Focus on the Young

Business consultant Andrew Kramer is dedicated to using his abilities to help young people develop their own skills.

Andrew (OE 2001-2008) is always looking for opportunities to work with clients focusing on education and young people.

After reading History at Jesus College, Oxford, Andrew worked as an English teacher and lecturer for ten months at Hengshui University in China. He also completed a short placement as a Communications Manager at Thirst, a water-sustainability NGO in Beijing.

In 2013 he moved to Berlin where he worked at a technology start-up and developed a free e-learning app for Android phones called Unlock Your Brain. “We put puzzles on the lockscreen so every time the user unlocked the phone they trained their brain.”

That same year he joined global business consultancy McKinsey & Company in London, where he works today. “I have served a real mix of private, public and social sector clients. I have tended to focus on clients in the City, in Whitehall, or those with a focus on education and young people, reflecting my interest in building young people's skills.”

Other work for McKinsey has included an assignment in Trinidad & Tobago, where he worked with a client in oil and gas, and enjoyed “exploring the beauty of the Caribbean”.

He renewed his contact with the School in 2015 after being impressed at the calibre of a QE Year 13 pupil (Bilal Hussain) whom he met at the McKinsey Leadership Academy. The Academy offers a two-day residential workshop for Sixth-Formers in the first year, followed by another the next year, with an opportunity to enter a competition for a leadership award.

“I was thrilled not only to hear about how QE continues to thrive, but also because of a wonderful conversation I had with Bilal about what leadership means; we took the opportunity to compare notes on our respective ambitions for the future.”