Stephen has been chief executive since 2016, having spent two years previously as deputy chief executive. He joined from Working Links, where he led on policy, strategy and business development. Prior to this, he worked for the London Development Agency as director of employment and skills, commissioning programmes and leading the work of the London Skills and Employment Board; was chief economist at the Social Market Foundation; and spent six years as senior policy advisor in HM Treasury working on policy for skills, productivity and child poverty.

Dr Emily Andrews is Director of Policy and Research at L&W. She leads the policy and research team – helping chart the course towards a society where learning and work enable all of us to reach our potential. She was previously Deputy Director for Work at the Centre for Ageing Better, where she spent six years working with employers, policy-makers and individuals to create fair access to work for all of us in our 50s, 60s and beyond. Prior to Ageing Better, she led work on public service performance and digital government at the Institute for Government, and she started her career as a teacher. She's currently a trustee of intergenerational arts charity Magic Me, and a Coram Beanstalk reader.

As Deputy Director, Sam focuses on making an impact on policy and practice through L&W’s research into learning, skills and employment. Previously, Sam was Director of Policy for Impetus, specialising in education and employment support for young people from disadvantaged backgrounds. At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Sam co-founded the Youth Employment Group, bringing together key leaders and experts around the youth employment sector to help drive the UK’s response. Previously, Sam was Head of Policy at ERSA, the representative body for the employment support sector, and led the public affairs teams for employment and skills providers in the private and charity sectors. Sam is a GoLab Fellow of Practice 2021 and a Mental Health First Aider.

Paul Cleminson is Director of Finance and Operations. Paul qualified as a Chartered Management Accountant in 1996 and has spent the majority of his career in a number of commercial sectors before moving into a large Housing Association in 2014 and joined L&W during 2022. Paul’s career has largely focussed on Operational Finance roles and has also taken in periods of management of non-financial and front line staff

Elizabeth joined L&W in July 2024 as Deputy Director. She works to influence policy and practice, with a particular focus on issues relating to employment. Elizabeth has more than 12 years’ experience in employment policy and thought leadership, having held senior positions in the New Zealand civil service. This includes reviews of employment support, directing cross-government research work, development and implementation of Employment Action Plans for disadvantaged populations, and advising ministers across a range of labour market issues. Elizabeth has specialisms in employment, skills, and immigration, with a particular focus on labour market disadvantage issues.

Helen joined L&W as Chief Economist in July 2022. Over the past 20 years she has worked on a diverse range of projects in the field of employment and skills, applying experimental and quasi-experimental evaluation techniques to estimate the causal impact of policy changes. Helen has worked with a wide variety of administrative and survey datasets and has particular expertise in the use of linked government administrative data, spanning education, skills, benefits receipt, employment and offending. Prior to joining L&W Helen was Principal Research Economist at the Institute for Employment Studies for five years, having previously worked at the National Institute of Economic and Social Research, the Policy Studies Institute, the Centre for Economic Performance and the University of Surrey.

Emily Jones is Deputy Director at L&W, with responsibility for our research programme and leading our communications and influencing work. Emily has 16 years’ experience in research to inform lifelong learning and skills policy and leads our flagship project, New Futures, and our annual Adult Participation in Learning Survey. Emily has progressed through a number of roles at L&W and has delivered research in apprenticeships and technical education, essential and life skills, and offender learning.

Alex is L&W’s strategic lead on essential skills, overseeing policy and research in areas such as adult skills devolution, adult literacy and numeracy, English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) and learning in communities. He leads L&W’s international work, and is currently an executive board member at the European Association for the Education of Adults and an Executive Committee member at the European Basic Skills Network. At L&W, Alex has delivered policy research and advice to central government on essential skills policy and practice, and has led national development projects producing resources to support the ESOL sector on behalf of the Department for Education, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, and the Home Office. He has worked extensively with Mayoral Combined Authorities, delivering research, stakeholder engagement and evaluations on various adult skills programmes. Before joining L&W, Alex taught, managed and developed adult basic skills and ESOL provision for over 13 years, variously working in FE colleges, a local authority adult education service and for an independent training provider.  

Nicola leads L&W's programme of research and development work around young people's access to learning and employment. With over 20 years experience in the sector, Nicola is responsible for a range of projects around pre-apprenticeships and improving outcomes for the most disadvantaged young people. Prior to joining the organisation Nicola worked at the National Youth Agency, where she lead the Young Adult Learners Partnership.

Mags joined L&W in November 2021 as a researcher. She is an experienced qualitative researcher with a particular interest in how young people can be best supported, both in education and when they enter the labour market. Prior to joining L&W, Mags was a postgraduate researcher, looking at how NEET young people use ICT to help them plan for the future and has also worked in research teams at education government bodies. Since joining L&W Mags has worked on a range of research and evaluation projects, focussing on understanding the impact of the pandemic on young people, and the engagement of adults in further education and training.

