CEO of The Mowgli Foundation
Looking back on his life, Simon Edwards has learnt that it is through change that we learn who we really are and what is important in life. Having been a soldier, an entrepreneur and a social entrepreneur, Simon has been fortunate to have been helped along the way by a number of inspirational mentors. As CEO of Mowgli, Simon is now able to repay the debt by mentoring others in need of guidance.
Responsible for developing a world-class training programme for Mowgli mentors and mentees, Simon learnt his own early lessons in leadership at Sandhurst.
As a young troop leader in the 15th/19th Hussars he saw first-hand the moral courage needed to put leadership into practice, and he developed a philosophy based on that of Goethe: Treat a man as he is and he remains as he is. Treat a man as he can and should be and he will become as he can and should be.
Helping people to discover and fulfil their potential has since become Simon's passion. After graduating from the Army Staff College, he spent 18 months in some of the UK’s toughest jails, completing contingency plans for a Prison Officers’ strike.
Moving on to cut his entrepreneurial teeth, Simon spent seven years developing a successful restaurant business, which went on to acquire the Pierre Victoire restaurant group after a complex management buyout in 1998.
Subsequently embarking on a management consultancy and business coaching career, Simon then went on to fulfil an early ambition to establish a charity, Believe, whose mission is to inspire change amongst the socially excluded - including young and adult offenders.
As a member of the Prison Reform Group led by Jonathan Aitken, Simon understands that respect for the whole individual - whatever their current circumstance - is key. This philosophy led him to Mowgli, whose creation of jobs, aspiration and opportunity across the globe captured his imagination.
Married with four daughters and two dogs, Simon Edwards lives in Bath and enjoyed half marathons until very recently and still enjoys being with family and friends, walking, tennis, cooking, theatre and cinema.
