About Tessa Stone
Tessa is an experienced practitioner and passionate advocate of widening participation to further and higher education. She works with universities, charities and other partners to secure fair access to higher education for young people and help them overcome barriers to education and employment.
Chief Executive of educational charity Brightside, trustee of educational charities Into University and the Children’s University, school governor and one of the leading thinkers for the National Education Trust, she writes primarily on higher education, with a focus on improving social mobility by providing fair access to all.
Tessa’s background
Tessa read history at Newnham College, Cambridge, and had embarked upon the academic career she thought she wanted when in 2000 she became the College’s Admissions Tutor. This role opened her eyes to the world of university outreach and widening participation, and to the important role that universities can play in helping to address the problem of unequal access to higher education.
Two years later Tessa joined The Sutton Trust as Director. Here she was able to invest her energies in research and project work around access to our leading universities and the professions, and take a central role in the burgeoning policy discussions around social mobility and fair access.
In 2003 the Sutton Trust co-funded some projects with The Brightside Trust – a charity which provides ementoring opportunities to support disadvantaged young people. Inspired by their work, Tessa joined the board of Trustees in 2005 and became Chief Executive in January 2009.
The Brightside Trust has now merged with student finance charity UNIAID. Together they provide online resources and tools to help individuals make informed choices and overcome barriers to education and employment.
When not working to improve social mobility through education she tries, and usually fails, to keep up with her two little boys.
More about Brightside
In 2008 Brightside merged with award-winning student finance charity UNIAID. Together, they provide a range of online resources and tools to help individuals make informed choices and overcome barriers to education and employment. This includes