Jack joined L&W as a researcher in November 2022. He works on research and evaluation projects across the organisation’s key policy areas, particularly around adult basic skills and ESOL provision. Prior to joining L&W, Jack worked as a social researcher in the civil service and completed an MA in Migration and Global Development, focusing on refugee and asylum claimant welfare.

Aimee joined L&W as a Research Intern in July 2025. She brings a strong foundation in research methods and analytical skills developed during her BSc in Political Science. Prior to joining L&W, Aimee worked as a hockey coach at Ratcliffe College, where she earned her Level 2 Coaching qualification and developed valuable leadership and communication skills.

Corin is research manager in L&W's new What Works Unit, involving the support and promotion of evidence use and generation across the employment and skills sector. He joined L&W as a researcher following completion of a PhD in Consumer Health Informatics. During his time at L&W, Corin has worked on a wide range of quantitative and qualitative research projects; for example, he led our recent evaluation of Welsh Government's Traineeships programme and was the lead analyst for our evaluation of the YIACS model of financial support for young people. Whilst at L&W, Corin has also led the design and analysis of our annual Adult Participation in Learning Survey.

Jess joined L&W in 2019. She directs programmes and projects across L&W's strategic themes of employment and better work. She has extensive experience designing and leading research and evaluation projects supporting people from disadvantaged groups transition to employment and education. This is combined with significant expertise of working in partnership and building relationships with a wide range of stakeholders in the employment and skills sector. Her experience includes managing large scale evaluations of employment support programmes including L&W’s multi-year evaluation of the Restart Scheme (2021-2024 Department for Work and Pensions) and L&W’s contributions to the evaluation of Health-led Trials (2017-2023 Work and Health Unit). Prior to joining L&W, she worked in education, community development and academic research.

Hazel joined L&W having completed an MA in International Development and Education. As a Research Manager, Hazel works on and manages a wide range of research, evaluation and development projects across L&W´s policy areas including lifelong learning, adult basic skills, English for Speakers of Other Languages, in work progression and employment support for vulnerable groups. Prior to joining L&W Hazel worked as a language teacher in different contexts including Mexico, Bangladesh and France. She is particularly interested in the role learning plays in refugee and migrant social integration and wellbeing.

Catherine joined L&W as a researcher in November 2022. She works on research and evaluation projects across the organisation’s key policy areas. Prior to joining L&W, Catherine worked on various research projects focused on improving the lives of women and girls across the UK.

Iona McArdle is an economic development professional specialising in inclusive economy strategies and programmes that address economic exclusion. She joined L&W in July 2024 as Programme Manager for the UK Jobs Plus pilot at Learning and Work Institute, an innovative ‘place-based’ initiative that helps individuals access sustainable, living-wage employment. Iona’s career spans roles in the private, public, and voluntary sectors, including most recently coordinating a programme of social value delivery for a national construction company, and developing the Think Work strategy and delivery programme as Head of Employment and Opportunity at the London Borough of Waltham Forest. She is a Fellow of the RSA, a member of the London Prosperity Board, and a Clore Social Leadership alumna.

Oriane joined L&W in November 2023 and manages a range of research and evaluation projects. Prior to joining L&W, she worked as a research manager at the think tank Centre for London. Oriane has also lead research projects on a range of topic across the public and voluntary sectors in France and in the UK, from finding solutions to better support case workers working in Temporary Accommodation to improving the representativeness of the UK Labour Force Survey. She holds a dual Master’s degree in urban policy and local economic development from LSE and Sciences Po Paris.

Beccy Packer is a qualitative researcher and has worked on a range of National Retraining Scheme and apprenticeships projects since joining L&W. Prior to joining L&W, she worked in a careers education and employability role in HE. Beccy is a qualified careers adviser and holds an MA in Careers Education and Coaching.

Bradley joined L&W in November 2023. He is working on research and evaluation projects, including skills and employment in the transition to a net zero economy. Prior to joining L&W, Bradley completed his PhD in History and then worked in Higher Education in the field of education strategy, where he focused on delivering a research-inspired strategy.

Danny joined L&W in October 2023. He is a mixed method researcher who works on a range of projects across the organisation’s key policy areas. Prior to joining L&W, Danny worked at Kantar Public for 2 and a half years as a member of their evaluation team.

Aaron joined L&W in January 2025. He leads the lifelong learning campaign and the organisation’s R&D work on lifelong learning. He has ten years’ experience in campaigns, research, events, policy, and public affairs, working for organisations such as WorldSkills UK and the CBI. He also holds an MA in Critical Global Politics from the University of Exeter.

