A wealth of experience
at your fingertips
The Wall Street English Management Team has a unique blend of people who have direct experience working with Wall Street English centers and students in a variety of roles. This experience gives our Management Team a great perspective on the needs of our global staff and most importantly our students.
We are truly a global organisation, with key management based in strategic locations around the world.
Meet our management team below…
David Kedwards
Chief Executive Officer | Global
- David Kedwards became CEO of Wall Street English in August 2010. David started his career at Wall Street English as the Operations Director for the company’s China operations in May 2001, and became the General Manager in China in August 2001.
- Wall Street English China experienced tremendous growth under David’s guidance. He expanded the company’s presence in several key markets including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, and oversaw the opening of over 45 learning centres in nine years.
- Prior to joining Wall Street English, he worked as the UK Operations Director for KinderCare Learning Centres, the largest private childcare operator in the world. In that role he was responsible for planning and implementing the start-up of KinderCare’s UK business. He was also a founder and General Manager of Bright Horizons Day Nurseries in the UK.
- He has worked in business development roles for Marriott Hotels, TRW (in the aerospace industry), and Marsh Mclennan (in the insurance industry).
- David received his MBA from the University of Bradford and a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Politics and Economics from the University of Lancaster, both in the UK. He also holds a Diploma in Marketing Management from the Chartered Institute of Marketing, also in the UK.
Paul Blackstone
Managing Director | China
- Paul started his extensive career with Wall Street English in 1998 when he began to accrue international experience in a series of operational roles in Argentina, France, and the USA. He relocated to China in 2002 and he directly contributed to the company’s growth, finally taking on the position of CEO in 2010.
- Paul began his professional life in Sydney, Australia, as an Associate with Mars Inc., before leaving to set up his own food and beverage business. After selling his company he completed a CELTA qualification that allowed him to travel and teach extensively in South America. This experience triggered his passion for education and he returned to Australia to work at Navitas as a teacher and The Financial Planning Institute as an Online Learning Consultant.
- Paul holds a MBA from Southern Cross University (New South Wales), a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and Economics from Flinders University (South Australia), and a Master of Educational Technology from Queensland University (Queensland).
Emiliano Battaglia
Managing Director | Italy
- Emiliano Battaglia started his career at Wall Street English as Center Director of WSE Monza, Italy, in 2003. After two years of successful center growth, he became the Corporate Sales Director of WSE Italy. Between 2005 and 2008 he increased corporate sales by more than 300%, closing deals with some of the most important companies in the country.
- As General Manager of WSE Italy Emiliano and his new management team restructured the business, more than doubling revenues. Under his direction WSE Italy has opened eight corporately owned centers and supported the development of 16 franchise centers. This growth means that Italy joins China to lead the Wall Street English network in total number of centers.
Jim McGowan
Managing Director | Franchising
- James McGowan joined Wall Street English in 1992 as a teacher in Madrid, Spain. Since that time, Dr. McGowan has held a variety of roles within the company including Operations Manager for a Spanish franchise organization and National Service Manager in both Italy and Germany.
- In 2005 he assumed the role of General Manager, Wall Street English Germany. During that time, he also served as the Vice President of European Operations. In late 2010, Dr. McGowan became the Vice President – Operations for Wall Street English. In April 2011, he became the Chief Operating Officer.
- Prior to joining Wall Street English Dr. McGowan provided consultancy services for Shell UK and for a European Union funded project into mineral exploration in the Iberian peninsula in collaboration with the Spanish Geological Survey.
- Dr. McGowan has a Bachelor of Science with Honors Degree from Queen´s University, Belfast, Ireland; a Masters in Marketing and Commercial Management from ESIC, Valencia, Spain; and a PhD from the University of Southampton, England. He is also a CELTA certified instructor of English as a foreign language. Dr. McGowan has published and presented his own research in international journals and forums.
