is the first Director General of The Russell Group of Universities. She was previously deputy director and head of public service reform at the Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit where she has also led work on social mobility, local government, education and skills and digital inclusion. Prior to that, she was head of education at the Institute for Public Policy Research specialising in higher and further education.
She has published articles in national newspapers and journals including The Guardian and New Statesman and written reports including Opportunity for Whom? The funding & structure of post-16 education (2001) – which was widely considered to have influenced government policy on the funding of further and higher education and The UK Government's Approach to Public Service Reform (2006) which constituted the first official account of the Government's overarching strategy for public service reform. She has also made numerous appearances on the broadcast media including the BBC News at Six and at Ten, News 24, Newsnight, Channel 4 News, On the Record, The World at One.
She was asked to work on the White Paper, The Future of Higher Education (2003) and was seconded to the Department for Education and Skills for four months.
She has a Master's degree and a Doctorate in political philosophy and literature from Lincoln College, University of Oxford.