A former chief economist has been appointed board chair of Stoke-on-Trent youth skills charity The Challenger Academy.
Mark Gregory, who has served as a trustee since the organisation gained charitable status in 2023, has now officially stepped into the role.
He spent his professional career at PwC, IBM and EY, where he served as chief economist and worked extensively with the EY Foundation.
Since retiring in 2021, he has focused on engaging ‘purposeful businesses’ to improve economic and social outcomes across Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire. He has helped The Challenger Academy develop a methodology which calculates the value of its work in the Potteries at more than £6 million.
Beyond his economic career, Mark is a visiting professor at the University of Staffordshire, an advisory board member at Keele University and an advisor to The Good Economy. He also chairs the Stoke-on-Trent Economic Growth Board, serves as a non-executive director on the UK Endorsement Board, is a trustee of Claybody Theatre and is the author of More Than a Game: Saving Football From Itself.
Mark, who is a lifelong Stoke City season ticket holder, said: “Improving social mobility is personal for me. Everyone deserves the chance to realise their potential. Establishing The Challenger Academy in Stoke-on-Trent was a brave and inspired move and I was sold from day one. What I hadn’t appreciated was just how powerful creativity could be in building confidence and capability in young people. I am really excited about helping the team build in our base and to go on and positively impact more lives.”
Founded in 2021 by award-winning advertising agency VCCP, The Challenger Academy has delivered more than 20,000 hours of work experience opportunities to young people across Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire. It has also provided free employability skills training to more than 1,000 students and expanded into Nottingham with support from fellow agency OLIVER.
Charles Vallance, one of VCCP’s original founders and fellow trustee of The Challenger Academy, said: “We are incredibly fortunate to have an individual of Mark’s exceptional expertise and personal commitment as our Board Chair.
“Mark understood and embraced what we were trying to do with The Challenger Academy from the very start. As a lifelong Stoke City season ticket holder, alongside Challenger Academy co-founder Jim Thornton, he is also perfectly qualified on the sporting front.”
