A welcome from our Chair: Fiona Millar

“As the chair of the William Ellis Trust and on behalf of all the trustees I would like to thank you for taking an interest in our work and to welcome you to our charity and this website. We are proud of everything the Trust has achieved in its long and distinguished history, and we have ambitious plans to enhance the education of all the pupils at William Ellis School in the next decade.

Our school was founded over 160 years ago, and you can read more about our founder and history here. The school still holds true to William Ellis’ radical progressive vision of what education should be and the role of the Trust is to use our resources to help the school fulfil that vision in today’s world, so that all William Ellis pupils can become fulfilled, useful members of society.

As a former chair of governors and an ex-parent at the school, it is a privilege to be able to lead the Trust into this new phase of William Ellis School’s rich and distinct history. We hope you will support us in that effort.”

Will Durham, Director

Will Durham joined the William Ellis Trust as its first ever Director in March 2025 to lead our work moving forward. Prior to joining the Trust he spent almost a decade working in the senior leadership team of a national education charity focused on school governance leading its work in London, training and impact work as well as fundraising and corporate partnerships at different times.

Will grew up in North-West London and attended Hampstead School from 1998-2005. He has been a school governor for nine years, is currently a trustee of an LGBT+ choir based charity and sits on the management committee of his local cricket club with a responsibility for welfare and safeguarding. Outside of work and volunteering he is a keen, if limited, cricketer, QPR season ticket holder and enjoys spending time in the countryside hiking or trail running.

Our Trustees

We value a connection with the school for those serving on our board of trustees. Our aim is to always have a minimum of three school alumni serving as trustees, and other trustees tend to have a historic relationship with the school either as former or current parents, governors or staff members. While the headteacher of William Ellis School is not a trustee of the charity they attend all meetings of the board and help shape our work.

  • Chair

    Fiona Millar is a writer and journalist specialising in education policy. She has worked as a reporter, feature writer and political correspondent on several national newspapers and was a special adviser at 10 Downing Street between 1997 and 2003.

    Since leaving Downing Street Fiona has chaired three charities focussed on the well-being of children, young people and families: the Family and Parenting Institute, the National Youth Arts Trust and the Young Camden Foundation which supports the youth sector in her home borough. Fiona has also been a governor at three schools in North London, and chaired two governing bodies, including William Ellis School. She is currently Chair of the William Ellis Trust and a director of the Careers and Enterprise Company, which is the national body for careers education in England

    Fiona has written several books; By Faith and Daring. Interviews with Remarkable Women; The Secret World of the Working Mother, and The Best for My Child. Did the schools market deliver?

  • Trustee

    Jamal Mohamed is a community engagement specialist working at the heart of cultural, educational, and community organisations. He is currently Head of Membership at the Young Camden Foundation. He joined from his previous role as Community Engagement Manager where he lead strategies to make the BL a more inclusive place for local people. His work has included helping secure local planning permission for a major library extension, co-creating a family-focused exhibition with Camden residents, and developing a community hub that has opened up the national library to new people. 

    As a former William Ellis School student, Jamal is especially proud to serve as a Trustee. He is committed to helping the school be a place where current and future students feel inspired, supported, and equipped to thrive. By drawing on his skills in community engagement, strategic communication, stakeholder management, and equity advocacy, he brings both lived experience and professional expertise to the Trust’s work.

  • Trustee

    Alex Smith is Senior Development Advisor, Europe, for The Obama Foundation. In this role he works across the continent to build partnerships to help inspire, empower, and connect people to change their world. He previously founded The Cares Family, a group of charities which brought together 30,000 younger and older people to reduce loneliness and build intergenerational community, including in north London. Alex was an inaugural Obama Fellow in 2018 and is now a Shorenstein Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School, and a Director of Betterworld Foundation. Alex's work has appeared in The Guardian, The Times, The Economist, BBC News, and The Chicago Tribune.

    He was a student at William Ellis School from 1994 to 2000.

  • Trustee

    Selina grew up in North London and is an Independent Art Consultant and Curator and a member of the Association of Professional Art Advisors. She has served as a Foundation governor at William Ellis since 2017 as Arts Governor, Chair of Governors 2020-2024 and is currently Vice Chair. Selina is a passionate advocator for the arts in education. 

  • Trustee

    Sam was Headteacher of William Ellis School until 2020 and is proud to remain connected with the school and its community through his role as a trustee. He also chairs the Mill Trust, which owns the school’s outdoor residential centre. He believes that good education is rigorous and expansive, combining academic learning with broader experiences to help young people grow into kind, resourceful and ambitious adults who positively shape their communities. Sam now advises schools and academy trusts on leadership, governance and improvement, including the recruitment and development of senior leaders. He also serves as a governor of a school in south London.

  • Trustee

    Tim studied at William Ellis School, and has had a career focussing on advocacy and communications supporting education programmes for international organisations in the charity, public and private sectors. He has worked in 25 countries, including a year living in Sylhet, Bangladesh. He currently works as a communications consultant; recent clients include the UN Environment Programme, Oxfam GB, The Open University and Quotient Sciences. He is a Fellow of the RSA and a Champion of their new Playful Green Planet Network. He loves spending time outdoors with his family, and is also trying very slowly to learn Polish.