#LeadingWithPurpose Spotlight: Prof Graeme Atherton, Director of National Education Opportunities Network at the University of West London
Our #LeadingWithPurpose Spotlight interview series sees organisational leaders explain what leading with purpose means to them and how they strive to make their organisation a force for good in society.
In this episode, read how Prof Graeme Atherton, Director of National Education Opportunities Network (NEON) at the University of West London, does so.
Graeme, how did you find purpose in your work?
The purpose in my work is grounded in my own educational journey.
As a child I lived in one of the poorest council estates in the county. My parents left school in their early teens as did most people in my community. At 18 years old I went to the University of Oxford and entered a world that I never knew existed.
Education transformed my life but I knew it was unavailable to the majority of people like me. Striving to give more people the opportunity to benefit from education became my lifelong purpose.
What are some of the things your organisation has done to break down barriers to opportunity?
The National Education Opportunities Network has been working to support greater access to higher education for those from low income backgrounds for 12 years.
We build the capacity of Universities and charities make higher education more accessible and advocate for policies that prioritise access and opportunity. Over 100 universities are members of NEON and we train over 1000 professional every year.
Our research has consistently shaped the national access to higher education agenda. Our latest work looking at higher education participation for those from free school meal backgrounds has been quoted extensively by the new Higher Education Minister as she places renewed policy focus on the issue.
Can you share a specific example of an initiative or project that made a significant impact?
The pandemic presented unprecedented challenges to our NEON members.
We focus on supporting them to deliver outreach work with schools and colleges which traditionally has entailed university staff or students visiting schools or young people going to universities.
To try and maintain the work our members do providing information on higher education, inspiring young people to aim higher and enabling these aspirations via attainment raising support we launched Uni4me in May 2020 – an online platform where learners could participate in over 50 different virtual outreach activities. From 2020 to 2022 over 30,000 students participated in a Uni4me activity.
