Aristotle believed that the roots of education were bitter, but the fruit was sweet

At mindful education we ask - why can't the same roots taste better?

Our Mission

Why we exist:

To make the student learning experience better, not bitter

Our Vision

What we want to achieve:

To set a new standard in the digital delivery of education

What We Do

We specialise in creating media-rich professional courses & apprenticeships.

Our courses allow students to match how, when and where they want to study.

Working with our partners from the first day of the course to the last, our ultimate goal is to help students achieve theirs.

About Us

Founded in 2015 and based in London, we are a company with a passion for education.

The UK digital education landscape has been transformed in recent years, with change seemingly the only constant for the sector. We help our partners prepare for change by working together closely to create new and innovative courses that meet the needs of students, government and industry.

Meet the team

Mark Mckenna

Founder and Managing Director

Mark Mckenna

Founder and Managing Director

Mark is the Founder and Managing Director of Mindful Education. Mark has overall responsibility for the company, including ensuring that we deliver high-quality, flexible and valued courses to partners, learners and employers.

Prior to setting-up Mindful, Mark trained and qualified as a Chartered Accountant with Deloitte LLP, going on to become a Senior Manager at the firm. After 7 years of advising and working with clients at Deloitte in London, Mark studied for a full-time MBA with Melbourne Business School, where he graduated with a distinction.

Raj Kumaran

Director of Education and Partnerships

Raj Kumaran

Director of Education and Partnerships

Raj leads Mindful’s education strategy and also has overall responsibility for college partnerships, working closely with stakeholders to ensure we jointly deliver value and quality to learners.

Prior to Mindful, Raj worked within the Higher and Further Education sectors for over 25 years, the last 15 of which were at the highest level of management. In 2011, Raj became the first person in the UK to lead a private college through the Integrated Quality and Enhancement Review (IQER) by QAA to a successful outcome. In 2015, Raj co-founded Mindful.

Dario Alvarez

Director of Operations

Dario Alvarez

Director of Operations

Dario oversees Mindful’s work with our college partners, ensuring management and delivery teams are fully supported to deliver innovative and flexible ways to study, helping our learners achieve their goals. Prior to Mindful, Dario held operations and strategy roles in technology-related industries, having led company-wide reorganisation and post-merger integration processes. He holds an MBA from Melbourne Business School and is a qualified accountant. Dario is a co-founder of Mindful.

Matt Brown

Director of Marketing and Student Experience

Matt Brown

Director of Marketing and Student Experience

Matt leads the marketing team at Mindful. The team works with our college partners to market their Online and On Campus courses and are also responsible for promoting Mindful’s products to potential new partners. In addition, Matt oversees our students’ customer journeys and runs regular focus groups and surveys, enabling us to continue improving our products. Prior to joining Mindful, Matt worked in senior commercial sales and marketing roles and, most recently, for 6+ years as Director of Marketing for a Further Education College.

Rob Slegtenhorst

Creative Director

Rob Slegtenhorst

Creative Director

Rob’s role at Mindful is to lead the Creative team, helping them create our award-winning video content and expertly designed learning materials.

Rob works hand-in-hand with our Academic team, crafting an outstanding educational experience across all of our courses. Prior to joining Mindful Education, Rob worked in senior development and motion graphics roles in agencies in Europe and the UK, working on several large and award-winning media projects. Rob is a co-founder of Mindful.

Michael Verhaag

Head of Digital

Michael Verhaag

Head of Digital

Michael leads Mindful’s Digital team, who are responsible for developing and maintaining all of our online systems. This work includes designing our bespoke and award-winning Virtual Learning Environments for our college partners, ensuring an outstanding online experience for every learner.

Prior to working for Mindful Education, Michael worked as a web developer for a large marketing agency, building websites for national brands. Michael is a co-founder of Mindful.

