Susannah Hardyman MBE: From tutor to CEO, how one social impact idea turned into a national education campaign.  

For the latest episode of The Inspiring Leadership Podcast, gunnercooke Founder Darryl Cooke speaks to Susannah Hardyman MBE, CEO of Impetus.

As a leading impact funder, Impetus transforms the lives of young people from disadvantaged backgrounds by investing in the best education and employment non-profit organisations, so that more young people get the education, qualifications, and opportunities they need for a fulfilling life.

“We’re all a work in progress. We’re all still learning.” — Susannah Hardyman MBE

Susannah Hardyman MBE became CEO of Impetus, a leading impact funder, at the start of January. Before joining Impetus, she was the founder and CEO of Action Tutoring, one of the UK’s leading education charities and a long-time Impetus portfolio partner.

Action Tutoring has supported tens of thousands of young people from disadvantaged backgrounds to improve their academic outcomes.

Speaking on the podcast about her journey into leadership, Susannah says: “I had to be quite bold and audacious in the early days. There was a huge amount I didn’t know, and there’s still a huge amount I don’t know.”

She adds that finding leaders she admired, wanted to emulate, and could learn from made all the difference. Her advice is: “Don’t be afraid to ask them to give you their time and wisdom, while keeping that ongoing attitude of learning and staying open-minded.”

Her start-up charity, Action Tutoring, joined the Impetus portfolio in 2014. It benefitted from access to long-term, unrestricted funding, capacity building, pro bono support, and a peer network, which enabled Action Tutoring to strengthen its team and scale its impact.

Susannah is a specialist in the challenges faced by young people from disadvantaged backgrounds in our schools and is passionate about delivering impactful solutions that improve the lives of children and young people.

Early Beginnings as a Founder

Early in her career, as an optimistic graduate, Susannah worked in the charity sector while earning an income as a tutor in the evenings and at weekends, as a “cash-strapped graduate in London”. It was during this time she saw the disparity between those who could afford private tuition and those who couldn’t.

After a hunch that socially minded graduates might be able to redress the balance by tutoring children for free, she began matching tutors with pupils. By the time Susannah moved on from Action Tutoring 12 years later, the charity was working with over 6,000 children from low-income backgrounds each year, through a network of 1,800 incredible volunteer tutors, and had a turnover of over £3 million. The scheme had been made possible by Impetus, which she now leads as CEO.

Disadvantaged Youth

Darryl and Susannah discuss what it means to be disadvantaged as a young person in the UK today, how we can re-engage young people on a path to success, and what businesses can do to help.

Susannah says: “Young people from disadvantaged backgrounds face worse outcomes at every stage in the journey. Children from free school meal backgrounds make up about 25% of the population, but they’re 55% more likely to be suspended from school.

“And about one third of young people from disadvantaged backgrounds are missing out on around 10% of their school lessons every year through lack of engagement. And if you struggle to engage with school, it makes it an awful lot harder to learn.”

She adds: “The attainment gap remains one of the most persistent challenges in education. Yet qualifications are absolutely crucial for a young person’s next steps up the ladder. So really, education is a story of whole-life chances and whole-life opportunities. It’s linked to every stage of that journey.”

Click here to listen in full or visit Spotify or Apple Podcasts.