Joe Seddon


Joe Seddon is a British social entrepreneur and the founder of Zero Gravity, a digital social enterprise which connects students with mentors, universities and employers. He is previously the founder of Access Oxbridge, a non-profit organisation which provides mentorship to students from low-income backgrounds who wish to apply to the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge.

Early life

Seddon was born in Leeds, West Yorkshire in June 1997. He was raised in Morley, West Yorkshire by his mother, Catherine, who works as a speech therapist in the National Health Service.
Seddon was educated at Heckmondwike Grammar School, a state school in Kirklees, West Yorkshire. In his later years at school, Seddon was involved in competitive debating, where he qualified for England's National Debating Team.
After leaving school, Seddon read Philosophy, Politics, and Economics at Mansfield College, Oxford, graduating with first class honours. During university, Seddon was an occasional contributor to the education section of The Daily Telegraph, where he wrote articles about Britain's higher education system.

Career

Access Oxbridge

Upon graduating from the University of Oxford, Seddon founded Access Oxbridge, a non-profit organisation which connects students from low-income backgrounds with undergraduate mentors studying at the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge. The mentoring sessions take place in hour-long video calls via an app once a week.
Seddon founded the organisation at the age of 21 and initially funded the initiative from the remnants of his university maintenance grant. In 2018, Access Oxbridge recruited over 500 undergraduate volunteers to mentor 200 students in Year 12 and 13 from low-income backgrounds. 50 of those students achieved offers to study at Oxford and Cambridge.
In 2019, Seddon relaunched Access Oxbridge as a mobile app. That year, 60 students from the program achieved offers to study at Oxford and Cambridge.
In October 2019, he was awarded the Prime Minister's Points of Light award for social impact in education.

Zero Gravity

In May 2020, Seddon launched Zero Gravity, a digital social enterprise which connects students from low-income backgrounds with undergraduate mentors studying at both Oxbridge and Russell Group universities.

Advocacy & Media

Seddon's work as a social entrepreneur has been covered by a number of major publications, including BBC News, The Times, The Telegraph, and Corriere della Serra.
Seddon is a contributor to BBC News, BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 5 Live, where he discusses social mobility and increasing access to higher education. He has also been a guest speaker at the Cambridge Union, where he has delivered lectures on social entrepreneurship.

Personal life

Seddon lives in London and is a Hull City supporter.