TEA Cup Honours: Graeme Baldwin for Keeping the Good Governance Party Going

I gotta feeling… that Pearson’s AGMs are where governance gets real—unlike some others who still phunk with our hearts.

Let’s be honest. Most people don’t dream about AGMs. But when governance is done right, it can feel like a Boom Boom Pow moment—because structure doesn’t have to mean stale. And that’s why this week, we’re giving a TEA Cup shoutout to Graeme Baldwin, General Counsel & Company Secretary of Pearson plc, for consistently showing that governance can have groove—not just structure.

Pearson’s AGM wasn’t loud. It wasn’t flashy. It wasn’t Coachella-for-Capitalists (though we’re manifesting…), but it had something better: clarity, continuity, and the kind of clean execution you’d expect from a board that knows its way around a pivot chart and a podcast mic. After all, Pearson’s CEO Omar Abbosh literally co-wrote the book on disruption (Pivot to the Future) and co-hosted a podcast with will.i.am. This is a man who can talk about AI and education reform one minute, and then drop a Fergie lyric the next.

The boardroom is stacked. Chair Omid Kordestani, ex-Google and ex-Twitter Executive Chair, has the kind of transatlantic tech gravitas that says “strategic oversight”—but with the wardrobe of someone who just stepped off a yacht in Capri. The RemCo Chair, Sherry Coutu, meanwhile? Total icon. Entrepreneur, philanthropist, Raspberry Pi board member—and the undisputed girl crush of every fintech nerd who grew up on Alanis, Avril, Sarah McLachlan, and Shania. Her CV slaps. Her track record holds. Her vibe? Supreme.

But for all the cool-kid credentials at the top, it’s Graeme and his team who keep the rhythm steady. From my first post-AGM engagement in 2024 through to this year’s session, Graeme has been a model of consistent, unshowy excellence. He’s not trying to be in the spotlight (his sons would never let him live it down). But he brings structure, humanity, and quiet clarity to everything he does.

This year’s AGM gathered around 50 attendees—mostly retail shareholders, with a handful of analysts, advisers, and perennial AGM circuit friends. The vibe was low drama, high function. It felt like a board meeting with soul. Bonus: I got my second annual selfie with Pearson regular Robert Evan Ralph, who, at this point, deserves his own LSEG badge of honour.

Let’s not forget the team alongside Graeme. Natalie White and Christie Wolstencroft remind us that a strong governance culture is authored, line by line, in the quiet work of those who bring structure to life. If Mary Shelley gave us a cautionary tale about stitching parts together without soul, this team offers the counterpoint: a governance framework not only alive—but coherent, composed, and conscious of its stakeholders. And that, my friends, is corporate governance with a pulse.

AGM Festival 2026, Pearson edition? Just putting it out there… 🎪🫖