Our Board

Alberto is an Italian national and Financial Services Executive, who has lived in Milan, New York and London - where he resides with his family since 2005.

He has a 25 year career experience in Finance, having worked at Citi, Goldman Sachs and more recently LCH.Clearnet. Alberto is currently COO at NYMLAB, a technology start-up. Alberto is a graduate from Bocconi University in Milan, and has a strong interest in international education.

He is the Chairman and one of the co-founders of the Italian School in London.

Simon hails from London and has spent most of his career in international education, helping students and families from around the world access British university, school and pathway courses.

A graduate of Newcastle and De Montfort Universities, Simon is passionate about supporting the transition for those new to the UK, and sharing his extensive local knowledge and experiences with families relocating here.

Originally from Paris, with over 25 years’ experience in Education, Marketing and Sales. I moved to the UK with my husband, my 3 children, my dog and my cat.

Formerly head of admissions in an international school in Central London, and previously running a language training organisation in Paris, I have always enjoyed working with all kinds of international people.

I am the Executive Director which means that I run the business on a daily basis. I also support lots of individual employees throughout their settling in journey offering school advice, cultural training, language courses, career support and what I enjoy the most is hosting our networking events.

I have lived in the USA, Germany, China, Indonesia, Brazil. I moved to the UK 11 years ago.

I always had a soft spot for British life. I just loved the British accent to start with and the way British people behaved. After 11 years, I am still enjoying every day of my life like a new adventure.

I love London parks, hiking in the countryside and discover charming cottages.

One surprising British thing? The pub culture! The way people meet their colleagues after work in a relaxed setting.

What is your favourite place in the UK? Scotland, is my go to place especially the west coast.

A tip for newcomers? Make sure you are not bringing too much furniture. British houses are small!

Vince has a portfolio career in international business, academia, executive search and career coaching and business mentoring. Alongside an engineering background he spans the whole career lifecycle from school to university, executive and board level, and has made it his mission in life to inspire, motivate and mentor future generations into STEM/Engineering careers.

With 30 years’ global business experience incorporating executive management and board positions in blue chip companies including ExxonMobil, Suez, V. Ships, Nalco and P&G, Vince has led teams in over 60 countries, winning the prestigious Chairman’s Award as the highest performing global GM.

Today Vince combines a career as Professor in Chemical and Environmental Engineering coaching students in employability, consultant in a boutique energy executive search firm, and career coach to students at prestigious UK business schools. He privately mentors dozens of individuals and also support start-ups in the circular economy within the Circklo Business Configurator Academy as a business mentor.

As keynote speaker and advocate for promoting women within engineering, Vince has delivered speeches on gender equality to energy sector executives at major conferences and to dozens of schools, universities and business schools in the UK and globally.

Vince is a Fellow of the Institute of Chemical Engineering and a Chartered Engineer, Fellow of the Chartered Management Institute, Associate Fellow and Trustee/Non Executive Director of the Women in Engineering Society, and Fellow of the Energy Institute and Member of the Institution of Engineering and Technology. Additionally he is Vice Chair of a Shropshire Multi Academy Schools Trust, and Trustee/Non-Executive Director of both MyBigCareer, an educational charity working with students from disadvantaged backgrounds, and Focus.

Stephanie has been appointed as non-executive director at FOCUS in December 2020. Prior to that she worked at FOCUS as Director of Business Development before relocating to Germany at the beginning of 2020. Stephanie, a mother of four children, is originally from Germany but lived in London for almost 15 years.

She has been involved with FOCUS for many years- she initially joined as a member before she held various positions between 2016 and 2019.

Stephanie has her background in the insurance industry, initially starting as trainee at a Munich based insurance company before working for Munich Re as Life Underwriter both in Munich and London and then working for AIG.

Stephanie holds a BA Hons Degree in Business Studies from the University of Westminster.