Our Board of Directors and Executive Leadership bring strong, effective and diverse leadership to every aspect of our business. We are committed to creating long-term, sustainable value for all company stakeholders.
Omid Kordestani
Omar Abbosh
Sally Johnson
Sherry Coutu, CBE
Omid Kordestani
Chair of the Nomination & Governance Committee
Appointed 1 March 2022
Skills and experience
Omid is an international businessman who serves on the board of the fintech company Klarna Group plc. He was Executive Chair of Twitter, Inc. between October 2015 and May 2020, and a Director until October 2022.
From August 2014 to August 2015, Omid served as Senior Vice President and Chief Business Officer at Google and previously as Senior Vice President of Global Sales and Business Development.
From 1995 to 1999, Omid was Vice President of Business Development at Netscape Communications Corporation, and prior to that held positions in business development, product management and marketing at The 3DOCompany, Go Corporation and Hewlett-Packard Company.
Drawing on over 30 years of experience in Silicon Valley, Omid pursues his passion for technology, science, medicine and education through active investments in technology start-ups and advising entrepreneurs.
Omar Abbosh
Appointed as Chief Executive 8 January 2024
Skills and experience
Omar has a career spanning more than 30 years driving growth and transformation for leading multinational companies. He joined Pearson with a background steeped in technology and innovation, and with a deep understanding of how to shape and execute successful strategies in a world of disruption.
Most recently, Omar was the President of Microsoft Industry Solutions with responsibility for driving sales, service and solutions across Microsoft’s largest customers. While there he led industry and technical business units, including strategy, engineering, partnering and sales teams that shaped product roadmaps and strategic campaigns. Prior to Microsoft, Omar spent three decades at Accenture where he helped to orchestrate the company’s digital transformation, and led a large and highly successful business unit. He served in numerous senior leadership roles at Accenture, including Chief Strategy Officer and ultimately as Chief Executive of the global Communications, Technology and Media business.
Omar was previously a Non-Executive Director of Zuora, Inc., an enterprise SaaS company. He holds a degree in electronic engineering and information sciences from the University of Cambridge and a Master’s degree in business administration from INSEAD.
Sally Johnson
Appointed 24 April 2020
Skills and experience
Sally joined Pearson in 2000 and has held various finance and operations roles across the business, both at a corporate level and within the business units, including The Penguin Group. She brings to the Board extensive commercial and strategic finance experience, as well as expertise in transformation, treasury, tax, risk management, business and financial operations, investor relations and mergers & acquisitions.
Sally is a Non-Executive Director of Rentokil Initial plc and Chair of its Audit Committee, a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales and trained at PricewaterhouseCoopers. She was also a Trustee for the Pearson Pension Plan from 2012 to 2018.
Sherry Coutu, CBE
Chair of the Remuneration Committee and Member of the Nomination & Governance Committee
Appointed 1 May 2019
Skills and experience
Sherry is an experienced non-executive director, having held numerous senior leadership positions in the financial services, technology and education sectors.
She is Non-Executive Director and Senior Independent Director of Raspberry Pi Holdings plc, the world’s largest single-board computer company, and she also chairs its Remuneration Committee. She is also Non-Executive Director of Standard Life plc, the UK's largest long-term savings and retirement business, and chair of its Remuneration Committee.
Sherry is a Trustee of Founders4Schools and a co-chair of Cancer Research UK Global Campaign Leadership Committee. Her previous directorships include the London Stock Exchange Group plc, DCMS, Zoopla plc, RM plc, The Scaleup Institute, Cambridge University Press and Cambridge Assessment. She has also acted as an adviser to LinkedIn, the National Gallery, the Royal Society and NESTA.
Prior to her portfolio career, Sherry founded several technology companies and invested in 70 tech start-up companies and five venture capital firms.
