our work to our key audiences.
Steve began his career in UK Government working on widening access to qualifications, set up Save the Children’s first global campaign, led the Africa Governance Initiative in Rwanda, and was a Special Advisor in the United Nations Secretary General's Office. Prior to Impetus he was Executive Director for Policy and Campaigns at the National Deaf Children's Society.
Expertise: Youth employment policy, education policy, disability
Ben Gadsby
Head of Policy and Research, Impetus
Ben Gadsby has spent his career working in education and employment policy issues – in local government, in Parliament, and in the charity sector.
Ben is the author of Impetus’ Youth Jobs Gap research series, exploring the link between young people’s backgrounds and their employment outcomes. He is part of the Department for Work and Pensions’ employment data lab advisory group and has also supported advisory groups at the Department for Education on tutoring and the Education Training Foundation on post-16 English.
Expertise: Disadvantage gap in employment, NEET (not in education, employment, or training) young people, tutoring policy, education funding, breakfast clubs, pupil premium, educational qualifications (GCSE English and maths), youth hubs, impact evaluation, benchmarking
Ayesha Baloch
Senior Policy Advisor, Impetus
Ayesha Baloch covers a range of policy areas at Impetus - leading on oracy, higher education, and parts of our employment domain. She has written Impetus’ tenth Youth Jobs Gap report: Exploring Compound Disadvantage.
Having previously worked for then-shadow International Trade Secretary Emily Thornberry, followed by the trade union think tank Centre for Labour and Social Studies (CLASS), Ayesha brings strong experience of policymaking. Alongside Impetus, she is a campaigns officer for the Labour Campaign for Human Rights and a spokesperson trainer for the New Economy Organisers Network (NEON).
Expertise: Oracy, Young Person’s Guarantee and youth guarantee, youth employment trailblazers, Get Britain Working policy, race equity and employment, apprenticeships, skills, widening participation in university
Dr Carlie Goldsmith
Senior Policy Advisor, Impetus
As Impetus’ policy lead for school engagement and social and emotional learning, Dr Carlie Goldsmith uses insight and research to influence decision-makers so that all children, but particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds, get the support they need to thrive at school.
The first person in her family to go to university, Carlie has a PhD in Applied Social Science and spent over a decade in higher education and the third sector as a lecturer and researcher. Carlie is co-founder of Class Divide, a grassroots organisation that campaigns to reduce education inequality in Brighton and Hove. She joined Impetus after leading a successful campaign to change secondary school admissions policy to give children eligible for Free School Meals priority access to all community schools – the first policy of its kind in the country.
Expertise: School exclusions, school absence and attendance, social and emotional learning, socioeconomic disadvantage and educational opportunity
