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Our Team

shiftED was founded by Nick Turner and Zek Hoeben, experienced educators with over 35 years of combined teaching experience across primary, secondary, and sixth form. They believe there needs to be a shift in education towards real world learning, incorporating more interdisciplinary, design-based approaches involving partnerships with the creative industry and the wider community.

As a new charity, Zek and Nick wear many hats. They lead on strategy and operations as Co-Directors while also teaching our core educational programmes. As we grow, we will work with local artists and designers to deliver our After School Programme and offer a wide range of specialisms across applied arts and design.

About Our Founders

Nick Turner
Co-Founder/Lead

Nick is a primary teacher who retrained after founding and running a business for a decade. Since 2007, he has taught across a wide range of schools and subjects, from Maths and Science to English, Humanities, and Design Technology. A champion of project-based learning, he has helped develop curricula and pedagogical models adopted in the schools he has worked in. With a passion for making learning engaging, purposeful, and connected to real-world issues, Nick combines his interests in philosophy, psychology, and child-centred approaches with recent training as a Therapeutic Wellbeing Practitioner at IATE. He is also deeply committed to environmental issues and is a keen maker.

Zek Hoeben
Co-Founder/Lead

Zek has over 20 years’ experience teaching Art, Design and Technology in London schools and was formerly Director of Makerspace at School 21, a 4–19 state school, where he helped pioneer real-world learning and piloted signature practices such as oracy, coaching, and project-based learning. He specialises in curriculum design and projects that connect young people with industry, giving them authentic experiences and pathways into creative careers. Alongside his teaching, he has 15 years’ experience in youth development and arts charities, including founding Grassroots Arts UK, which supported an annual international arts programme with artists from Zimbabwe.

Trustees

Our Board brings expertise across education, law, design, technology, and public systems, providing strategic oversight and sector insight to support shiftED’s growth and governance.

Margaret Sutton-Mattocks
Maggie Sutton-Mattocks is a former partner at Clifford Chance, where she worked for over 20 years specialising in finance, energy, and infrastructure projects across the UK, EMEA, and Asia. After qualifying as a solicitor in London and Singapore, she became a partner in 1993, advising on major bank mergers and large-scale infrastructure developments. She later moved into education, working for eight years in Camden LEA as a KS2 teacher, Maths and Science Coordinator, and KS2 lead, bringing a strong combination of legal, strategic, and educational expertise to her trustee role.

Adrian Fish
Adrian Fish is a senior IT professional with international experience across the UK, Europe, the USA, and Southeast Asia. He specialises in the delivery of complex technology programmes from strategy through to implementation, with a strong track record in aligning IT systems to organisational needs, improving performance, and leading cross-functional teams in global, multi-disciplinary environments. He is recognised for his leadership, communication skills, and ability to drive organisational change through technology.

Ian Taylor
Ian Taylor is an architect and Partner at Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios, where he is Director of Sustainable Design and Research. His work spans arts and culture, healthcare, education, and housing, with a strong focus on environmental design and low-carbon, future-focused development. He is also a Visiting Professor of Environmental Design and Architecture at UCL’s Institute for Environmental Design and Engineering. His work has received seventeen RIBA awards, including two Stirling Prize shortlists.

Lexie Grüber-Pérez
Lexie Grüber-Pérez is a service designer and policy advisor working at the intersection of public systems, education, and social impact. She has over a decade of experience supporting child welfare reform in the United States and helping public agencies redesign services for families, particularly in housing and social care. She holds a Master’s in Service Design from the Royal College of Art and brings expertise in systems change, equity, and human-centred design to her trustee role.

Our Partners

Holborn Library

Our key partner, Camden Library Services has generously provided a dedicated base for our makerspace in the Clore Learning Space at Holborn Library, Camden. This central and accessible location enables us to deliver high quality, hands on design and making programmes for children and young people, both in school hours and as part of our community offer.

Libraries are public and inclusive spaces built on curiosity, connection and access to knowledge. They belong to everyone. Being based at Holborn Library allows us to offer creative, hands on learning to even more young people, not just in schools but in the heart of the community, surrounded by books, ideas and opportunities for lifelong learning.

At shiftED, we believe in providing different spaces, places and faces that help children and young people learn in varied, real-world contexts beyond the classroom. The library offers a safe and welcoming environment that helps bridge the gap between school and the wider world. Through this partnership, we aim to support a shift in education towards a more collaborative, community-based approach to learning.

We are deeply grateful to Camden Library Services for believing in our vision and taking a bold step in opening up this space for a new kind of creative learning.

Find out more about Holborn Library and their new refurbishment here, designed by thedesignconcept Ltd.

School Partners

Our Schools and Tailored Programmes have helped us build a strong foundation of creative learning opportunities for children who might otherwise never access high-quality design and making experiences. To date, we have partnered with primary schools and alternative provisions across Camden and neighbouring boroughs.

If you’re a local school, ideally within 30–45 minutes of our Makerspace, and are interested in our programmes, visit our Schools page to find out more.