About
Filipe Amorim / Observador
Miguel Herdade investigador
Miguel Herdade autor
Miguel Herdade researcher
Miguel Herdade author
I'm originally from Lisbon, Portugal, but have lived and worked in the UK for a while now. I'm a Director at The Access Project, and also a Governor of a primary state school in central London. I have other roles including:
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Future Thinking Advisory Group of the President of Portugal
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Co-Founder and Director of Orquestra Sem Fronteiras
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(European Parliament Charlemagne Youth Prize 2022 winner)
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Advisory board of Academia TEN
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I am also a columnist at Sábado
In the past I was a member of faculty at Nova SBE - School of Business and Economics, and co-founder and Executive Director of Academia do Johnson in Portugal. In the UK I also worked at the The Challenge/National Citizen Service, and I was an Associate Director at the Ambition Institute, a large organisation helping teachers serving schools in disadvantaged areas.
I’m interested in topics such as childhood poverty, the impact of our socio-economic background, parents’ education levels (particularly our mother’s), early years interventions, refugee children, school exclusions, ethnicity, peer effects, social mobility, social mixing, social exclusion, class and social capital. I talk and write a lot about the impact of poverty and inequality in children and young people, with a particular focus on evidenced-based solutions such as the impact of teachers in schools and into students’ adult lives, early childhood interventions, teacher market, schools’ autonomy, tuition fees, technology & innovation, wider budgets and education policy. You will often find me wondering what the true meaning of “merit” is. In my day-to-day, I design, implement, and/or manage projects in non-profits. Either developing and progressing fundraising strategies, engaging in external affairs and, of course, debating policy. Philanthropy has been an essential part of my career to date. I have also acted as an expert panel member or as an independent advisor to national parliaments, government departments, heads of state, and of course NGOs and public sector bodies. You can find a selection of my thoughts and writings in print media, national TV appearances, and podcasts in next section of this website. I'm the "UK correspondent" for Iniciativa Educação.