Dr Vanessa Ogden

Vanessa is the founding CEO of the Mulberry Schools Trust, a Multi Academy Trust (MAT) in London, UK. The Trust is committed to raising standards in challenging contexts and includes five secondary schools and two primary schools. Prior to the role of CEO, Vanessa was Headteacher of Mulberry School for Girls for 17 years.

The MAT has a Teaching School Hub, a parent and community centre and a STEM provision, the Mulberry STEM Academy in partnership with Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Ltd. Vanessa is a designated National Leader in Education (NLE) and has undertaken a range of school-to-school support over the past decade. She is an Honorary Senior Lecturer at the UCL, Institute of Education and she has a doctorate specialising in education policy and school improvement. Vanessa has published both academic and professional writing on education.

Vanessa has a long-standing commitment to inner city education and the voice of women. In 2015, she led the visit to Mulberry of the former First Lady, Michelle Obama, to launch her Let Girls Learn campaign. She was invited to take a group of 20 students to the White House to visit the First Lady in the following autumn – and from there, founded Global Girl Leading which is a programme dedicated to promoting the rights of girls and building a global sisterhood of girls advocating for girls.

Vanessa is the Chair of the Fair Education Alliance and of the Unicorn Theatre. She features in the ‘Female Lead’ book by Edwina Dunn.