Consulting the experts
Knowing nothing about setting up a school, David used his experience of working in the City where he was used to hiring people with specialist skills and examining business plans.
“My first thought was: ‘Let’s speak to some experts in this field, some head teachers and people in the education world who can advise me’.”
He met many head teachers and governing boards of special schools and ended up putting an advert in The Times Educational Supplement for a CEO of his foundation.
After 50 applications he hired a ‘brilliant man’ called Norman Stromsoy who had been headteacher of 5 Ofsted-outstanding special needs schools. Norman has since retired and has been replaced by an “equally brilliant” CEO (and ex-SEN headteacher) Claire Cookson.
“Norman and Claire totally got the importance of learning employment skills as one of the key outcomes of a good education and really trying to prepare these youngsters for the world of work.
“Because you’ve got to ask yourself — what’s the point of an education? It’s to really give the youngsters the skillset to lead independent lives and be able to be useful in the workforce.”
Using your business brain — but not always
In the same year as establishing the foundation, David also bought Undershaw, a listed country house that once belonged to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and converted it into the Upper School of Stepping Stones School.
“It’s a magnificent building set in a beautiful site of about three or four acres. When students and parents walk down the driveway there’s a real spring in their step. There’s a feeling of high aspirations.”
David originally funded the cost of the school. When he took it over, only half the pupils were funded by the local authority.
Applying the same rules as if one were starting up a business, his team conducted market research and competitor analysis and focused on business-led outcomes to show value for money. Now all the school’s children are funded by the local authority.
“We have a business that works – it can stand on its own two feet, it’s cashflow positive with decent reserves. And from the surplus we can invest in more teachers and more learning tools for the children.”
But while applying his business skill worked in some areas, in others David had to adapt his private sector approach.
“It was interesting having worked in the private sector until that point. Teachers are heavily unionized, so I had to adapt and use a softer approach in terms of being a lot more understanding.
“Timelines in getting results are typically slower and you have to be a good listener.
“Hiring experts is critical and you have to surround yourself with good people. Also, be prepared for not getting it right first time around but keep persevering until you do.”
Working with partners for long-term change
David is passionate about children with learning difficulties and disabilities being able to access an enriching education.
But building and running the school was only ever part of the remit of DFN Foundation.
There has always been the ambition of achieving long-term systemic change and creating real employment opportunities for young people with disabilities – beyond a typical ‘cosy’ week of work experience where often the young person isn’t taught any systematic skills that can be transferred to a real job.
As part of this mission, the DFN Foundation partnered with a charity called Think Forward and set up DFN MoveForward, a post 16 programme curriculum to give young people the work and independent skills to be able to get jobs when they leave school or college.
This was funded through a Social Impact Bond where the DFN Foundation and the Life Chances Fund (a government entity) acted as the ‘Commissioners’ and paid investors for certain pre-agreed outcomes including doing a BTEC in Work Skills, completing four or more work placements and obtaining a job.
The DFN Foundation also bought the UK and Ireland franchise for a US programme called Project SEARCH — a high quality employment internship courses for people with learning difficulties and autism that sees 70 per cent getting jobs, 60 per cent of those full time.
Working with government for policy change
But David is not stopping there.
He has already made great strides towards permanent improvement for disability employment.
His foundation has partnered with the think tank the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) to create the CSJ Disability Commission, together with some top politicians, senior business leaders and disability activists acting to look at best practice around the world and create some executable policy recommendations.
“With government and ministers and civil servants – you’ve got to play the long game,” David said.
The foundation, along with two partners (NDTi and BASE), has also been awarded a government contract from the Department for Education, to set up the ‘Internships Work’ programme to double the number of supported internships in England from 2,250 to 4,500 per year by March 2025.
The DFN Foundation was also a founder member of the Disability Employment Charter, which brought together 12 of the biggest disability charities to agree a set of nine key policy recommendations to improve the employment prospects for disabled people in the UK.
“It gives us a road map to try and achieve a systemic change for disability employment over the next ten years in a collaborative, cross-party way,” David said.
Reaping the rewards
David now spends all of his time on the two charities – DFN Charitable Foundation and DFN Project SEARCH – and says working to create change in areas he feels passionately about is the most fulfilling thing he has ever done.
Using your own capital means greater flexibility, space to use your business acumen and room to take greater risk.
He said: “I’m giving time and money to a small number of causes I really care about. We’re very outcome driven. We manage success really carefully.
“We have the discipline and focus of business within the charity and we have the opportunity to take a bit more risk. We can allocate capital to solving really challenging problems and finding the best talent to help us do it.”
So what would his advice be to wealth holders wanting to start or develop their philanthropic journey?
“I think it’s important to give your children enough so they can do anything but not so much that they can do nothing.
“Once you’ve given your children a good education and maybe a deposit for a flat or something, if there’s anything left over, I’d encourage people to seriously consider philanthropy and pick a few things that you really care about, from a charitable perspective, and follow your passion.
“Surround yourself with the very best talent to execute the strategy. Try to have a strong diverse board to serve as a critical friends.
“Involve your family if they’re interested. Charlie now works for the charity and is doing a great job and my middle son Harry has joined the Board.
“But most importantly, have fun and enjoy the journey. It’s the best thing I’ve ever done.
“We’ve got 30 people now working at the charity and the quality of our people is outstanding. I’m building a similar machine to what I built at Alcentra and I’m seeing lives really changing.
“When you get a youngster into a job who wouldn’t have had a job if they hadn’t gone through our programme, it’s incredibly moving – not just because of the impact on that individual but on their family, their community and the company they work in as well.”
Further information:
David Forbes-Nixon Charitable Foundation
DFN Project SEARCH
DFN Move Forward
The Beacon Collaborative 