MEET THE TEAM
COO, Co-founder
Alice Cornish
Alice specialises in designing and delivering education initiatives designed to help children access quality education at scale.
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She has experience as a senior leader in the education sector, with a global focus, having worked extensively in India, Africa, Latin America, the Middle East, the US and UK. Alice is a Co-Founder of Better Purpose.
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Her work has included education strategy, complex education programme design and leadership, leading and overseeing research, market feasibility and engagement, large-scale government reform work, school set-up and management, and donor fund management.
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CEO, Co-founder
Cate Noble
Cate specialises in helping educational organisations to deliver on their purpose and promise.
She brings experience as an education leader, having previously been CEO of the Varkey Foundation and a Director at PwC, as well as senior education focused roles with not-for-profit, commercial, and government organisations. Cate is a Co-Founder of Better Purpose.
She has worked across a range of international contexts including Middle East, Latin America, South East Asia and Africa, with a particular focus on strategy, organisational leadership and development, and business transformation.
Senior Associate
Kylie Chan
Kylie is a Senior Associate at Better Purpose, where she manages a portfolio of work both within the UK, and internationally. Her skills include project management, research and analysis, monitoring, evaluation and learning activities, operations management, and events management and delivery.
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Previously, Kylie worked in the education non-profit sector, where she worked for an approved provider for the government's National Tutoring Programme. She started in programme delivery, before moving on to a role in training, quality assurance and curriculum development.
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Kylie started her career in education as a school teacher, having taught across all primary year groups. She has a BA in English Language and English Language Teaching (First) and a PGCE in Primary Education (5-11 years) with Qualified Teacher Status.
Associate Director
Nicola Dean
Nicola is an Associate Director at Better Purpose. Nicola brings substantial experience as a senior leader in the international development sector with a strong emphasis on education and youth issues. She has worked extensively in sub-Saharan Africa and is currently based in the UAE.
Alongside her experience designing and delivering programs on the ground, she has spent the past 10+ years working at a senior level for grant making foundations (most notably Comic Relief and Dubai Cares), identifying high potential NGOs and supporting them to maximise their impact, working alongside local government and other stakeholders. Her work has always had a strong emphasis on collaborative ways of working and strategic partnerships which she believes are fundamental to lasting change.
Manager
Georgina Klein
Georgina has a background in education, research, and advocacy, with expertise in educational neuroscience and personal development.
Her previous experience includes being Head of Education at BecomingX, an education technology company. She has a MA in Educational Neuroscience, and as an education consultant, she has helped to bring the science of learning into global programmes. She has worked on international education events, managing content and logistics, and has run a youth group and advocacy work for young people seeking asylum.
Her career started with Teach First UK, training as a primary school teacher in Birmingham.
Manager
Heba Younes
Heba is a Project Manager at Better Purpose. She brings extensive experience in the field of social development, and she has consistently made impactful contributions within international NGOs, with a primary focus on critical areas such as education, youth development, empowerment, healthcare improvement, and child protection. Her commitment to creating lasting change is evident in her 8-year tenure with the United Nations agencies; between UNICEF and UNDP, working on developing, implementing, and managing strategic programmes.
Before her UN roles, Heba dedicated 8 years of work to the U.S. government on healthcare improvement projects, collaborating with the government stakeholders in Egypt. Heba is dedicated to fostering positive social change and improving community lives.
Director
Dr Julie Bélanger
Julie is an early years and education specialist with a robust background in research, evidence, and impact. Her extensive experience includes roles at the OECD, think tanks, and international consultancies, where she has guided governments, philanthropies, and non-profits in advancing education programmes, policy reforms, and strategic initiatives. Julie has spearheaded major international research projects, provided targeted strategic support, and facilitated high-level convenings and consensus-building efforts.
Her professional focus is on leveraging evidence to enhance local, national, and global programs and policies, and employing adaptive management and monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) approaches to maximize impact. She holds a PhD in Developmental Psychology from the University of British Columbia and is fluent in English and French.​​​
Manager
Kiran Sahib
Kiran is a Manager at Better Purpose, bringing her experience working across education in high, low- and middle-income contexts. Her expertise spans EdTech, education program research/monitoring, design and implementation, qualitative research, and grant management.
She has held roles at international NGOs and consultancies, collaborating with philanthropies, multilateral organisations such as UNICEF and UNESCO, and NGOs focused on foundational literacy and numeracy (FLN), post-COVID-19 learning recovery, EdTech and entrepreneurship education. Previously, she has designed and delivered events to support consensus building and innovation within education, and has also supported organisations to implement for scale by leveraging evidence.
Kiran holds a MA from UCL in Education and Technology.
Associate Director
Dr Pearl Boateng
Pearl is an education specialist with a focus on low- and middle-income contexts. Her key areas of expertise include qualitative education research, teacher professional development, gender, mathematics education and education programme design and implementation. Through her previous roles, Pearl has developed strong experience in technical leadership, delivery and programme management.
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She also has a strong research background and has produced a range of reports, policy briefs and rapid literature reviews on issues ranging from language of instruction policies in sub-Saharan Africa to psycho-social support for students in conflict affected states.
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Pearl is also a UK qualified secondary school mathematics teacher and recently completed her PhD at the University of Sussex exploring issues of quality and equity in Ghana's flagship Free Senior High programme.
Manager (Daara)
Rigobert Pambe
Rigobert Pambe is a teacher, researcher and development worker with a decade of experience in designing, piloting, implementing and assessing innovative evidence-based solutions in the field of education in sub-Saharan Africa.He brings a wealth of experience within project delivery, stakeholder engagement, monitoring, evaluation and learning of education programmes across multiple countries in Africa, including in conflict zones.
​In his previous role as a programme manager at eBASE Africa, he pioneered audits and feedback in education and mobilised educational evidence in Cameroon, Niger, Nigeria and Chad.
​He has a Master’s degree in accounting and a postgraduate technical teacher training diploma.
Senior Associate
Simi Otusanya
Simi is a Senior Associate at Better Purpose. Simi brings a wealth of experience within strategy, programme design, research and project management across both the private and public sector in the UK and Nigeria.
Simi has experience within the Further Education & Skills sector designing and implementing programmes for young people to enhance education, employability and training prospects.
She has a BSc in Business and International Relations (First) and is currently undertaking her Master’s in Education and International Development. She is passionate about improving learning outcomes globally as well as supporting the transition into employment.
Manager
Sinda Ouertani
Sinda is a Program Manager at Better Purpose. She brings experience in the development and education sectors across 20 countries.
Before joining Better Purpose, Sinda worked as a Country Program Officer with Dubai Cares for almost 9 years, managing grants and partnerships with UN agencies, INGOs and local NGOs.
She has a Master's in International Law and Legal Studies from the Law Institute of Peace and Development, University of Nice. She is also bilingual in English and French.
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Our core team is complemented by a high quality, international network of associates. We maintain close relationships with education sector leaders, funders, leading teachers, and Ministries of Education across the world.
We are always looking for individuals to join our team on a permanent or occasional basis.
If you are interested in a role at Better Purpose, please e-mail Alice Cornish with a one page cover letter and CV.