Sara joined L&W in August 2023 as a Researcher. She is a mixed-methods researcher and will be working across a diverse range of research and evaluation projects. Prior to joining L&W, Sara completed an internship in RAND Europe's Home Affairs and Social Policy team and worked in academic publishing at SAGE. She holds an MSc in Social Policy and Social Research from UCL, where her dissertation focused on student mental health and wellbeing services in London.

Lovedeep joined L&W as a senior labour market statistician. Before joining L&W, he worked as a senior statistical analyst at the Greater London Authority and the Statistics Commission. At L&W Lovedeep leads on cost benefit analysis and impact of employment programmes and the analysis of labour market statistics. He has modelled and designed employment programmes for the Welsh, Scottish and Irish Governments and uses analytical software to present data online such as the results of the Education Participation Survey. He also provides annual support for LEPs and their data needs, specifically the analysis of Apprenticeship and learner data.

Sravanthi joined L&W in April 2025 as an Economic Researcher. She works across a range of research and evaluation projects for the organisation’s key policy areas. She holds an MSc in Economics, where her dissertation focused on the effect of GP turnover on emergency hospital visits across England.

Jackie is a research manager at L&W. She is currently managing an evaluation for The Prince’s Trust of their Future Workforce Fund Programme which aims to support young people into training and employment and a National Lottery funded project which aims to improve support for young adult carers in Further Education. At L&W Jackie has led on research and development projects across a range of policy areas including offender learning, adult basis skills, English For Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) and work to support care leavers and young adult carers to access opportunities in education, training and work. Prior to joining L&W, Jackie worked in a variety of research roles across the public and voluntary sectors.

Helen joined Learning and Work Institute (L&W) in February 2023. She manages the delivery of L&W’s high-impact communications, campaigns and events, and also supports the organisation’s parliamentary work. Helen has held a variety of marketing, outreach and engagement roles with education non-profits. Prior to joining L&W, she coordinated focus groups for a qualitative research company.

Lucy Vigar joined Learning and Work Institute in June 2023 as a Communications Intern, supporting L&W’s communications, campaigns and events, including the Festival of Learning. Her previous experience includes roles in study support and communications within the non-profit sector.

Kamal has over 25 years experience in the IT Industry, having managed Servers, HP SANs, Infrastructure, VOIP, Firewalls, Networks, and end point devices. At L&W Kamal manages the provision of IT support and training across our three offices. Kamal has deveoped L&Ws IT policies and disaster recovery plans. Kamal has developed Secure Systems as Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH) and ensures that L&W is is certified at appropriate levels (e.g. Cyber Essentials).

A member of the Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT), Tim Joined L&W after nine years working in the private pensions industry, while studying to become a member of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA). Tim is involved in the day-to-day financial processes as well as running the payroll function.

Amy joined Learning and Work Institute in May 2023 as the HR Advisor. She is currently working on several employee engagement projects internally to enhance the organisation's current offer. Before joining L&W, Amy worked in a variety of management and HR roles over the course of a 14-year career at John Lewis.

Wendy supports project logistics planning and budget management, as well as being responsible for office systems, accommodation strategies, buildings and maintenance and health and safety regulations.Wendy is responsible for the co-ordination and distribution of papers for the Wales Strategy Group and wider networks and plays a key role in the co-ordination and evaluation of all external events including conferences and training programmes.

Calvin joined L&W from Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council where he was Principle Officer for Adult Education. Calvin has 15 years project management experience with ESF and ERDF European projects, and was a member of the Learning partnership board, Older learner network board and had experience of project development across 14-19 and post 16 education, employment and skills sectors. Calvin is currently responsible for project development and delivery across Wales including current work on the Personal Learning Accounts Pilot, F.E Skills Development Fund and the evaluation of 'Working Wales' for the Welsh Government. He is also leading on a Welsh Erasmus+ KA1 Mobility project to share best practice on Adult Learning campaigns and Learner Ambassadors across Europe.

Nisha is the campaigns, marketing and communications officer at L&W Cymru and works within the policy and communications team. Nisha’s role involves supporting the planning and delivery of the Inspire! Awards and Adult Learners’ Week in Wales. Nisha manages and maintains all digital communication platforms such as the website, social media and email marketing; and develops ways to creatively showcase our work to maximise the reach and impact of our work. Nisha also supports the coordination of L&W Cymru events.

Kay is head of campaigns, policy and development for L&W in Wales. Kay has expertise in working with broadcasters on social action campaigns and working with stakeholders and partners across Wales, she leads on promotional activity for the Adult Learners' Week festival and the Inspire! Awards to raise awareness and widen access to lifelong learning. Alongside this other development and policy work includes Family Learning, ESOL, Essential Skills and Community Learning.