Come and meet the team at Sparx Learning

We're passionate about making a difference

Meet the team

Sparx is on a mission to improve the numeracy, and therefore life opportunities, of five million learners worldwide by 2030. Our team is committed to driving positive change through the effective use of education technology.

Our team unites experts from all walks of life. Trusting each other’s diverse backgrounds, experiences and knowledge allows us to offer the best support for teachers, learners and families around the world.

Management team

Dan Sandhu

CEO

Spencer Thompson

Director of Product

Spencer has a passion for mathematics and analytics. Having spent eight years in the retail analytics sector he joined Sparx to oversee product strategy as well as guiding the product roadmap development and evolution.

Paul Clatworthy

Director of Finance

Paul is a CIMA qualified Accounting Professional with over 10 years experience across the recruitment, retail, banking and insurance sectors. Paul is committed to developing the Finance function and team within Sparx, putting business partnering at the heart of the team to support the delivery of Sparx strategy.

Dr Mark Dixon

Founder and Sparx Discovery

Dr Mark Dixon is a recognised leader in innovation in academia and statistical modelling. Having set up Oxygen House in 2008, Mark proactively supports technology-driven businesses within the education, social and environment sectors.

Mark founded Sparx to make a difference in the learning experience for students and continues to lead the innovation of new products.

Louise Mayor

Director of Marketing and Consumer

Louise is an experienced Marketing Director with over 25 years of experience working in senior B2B and B2C agency and client side roles. Louise has been responsible for leading teams to deliver award-winning, integrated brand and communications strategies and campaigns in large corporate and start up environments.

Colin Hegarty

Education and UK Schools Director

Colin is the founder of HegartyMaths and Education Director of Sparx and Numerise. He was the first in his family to attend university, gaining a first-class degree in Mathematics from Oxford University. Whilst teaching in a secondary school, Colin shared maths tutorial videos online in a bid to make maths accessible for everyone.

Following their success, he founded HegartyMaths – an online homework solution supporting those students who need extra help with maths, and provides them with a way to access life opportunities that they otherwise might not have even considered. HegartyMaths is now a part of the Sparx Family.

Colin was a Global Teacher Prize finalist in 2016 and was awarded the National Teacher of the Year award in 2015.

Gemma Johnson

Director of People

Gemma is a CIPD qualified HR Professional with over 20 years’ commercial HR experience across a variety of sectors including finance, retail and hospitality. Gemma is passionate about developing the team and is supporting Sparx in building a great place to work.

Board

Simon Lebus

Chairman

Simon Lebus has had a diverse career having worked at various stages in investment banking, food manufacturing and education. Simon originally studied history at Oxford University, staying on for three years as a research student after finishing his undergraduate degree before going to work in the City, where he specialised first in capital markets and then corporate finance. Following this he joined his family’s food manufacturing business, where he worked for fourteen years.

Following this he joined his family’s food manufacturing business, where he worked for fourteen years. This was eventually sold at which stage he decided it was time for a change of direction and was recruited by Cambridge University as Chief Executive of Cambridge Assessment, the business responsible for running its exam boards.

Simon left Cambridge Assessment in April 2018 to develop a portfolio of non-executive and advisory roles, specialising mainly in the education and edtech sectors. Simon also served in 2021as Chief Regulator at Ofqual, where he was responsible for the operation of the assessment system during the second year of the pandemic, when exams were replaced with teacher assessed grades. Simon, who continues to live in Cambridge, is married with three adult children and three small grandchildren.

Jill Jones

Jill is currently a non-executive director for Kogan Page Publishers Ltd and Sensations English (English Language Video Learning Ltd). Having also worked as President and CEO of Cengage Learning EMEA and as Managing Director for McGraw-Hill Education, Europe, Middle East and Africa.

Until 2018 she was Chair of the Remuneration Committee on the Board at Bloomsbury Publishing PLC, on the Supervisory Board of The Learning Network (NL), and was also a non-executive Director for Edinburgh University Press.

Colin Hegarty

Education and UK Schools Director

Dr Mark Dixon

Founder and Sparx Discovery

Glenn Woodcock

Glenn Woodcock has over 25 years of experience as a banker, venture capitalist, and entrepreneur. Since 2008 he has been a Director of Oxygen House which invests in projects that foster social, environmental and economic prosperity.

Over the last five years, Glenn’s role has sat at the overlap between the public sector and the private. He is a founder and a non-executive director at Sparx. He is also founder of Exeter City Futures, Co-Founder and Chairman of City Science and a Director of Low Carbon Group. In addition, Glenn is a Governor of Exeter College, a Fellow of the Cambridge Institute for Science and Policy and a University of Exeter Council member.