Paul Clarke
Head of Marketing | Global
- Paul joined as Head of Marketing in 2015 and has since been focused on developing the marketing function in a number of key areas to ensure it provides a customer and business centric vision for Marketing that enables and catalyses the current Wall Street English business and is focused on developing commercially focused marketing capability in an increasingly digital and online environment.
- Paul joined from the International Airline Group (IAG) where he was Head of Global Marketing for British Airways’ and Iberia’s loyalty currency, Avios.
- Paul has held a number of Global Marketing and Business Development roles in companies as diverse as Skype, Disney, Johnson and Johnson and BBC Worldwide. He has worked in London based global roles as well as in market roles which have included periods based in Russia (Moscow) and Italy (Milan). Paul is based in London and works out of the Pearson London and Wall Street English Barcelona offices.
- Paul has a BA Hons Degree in Business and Marketing and has spent many years living in countries across the Middle East, Asia, Africa and Russia.
Andrew Malcom
Head of Finance | Global
- Andrew joined as Head of Finance from retail telecommunications, having studied Economics and Business at the University of Sheffield (UK), and then qualifying as a chartered accountant. His first roles in Pearson were senior commercial finance positions in Pearson UK, where he oversaw the rapid international expansion in Pearson Qualifications International.
- Andrew moved on to become Vice President of Financial Planning and Analysis where he employed his skills to coordinate the financial planning process across Pearson Growth Markets, consolidating strategy and operational plans, and forecasting.
- His recent promotion to Vice President of Finance, Pearson China Direct Delivery allows Wall Street English to benefit from Andrew’s extensive expertise and knowledge in financial planning and support.
Michael Garcia
Head of Technology | Global
- Originally from the US, Michael Garcia leads our technology organization, setting the digital strategy and executing our journey towards improving learner outcomes through world-class platforms and digital products. He joined the Wall Street English team in December, 2015 to serve as the global technology business partner and in April, 2016 was appointed to lead technology for Pearson’s China Direct Delivery business consisting of Wall Street English and the GEDU test preparation business.
- Before joining Pearson Education as Vice President of technology, Michael worked in various technology and quality leadership roles for 13 years across multiple business units in General Electric, serving as CIO within the GE Transportation and GE Energy units, with roles in the US, France, and Hong Kong.
- He holds a bachelor’s degree in Economics from Princeton University, and currently lives in Hong Kong.
Ken Davis
Head of Product | Global
- Ken has been with Wall Street English since 1995 when he joined a franchise center in Spain as teacher. During his tenure with the organization he has applied his extensive knowledge of teaching and technology to several roles, ranging notably from National Service Manager to IT Director and Global Product Operations. Ken’s current position as Head of Product Management – Retail consolidates his expertise in the creation of Wall Street English core and supplementary product offering.
- Ken’s career with Wall Street English has also seen him also relocate several times. Originally from Ireland, where he graduated in Commerce, he has lived in Italy, USA, and now Spain where he resides with his young family. He shares his love of technology and product innovation with long-distance running, having just completed his fifth marathon.
Javier Sánchez
Head of Legal | Global
- Javier joined Wall Street English in 2017 from Exin Group, where he was the Group General Counsel, and brings extensive experience in the areas of international commercial law, legal group management, compliance, governance, and regulatory. Prior to that, he spent several years with Colt Technology Services where he played a crucial role advising and negotiating contracts with providers, customers, and franchisees. Earlier roles in renowned companies (like Cuatrecasas or KPMG) have furnished Javier with in-depth understanding of business areas that are key to Wall Street English: intellectual property, advertising, software development, or licensing, among others.
- A graduate of the Universitat Pompeu Fabra Law School (Barcelona, Spain) and having studied at the Université de Genève (Switzerland), Javier is well versed in international law. This experience, plus the fact he speaks six languages, has permitted him to work regularly in different jurisdictions.
- In addition to his professional trajectory Javier has an extensive academic record. He was the founder and Director of the Master in International Business Law and of the Master on Intellectual and Industrial Property Law of OBS (Online Business School) at the Universitat de Barcelona, and associate professor at the Law School of the International University of Catalonia.
