Essie North

Biography

Essie is CEO of Big Change, launched in 2012 to rethink how charity can be a catalyst for positive systemic change. Big Change’s mission is to transform the way we support the next generation through backing the pioneers that are thinking differently about how we set young people up to thrive in life, not just in exams. Essie has overseen the organisation’s implementation of a new approach to venture philanthropy and the bringing together of an extraordinary community to drive change.

She is a big believer that education is everyone’s business and has been uniting a cross sector group of leaders who are accelerating the path to system change by ‘Reimagining Education Together’. Prior to Big Change, Essie led the global research and consulting practice on communications and change at the Corporate Executive Board, and is a trained business coach with a background in psychology.