Dan Sandhu

CEO

CEO of Sparx, Dan has an extensive career in the education and technology sectors, both in the UK and internationally. Leading and guiding education teams around the world, Dan has previously been voted as one of Education Technology’s top 100 most influential leaders globally.

As a member of BESA’s Executive Council (UK Education Industry Body) and having joined the Brooking Institution’s Center for Universal Education’s Leadership Council in the US, Dan is influencing the education and EdTech landscapes beyond his role at Sparx. He is a regular speaker at education and technology forums and has authored numerous articles.

Dan’s breadth of experience in education is demonstrated through his role as an investor in a number of education ventures such as Youth4work (a global vocational assessment platform), Edurio, Ecovation as well as his work with Emerge Education and Teachers’ Media International. Dan was also Chairman and CEO of Digital Assess and sat on their advisory board, supporting the international partnership strategy.

Dan is focused on ensuring that the Sparx team achieves sustainable impact in the delivery of maths education in the UK and internationally, focusing on the use of education technology to improve numeracy, and therefore life opportunities, of millions of learners around the world.

Roy Bedlow

Roy is co-founder of Low Carbon, founder and CEO of Trust Power and Managing Partner of Oxygen House. He is a founder member of the Carbon War Room and a Trustee of the Rocky Mountain Institute. As former Vice President and General Manager of Palm Europe, Roy founded the Geneva-based Handspring Sarl, later acquired by Palm. Prior to Palm, Roy was Apple’s European Marketing Director.

Advisory panel

Tim Oates CBE

Tim Oates is Group Director of Assessment Research and Development at Cambridge Assessment, focusing on national and international research on assessment and measurement. In 2010 he published ‘Could do better’ which laid down the principles for the review of the National Curriculum in England. He was chair of the Expert Panel for Review of the National Curriculum in England.

Emerging from this review, subsequent research on the quality and function of textbooks and other resources has been taken up around the world and discussed at two international summits on learning resources. He chairs various curriculum groups for the Department for Education in England. He has published widely on assessment and curriculum issues, and routinely provides briefings and advice to UK and other governments. He has worked with OECD on curriculum matters and is leading a new UNICET project on a curriculum framework for displaced children. He is Fellow of Churchill College Cambridge and in 2015 received a CBE for services to education.

Dr Georgie Hart

Georgie is currently the Head of Community Education at the British Red Cross. As one of the founding team members at Sparx, Georgie was involved in building the proposition from inception. Georgie has a PhD in Operational Research, and extensive experience in both commercial and academic fields. Georgie ensures that Sparx’ products are impactful, support educators and improve outcomes for students.

Dr Rebecca Winthrop

Rebecca Winthrop is a senior fellow and co-director of the Center for Universal Education at the Brookings Institution. Her research focuses on education globally, with special attention to the skills young people need to thrive in work, life, and as constructive citizens.

Dr. Winthrop works to promote quality and relevant education, including exploring how education innovations can leapfrog progress, particularly for the most marginalized children and youth. She advises governments, international institutions, foundations, civil society organizations, and corporations on education issues. She currently serves as a board member and advisor for a number of global education organizations and lectures at Georgetown University.

Joe Ludlow

Joe is the Impact Investment Director at Ufi Charitable Trust where he leads Ufi Ventures investing in early stage companies which develop digital technologies to give people and businesses the skills needed for work, now and in the future. Previously Managing Partner at Bethnal Green Ventures, Joe invested in and advised ventures using technology for social and environmental impact.

He has 15 years of experience in impact investing and entrepreneurship, previously managing investment funds at Nesta and CAF Venturesome. He began his career with TeachFirst, teaching in a London secondary school.

Dr Julian Huppert

Dr Julian Huppert is the Director of the Intellectual Forum at Jesus College, Cambridge, a new centre aimed at fostering discussion on crucial interdisciplinary issues. He was the Member of Parliament for Cambridge 2010-5, and was particularly noted for his work on data privacy, being named the 2013 ISPA Internet Hero of the Year for combating intrusive state surveillance.

He is a Director of the Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust, Vice-Chair of the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Clinical Commissioning Group, and one of the Independent Reviewers of DeepMind Health, having served as the initial Chair. He has very wide-ranging interests including technology, ethics, the use of evidence in policy making, civil liberties, the environment and more.

We're passionate about making a difference

Meet the team

Management team

Dan Sandhu

Spencer Thompson

Paul Clatworthy

Dr Mark Dixon

Louise Mayor

Colin Hegarty

Gemma Johnson

Board

Simon Lebus

Jill Jones

Colin Hegarty

Dr Mark Dixon

Glenn Woodcock

Dan Sandhu

Roy Bedlow

Advisory panel

Tim Oates CBE

Dr Georgie Hart

Dr Rebecca Winthrop

Joe Ludlow

Dr Julian Huppert

Sparx Learning

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