Alison Dolan
Alex Hardiman
Arden Hoffman
Esther Lee
Alison Dolan
Member of the Audit and Remuneration Committees
Appointed 1 June 2023
Skills and experience
Alison brings to the Board extensive commercial and operational finance experience, specifically in digital businesses. In January 2025, she joined the Board of Marks and Spencer Group plc as Chief Financial Officer. Prior to this, she was the Chief Financial Officer of Rightmove plc between September 2020 and September 2024 and she held several senior financial positions at Sky plc, including Group Treasurer, Director of Finance and was the Deputy Managing Director at Sky Business. She later moved to News UK to serve as Chief Strategy Officer at the forefront of the business’s digital transformation. Alison has a master’s in Finance from University College Dublin.
Alex Hardiman
Member of the Audit and Reputation & Responsibility Committees
Appointed 1 June 2023
Skills and experience
With more than 15 years of experience in media and technology, Alex brings to the Board deep expertise in consumer product strategy and growth, scaling subscription and digital advertising businesses, and high-quality journalism and content.
Alex currently serves as Chief Product Officer at The New York Times, where she oversees the company’s News, Cooking, Games and Audio products that power its digital business. She also leads its enterprise-wide approach to generative AI. Alex previously spent a decade at The New York Times in several leadership roles before leaving for Facebook in 2016 where she served as Head of News Products, overseeing news experiences for Facebook consumers and publishers. Alex also spent time at The Atlantic as its Chief Business and Product Officer where she relaunched the company’s consumer offerings and subscription model.
Arden Hoffman
Member of the Reputation & Responsibility and Remuneration Committees
Appointed 1 June 2025
Skills and experience
Arden is the Chief People Officer and Senior Vice President at General Motors, a position she has held since 2023, overseeing Human Resources, Facilities, Security and Charitable Giving. These functions play a critical role in fostering a culture of innovation, ensuring the company attracts, retains and develops top talent in a rapidly evolving industry. She brings to the Board a strong background in human resources and talent development in the global automotive, technology and financial services sectors. Prior to General Motors, Arden served as Chief People Officer at Cruise and as Global Head of Human Resources at Dropbox, and has held senior positions in HR at Google and Goldman Sachs. She currently sits on the Advisory Board of Berkeley's College of Letters and Sciences and the Transformation CHRO Leadership Program.
Esther Lee
Member of the Nomination & Governance, Reputation & Responsibility and Remuneration Committees
Appointed 1 February 2022
Skills and experience
Esther brings significant experience to the Pearson Board through her prior executive management roles in developing customer strategies to drive growth, global marketing and branding, driving digital transformation and building high-performance teams.
She has a long track record of senior leadership roles, working for global consumer and enterprise-facing brands. Most recently, she served as Executive Vice President – Global Chief Marketing Officer at MetLife Inc. Previously, Esther served as Senior Vice President – Brand Marketing, Advertising and Sponsorships for AT&T, and she has served as CEO of North America and President of Global Brands for Euro RSCG Worldwide. Prior to that, she served for five years as Global Chief Creative Officer for The Coca-Cola Company.
Esther is a Board member at The Clorox Company, where she chairs the Nomination & Governance Committee, and is a Non-Executive Director of Experian plc.
Costis Maglaras
Graeme Pitkethly
Annette Thomas
Costis Maglaras
Member of the Audit and Reputation & Responsibility Committees
Appointed 1 November 2025
Skills and experience
Costis is Dean of Columbia Business School, where he is also the David and Lyn Silfen Professor of Business. As a trained technologist he has a focus on enhancing curriculum and learning to meet the demands of the rapidly changing global business landscape, and fostering a greater understanding of the role of technological breakthroughs in solving business challenges. His fields of expertise include machine learning and AI, social networks and quantitative finance. Costis has been with Columbia Business School since 1998. His industry experience over the past 15 years has been focused on different aspects of qualitative investing and trading at organisations including ADIA, Goldman Sachs, Bank of America and Mismi.
