Dr John Loughton BEM is Chief Executive of leadership training company Dare2Lead, founder of education charity Scran Academy and one of the UK’s most sought-after motivational speakers and facilitators. He is a social entrepreneur, campaigner, youth worker and leadership coach with a background in community education. John ran his first campaign aged 11 despite facing a challenging childhood and has went on to speak to over one million people, worked across 65 countries and helped raise over £10million for good causes. Dare2Lead has trained over 60,000 people across 120 clients. He is also Founder of Scran Academy, an education social enterprise that has led the production of over 200,000 meals during lockdown for thousands of vulnerable families and has run alternative education services since 2018 - enrolling over 300 learners.
As a speaker, John has addressed the Scottish Parliament Chamber, the White House, UN General Assembly, TED Talk events and the European Commission. He was appointed by the Prime Minister to serve on the Calman Commission and member of the National Literacy Commission. He has a strong voluntary sector background having worked in policy for leading charities such as Relate and The Princes Trust in London and Edinburgh. He was also elected Prime Minister of the Youth Diplomatic Service at the G8 and G20 Summits in Washington DC.
John was named Outstanding Youth of the World 2013 in Rio de Janeiro, and in the Queens Honours List 2020 was awarded the British Empire Medal. He is a World Peace Tartan Global Ambassador, presented to him in 2017 by the grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, Arun Gandhi. He is a World Ambassador for Junior Chamber International where he was inaugurated at the United Nations HQ in New York. John studied Comparative Human Rights on a UNESCO programme at the University of Connecticut and is a regular guest lecturer at universities and schools. In 2024, he received an Honorary Doctorate from the University of the West of Scotland, for services to young people and social enterprise.
On a lighter note, in 2007 he rose in prominence after winning TV show Celebrity Big Brother Hijack. John is a ‘proud ginger’, and when not taking to social media, he loves to switch off by travelling or bagging another munro (climbing mountains in Scotland).