Helen Duffy

Head of Production

Helen Duffy

Head of Production

Helen manages the production of all media and digital content at Mindful. Each course takes several months to produce; from writing scripts, through to filming and then crafting each unique animation. Helen works closely with our Academic, Creative and Digital teams to ensure that each element is completed on time and to a very high standard, ensuring that all videos, online exercises, case studies and tutor materials dovetail to provide a first-class learning experience.

Before joining Mindful, Helen produced filmed content and events for 8 years at education charity Into Film.

Barbara Strachan

Head of Learning and Development - Law

Barbara Strachan

Head of Learning and Development - Law

Barbara leads Mindful’s Legal team, developing our law courses and working with our Creative and Digital teams to deliver consistently high-quality online learning. Barbara has overall responsibility for the media, VLE design and supporting digital resources for our law courses at Mindful.

Prior to joining Mindful, Barbara was a practising barrister for many years, specialising in Criminal Law and working on a wide range of cases. Barbara has lectured in law since 2006 and is the current Chair of the CILEx Malpractice committee.

Cath Littler

Head of Learning and Development – Accounting

Cath Littler

Head of Learning and Development – Accounting

Cath leads Mindful’s Accounting team, co-ordinating course production and ensuring the highest standards across our Accounting offering. Cath has a wealth of experience in teaching and managing AAT courses, having previously co-ordinated the AAT’s largest Further Education training provider.

A former member of the AAT’s Learning and Development Board, Cath has a track record of improving exam pass rates by 50% by reviewing teaching methods and delivery order. Cath is involved in a wide range of AAT projects and is both a published author and a regular contributor at the AAT Training Provider Conference.

Natasha Berger

Head of Content Development

Natasha Berger

Head of Content Development

Natasha oversees the development of script and text elements for Mindful Education’s courses, working closely with the academic team to create digital content that reflects best practice in learning theory and writing for film.

She started out as a journalist and worked for over a decade as an editor in the online press before expanding into film development, and has since worked with the BFI Film Academy, Film London, and as a teacher/facilitator of media and English.

Stephanie Garner

Head of Learning – Management and HR

Stephanie Garner

Head of Learning – Management and HR

Stephanie leads the Management and HR team at Mindful, developing our management and HR courses and working closely with our Creative and Digital teams to deliver consistently high-quality online learning.

Prior to joining Mindful, Stephanie gained a great deal of experience in the higher education sector, lecturing across business management courses both at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. She holds an MBA (Education) and is a Member of the CIPD and CMI.

Ivan Ivanovic

Head of Product

Ivan Ivanovic

Head of Product

Ivan is responsible for the quality and effectiveness of Mindful’s products, ensuring they meet the needs of our college partners, tutors, learners and employers. Ivan works closely with the Academic, Creative and Digital teams at Mindful to gather valuable inputs and insights from team members. Ivan then co-ordinates our teams to make sure that all new product developments are designed and implemented to the highest quality.

Prior to working for Mindful Education, Ivan held a Lead Product Strategy role at a market-leading UK Fintech start-up, helping the business with its rapid transition into a large scale-up. Ivan has an MSc in Business Management and a degree in Telecommunications.

Katherine Mckenna

Head of Commercial

Katherine Mckenna

Head of Commercial

Katherine leads our employer engagement strategy and is responsible for promoting Mindful’s courses and apprenticeships to employers around the UK. Katherine works closely with our partners’ business development teams, supporting them with employer outreach and sales. Prior to joining Mindful Education, Katherine worked as a commercial solicitor in the media and entertainment industry.

Jonathan Ward

Head of Partnerships

Jonathan Ward

Head of Partnerships

Jonathan is Mindful Education’s Head of Partnerships, with responsibility for supporting both new and existing college partners, and working closely with college leadership teams, awarding bodies and the rest of the Mindful team to ensure that we deliver high-quality, flexible and valued courses to learners.

Prior to joining Mindful Education, Jonathan held senior business development and partnership roles within the further education sector for 20+ years.

Join the Team

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