Graeme Pitkethly
Chair of the Audit Committee and Member of the Reputation & Responsibility and Nomination & Governance Committees
Appointed 1 May 2019
Skills and experience
Graeme was Chief Financial Officer and a Board member of Unilever plc until December 2023. He joined Unilever in 2002 and, prior to his appointment as the CFO, was responsible for its UK and Ireland business. He also held a number of senior financial and commercial roles within Unilever and spent the earlier part of his career in senior corporate finance roles in the telecommunications industry.
Graeme served as Vice President of Financial Planning and Vice President of Corporate Development at FLAG Telecom and started his career at PricewaterhouseCoopers. Graeme is a Non-Executive Director of Sandoz Group AG and Chair of its Audit, Risk and Compliance Committee, and a Non-Executive Director of Verisure plc and Chair of its Audit and Risk Committee. He is also a Trustee of The Leverhulme Trust, a charitable trust funding academic research in the UK, a member of the Strathclyde University Centre for Sustainable Development and a chartered accountant.
Annette Thomas
Chair of the Reputation & Responsibility Committee and Member of the Nomination & Governance and Remuneration Committees
Appointed 1 October 2021
Skills and experience
Annette has a 25-year track record in leading global publishing and data analytics businesses, across academic, educational and consumer media verticals. Most recently, she served as CEO of Guardian Media Group, a position she held until June 2021. Prior to that, Annette was CEO of the Web of Science Group at Clarivate Analytics, a data, analytics and software business focused on research and higher education. She has also served as CEO of Macmillan Publishers and led the digital and global transformation of Nature Publishing Group.
She is a Non-Executive Director of Schroders plc and currently serves as Senior Advisor to General Atlantic. Her previous non-executive experience includes serving as a Trustee of Yale University, Non-Executive Director at Clarivate Analytics (2017), and as a board member for Cambridge University Press and Cambridge Assessment (2019–2020). She has also previously acted as an adviser to Creative Commons and Bain Capital.
Omar Abbosh
Sally Johnson
Tom ap Simon
Ali Bebo
Omar Abbosh
Appointed as Chief Executive 8 January 2024.
Omar has a career spanning more than 30 years driving growth and transformation for leading multinational companies. He joined Pearson with a background steeped in technology and innovation, and with a deep understanding of how to shape and execute successful strategies in a world of disruption.
Most recently, Omar was the President of Microsoft Industry Solutions with responsibility for driving sales, service and solutions across Microsoft’s largest customers. While there he led industry and technical business units, including strategy, engineering, partnering and sales teams that shaped product roadmaps and strategic campaigns. Prior to Microsoft, Omar spent three decades at Accenture where he helped to orchestrate the company’s digital transformation, and led a large and highly successful business unit. He served in numerous senior leadership roles at Accenture, including Chief Strategy Officer and ultimately as Chief Executive of the global Communications, Technology and Media business.
Omar was previously a Non-Executive Director of Zuora, Inc., an enterprise SaaS company. He holds a degree in electronic engineering and information sciences from the University of Cambridge and a Master’s degree in business administration from INSEAD.
Sally Johnson
Appointed 24 April 2020.
Sally joined Pearson in 2000 and has held various finance and operations roles across the business, both at a corporate level and within the business units, including The Penguin Group. She brings to the Board extensive commercial and strategic finance experience, as well as expertise in transformation, treasury, tax, risk management, business and financial operations, investor relations and mergers & acquisitions.
Sally is a Non-Executive Director of Rentokil Initial plc and Chair of its Audit Committee, a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales and trained at PricewaterhouseCoopers. She was also a Trustee for the Pearson Pension Plan from 2012 to 2018.
Tom ap Simon
Skills and experience
Tom has 20 years of international business and finance experience. At Pearson, he has led the Virtual Schools business, worked in finance for the emerging markets businesses and led M&A activity in the US. Previously, he worked in investment banking at RW Baird. Tom holds an MA in Economics and Politics from the University of Edinburgh.
Ali Bebo
Skills and experience
Ali is a seasoned C-suite executive with over 25 years of experience building culture for transformative business performance across multiple industries. Prior to joining Pearson, she was an executive officer and CHRO for Hologic, Inc., a global medical technology company. Prior to Hologic, she held various HR leadership roles with the speciality retail company ANN INC.
