Zoe Shuttleworth is a Director of It Happens Education and leads and delivers the Substance strand of our work, talking about a range of different topics, from medicines and the law through to illegal drugs and harm reduction. Zoe also works directly with many of the leading UK festival organisers, sharing information about how to be safe at festivals with students, parents and teachers.

Zoe joined It Happens Education in 2019 as a freelance speaker and in September 2021, Zoe became the second Director of It Happens Education. Zoe is passionate about sharing evidence based, non-judgemental information with young people so they can make well informed and, hopefully, safer choices. Zoe’s message is predominantly one of assessing risk, thinking through the consequences and encouraging young people to ask for help as soon as it’s needed.

Prior to It Happens Education, Zoe spent 15 years working directly with people experiencing addiction issues, supporting them to address their substance use and helping them to rebuild their lives. She started working in homelessness in 2004, supporting people with drug, alcohol and mental health issues and then specialised in criminal justice drug and alcohol treatment, working in police stations, prisons, courts and the community. In 2013, Zoe was appointed manager of the community drug and alcohol service in Hackney and had responsibility for 600 service users and a team of 20 staff.

Zoe is a skilful communicator and is able to build rapport quickly with children and adults alike, no matter their immediate circumstances or walk of life. Zoe is a trustee of Flip’s Fund, a charity supporting children in India to access education. She is a Crossfit fan and has two wonderful children.