Greater Exeter Area
Really enjoying my role at Exeter University helping students find their path in law careers. The University is a great place to work and every week I meet someone new who is both interesting and interested. Curiosity abounds here. I hope it rubs off on our students - there are so many thousands of possibilities for all of our students and it is my mission to help them truly believe that and reach out to grasp them with confidence. Elected City Councillor for the Green Party for St David's ward in 2022 I was proud to represent the residents of Exeter for four rewarding, often challenging, sometimes frustrating but always highly worthwhile years. In this time I reopened the archway in the Roman city wall between Rougemont and Northernway Gardens, helped the farmers market at the quayside be set up, got policies on what we can do locally to address the climate and nature crisis be put in place, rehoused the street attached, helped hundreds of residents with damp and mould and parking tickets and missed bins, spoke up in Council on countless concerns, attended hundreds of meetings, answered thousands of emails, sang in Council making the news on three occasions, and was appointed Exeter's first Green Deputy Lord Mayor of Exeter. I relished the opportunity these positions gave me to create and deliver speeches that really land and move mindsets, as well as speeches that create a feeling of welcome and warmth. Accustomed to meeting people from all backgrounds and all futures I am as at ease talking to a small group of residents or hosting a large event with visiting dignitaries. A very experienced career guidance coach of many years experience I help people find their passion from where it got stuck down the back of the sofa is my passion. Looking for new directions or unsure of where your career should or could take you? Through personalised coaching sessions, we will explore what really makes you you right now, and what could be the you in a few years time. And we will make sure to have a lot of fun along the way! Utterly thrilled to run my acappella group Tess & the d'Urbervilles! Check out our music and book us for your event here https://www.tessdurbervilles.com. Experienced Writer with 10 books to my name, frequent broadcaster, I write a column for Reconnect magazine. Graduated in Politics from Kings College, Cambridge; Masters in European Politics from Exeter College, Oxford; Economics summer schools LSE. Worked at the Bank of England and appointed an independent expert on the Covergence Think Tank advising UK government Secretary of State.
Helping students find their way, whether it is finding their values in their career choices, understanding their own skills and how to express them, building confidence and seeing how they can contribute to working towards a better world.
Extremely honoured to have been appointed Deputy Lord Mayor of Exeter for a one year term from May 2023. A huge honour and an immense privilege to work with and for the city in this way.
Honoured to serve as a Green Councillor for St David's ward, Exeter City Council. I was elected in May 2022 for a four year term. Passionate about helping citizens in Exeter and driving change here to improve the lives of residents and improve the chances of nature.
Proud to lead this wonderful community of singers in my acappella group Tess & the d'Urbervilles.
I am the author of ten books and many articles including for the FT, and broadcaster including for the BBC on From Our Own Correspondent. See my website www.tessread.com for my latest articles, restaurant reviews and columns published in Exeter Living Magazine, and radio interviews. After several years at the Bank of England I had a successful business career in commercial due diligence in London working for Private Equity clients covering a huge range of industries and sectors including Pinewood Film Studios, the Groucho Club, Reebok Gym, and major pharmaceutical and manufacturing companies. I escaped London a few years ago when I took my family around the World for a year and then moved to Exeter #livingthedream. Here I work as a coach for Mandarin Consulting, successfully coaching international students through job interviews for graduate training programs in major international companies such as KPMG, PWC, HSBC. I also run the Exeter-based acappella group 'Tess and the d'Urbervilles', and I am an Enterprise Advisor for schools in my copious free time of which I have none. I tweet from @tessread, and @tessdurbs. Do get in touch!
Appointed independent expert on government created Think Tank to advise Secretary of State on media convergence leading to new legislation.