Ginny Cartwright Ziegler
Vishaal Gupta
Sharon Hague
Sulaekha ‘Sue’ Kolloru Barger
Ginny Cartwright Ziegler
Skills and experience
Ginny has over 30 years of experience leading large-scale, global marketing and communications strategies for some of the world’s biggest consumer and technology brands such as HP, IBM, Intuit and Xerox. Before joining Pearson, Ginny served as Chief Marketing & Communications Officer for Accenture North America. Ginny earned a BA in modern languages & literature from the University of Bristol. Ginny is chair of strategic planning and board director for San Francisco Opera Guild, which provides award-winning K12 arts education programmes to more than 64,000 Bay Area children.
Vishaal Gupta
Skills and experience
Vishaal has over 30 years of global experience in enterprise technology. He has a proven record of scaling digital businesses and building highperformance teams. He joined Pearson from Accenture, where he was Senior Managing Director and a part of the Global Leadership Council. Previously, he worked with Tech Mahindra, MindTree and HCLTech.
Sharon Hague
Skills and experience
Sharon has 25 years’ experience in courseware, assessment and qualifications. She began her career teaching geography in UK secondary schools for eight years and is a resilient leader skilled in driving growth in regulated, media-sensitive environments. Sharon has worked extensively with governments, schools and partners to advance learning and assessment. An Oxford graduate (BA Geography, PGCE), she serves on the UK Publishing Association Council and previously chaired the Joint Council for Qualifications.
Sulaekha ‘Sue’ Kolloru Barger
Skills and experience
Sue has more than 25 years of global strategy and corporate experience. Additionally, she held engineering roles at technology companies. Sue holds an MBA from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and a BSc in electrical engineering from the University of Ottawa in Canada. She has served on several non-profit boards and councils focused on diversity and STEM.
Cinthia Nespoli
Tony Prentice
Dave Treat
Naseem Tuffaha
Cinthia Nespoli
Skills and experience
Cinthia has over 20 years of international legal and compliance experience. Previously, she held leadership roles in legal and compliance at multinational companies. Cinthia was admitted to the Brazilian bar in 2004 and earned her law degree from PontifÃcia Universidade Católica de Campinas as well as a post-graduate degree in tax law from PontifÃcia Universidade Católica de São Paulo.
Tony Prentice
Skills and experience
Tony has more than 25 years of experience in consumer-led product management in companies including Sema4, American Express and Starbucks. He brings extensive expertise in strategic product development and consumer marketing. He holds an MBA from Columbia Business School and a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Cornell University.
Dave Treat
Skills and experience
Dave has over 25 years of experience in technology, innovation and strategic business transformation. He joined Pearson from Accenture where he served as a Senior Managing Director. Dave helped to found and has served on several technology and industry boards including the Linux Hyperledger Foundation, Linux Open Wallet Foundation, Digital Dollar Project and the Global Business Blockchain Council. Dave earned a Master’s degree in Higher Education Administration from the University of Michigan and a degree in Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania.
Naseem Tuffaha
Skills and experience
Naseem has over 30 years of experience in executive positions, sales, international and market development. Prior to joining Pearson, he was Chief Growth Officer of global advertising technology firm The Trade Desk. He has also served in a variety of go-to-market leadership roles during his long career at Microsoft, most recently as Head of Sales for the company’s Modern Work businesses. Naseem serves on the board of several non-profit organisations dedicated to providing medical relief to children in underserved areas and holds a degree in Economics from Harvard University.
Art Valentine
Art Valentine
Skills and experience
Art has more than 30 years of leadership experience in assessments, testing and technology. Prior to his 20 years at Pearson serving as a senior leader of Pearson Professional Assessments and as Managing Director of Pearson Clinical Assessment, Art worked at global technology organisations including Accenture, Perot Systems and Promissor, which was acquired by Pearson in 2006. Art earned his BS in Mathematical Science/Computer Science from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill.