Matt Lent

Matt is the CEO of Future First, the charity leading a state school alumni movement; giving young people access to relatable role models, meaningful social capital and new worlds of opportunity. The charity has supported more than 1100 secondary state schools to build thriving and engaged alumni communities, improving the motivation, confidence and life chances of hundreds of thousands of students. Matt joined Future First in January 2018 as Chief Executive Officer. Previously he was Director of Partnerships and Policy at UK Youth, leading on cross-sector partnerships, impact management and national policy. Matt has worked in the education and voluntary youth sectors for 25 years, and since 2004 in charity leadership; as Director of Operations at School Councils UK - a national education charity specialising in youth participation, and more recently leading on the delivery of the successful Social Impact Bond funded, education-to-employment initiative, ThinkForward. Matt also founded the social enterprise, Treetop Training and Education, providing consultancy, training, CPD and project management services to the education and youth sectors.