John May (youth worker)

John May, born in 1964, is one of 12 elected members of the World Scout Committee, the main executive body of Scouting worldwide; and Chairman of its Educational Methods Committee, advising national organisations on their youth programme and support for adult leaders.

John has been a leader in most Sections of Scouting within the United Kingdom. He was a Cub Leader in Bristol at the time of well publicised civil unrest within the city in the eighties; was a Beaver Scout Leader in Staffordshire; served on the National Venture Scout Team, has been a Scout Leader in High Wycombe and the District Commissioner for Camden, Islington and the City of London.

In 1991, at the age of 27, he became World Scouting’s youngest ever International Commissioner; a position he held for nine years. He led the UK Contingent to the World Scout Jamboree in Holland in 1995 and was a member of the organising committee of the 21st World Scout Jamboree in the UK in 2007. From 1999 - 2005, John was The Scout Association’s Chairman of Programme and Development. John was honoured with the Bar to the Silver Acorn for his services to the Movement in 2008.

Professionally, John is the Chief Executive of Career Academies UK, a charity that leads and supports a national movement of over 500 employers and 90 schools & further education colleges, working in partnership to raise the aspirations of 16 to 19-year-olds. John is a former non-executive director of UNICEF, has been one of the judges of the National Teaching Awards and was the founding director of Teach First. He writes, speaks and broadcasts on a number of education related matters. In 2008, John received The Queen’s Award for Enterprise Promotion in recognition of his long-standing dedication to enterprise education.