Cuppa with a Change Maker
Jo: Systems, soul and seas
☕🫖You pour the brew, I’ll provide the content
In these ‘Cuppa with a Change Maker’ blogs, I’ll feature a guest that is passionate about social justice and tackling inequalities
One of the privileges of this series is the opportunity to sit down with people who are genuinely making a difference. Change makers who aren’t just talking about transformation but are doing the hard work across systems and sectors.
This week’s Cuppa with a Change Maker features someone who is helping shape a bold new chapter in the economic story of Teesside.
Jo Vinton-Bullwinkel is the Operations Director at the newly launched Tees Maritime Cluster a mission-led, cross-sector initiative anchored in the region’s maritime heritage but looking firmly toward the future. With a focus on skills, innovation, and opportunity, the cluster brings together industry leaders, educators, and public partners to inspire the next generation of maritime talent. From marine engineering and logistics to AI, automation, and green innovation, the goal is clear: build a future-ready workforce that reflects the full potential of Teesside.
Jo didn’t grow up in the maritime industry and that’s part of what makes her such a powerful advocate. She knows just how “hidden” the sector can feel, and she’s on a mission to change that. Her leadership is grounded in lived experience, a clear sense of purpose, and the understanding that true change doesn’t come from silos.
Jo brings vision and deep hyperlocal roots to her work.
And whether she’s coordinating with national partners or chatting with sixth formers about careers they’d never imagined, she’s doing it today with a mug in hand and Teesside in her heart.
Systems, soul and seas
I left Teesside at 18. Like so many of us, I thought I needed to leave to change by chasing greener grass, brighter light and broader horizons.
But when I came back, I came back with something deeper: pride and a sense of place.
We may not have the best of everything in the Tees Valley, but we absolutely are the best of everything in my opinion (I’m biased of course!). And nothing brings that home quite like explaining, with a smile, that no, we’re not Geordies!
I spent most of my early career working in or around the public sector, doing the kind of work where I could see the difference being made. Later, I found myself in tech industries and almost by accident. I spent a few successful years climbing the corporate ladder. I built fantastic teams and found purpose in supporting people’s growth. I know, and I say this without apology, that I made a positive difference!
But the corporate world didn’t make a positive difference to me.
The turning point came during a meeting about using data to identify patterns in violence against women and girls. The fire that lit in me was unmistakable.
But when I was told to “dial down the enthusiasm” because it was undermining our negotiation power, I realised just how much of myself I’d compromised. Imagine negotiating over something so urgent, so human.
That moment was a wake-up call.
I needed to get back to work that fed my soul.
That journey led me to the Tees Maritime Cluster and I can honestly say I’ve never looked back. When I met Emma Cranie, now Chair of the Cluster, her passion for reimagining Teesside through maritime lit something in me again. Then I met Charlie Nettle, whose clarity and commitment helped shape that spark into something solid.
Now, as Operations Director, it’s my job to turn that bold vision into action: building the infrastructure, forging the partnerships, and helping this cluster become an engine for transformation.
Because this isn’t just about ships and sea.
It’s about people, pride, purpose. It’s about the future of a place known as Teesside.
(Source: Tees Valley Education - Classroom to Careers project at AV Dawson)
Anchoring ambition
Teesside has always looked to the water for opportunity. Our ports have launched industries, careers, and generations of hard work.
But the maritime sector is changing and it’s time our story helped to change it.
On 7 May 2025, we launched the Tees Maritime Cluster at the Port of Middlesbrough ;a new chapter in that story. A mission-driven, cross-sector-led initiative, backed by Maritime UK and endorsed by the Department for Transport, the cluster is designed to bring together industry, education, and community.
(Source: Maritime Cluster Teesside; 2025)
It’s about anchoring ambition.
About ensuring that every child, every young person, every jobseeker can see themselves in the careers shaping our region’s future. Like Tees Valley Education often say, ‘if you can’t see it, it’s hard to be it’.
Not just out at sea, but onshore, in high-value roles across marine engineering, cybersecurity, logistics, finance, policy, AI, and more.
This isn’t outreach or collaboration for the sake of a press release. It’s long-term work to close the skills gap, align local talent with real opportunity, and build a resilient maritime economy rooted in strengths across communities in Teesside.
Why? Nearly one in three children in Tees Valley grows up in poverty and facing complex inequalities. Around 9% of our 16–17-year-olds are not in education, employment or training; almost double the national average.
These are not mere numbers on a spreadsheet. They’re the echoes of decades of lost opportunity and talent. This isn’t good enough and it needs to change.
And they’re also the reason we’re building the cluster.
Clusters, case studies and conversations
In these early stages, the wins don’t always come in neat headlines. They come in conversations; the kind that spark new ideas, unlock potential, and start to rewire what’s possible.
They come in and outside classrooms where children and young people discover, often for the first time, that maritime isn’t just something you see in a textbook. It’s here. It’s growing. And they could be part of it. This is clear in the work that Tees Valley Education help to facilitate through their Classrooms to Careers projects and curriculum with partners such as Port of Middlesbrough, AV Dawson, Casper Shipping and PD Ports.
(Source: Tees Valley Education; Classroom to Careers visit to AV Dawson)
Our mission is to illuminate those paths – and make sure they stay open.
We're doing this through maritime training sessions, careers fairs, and collaborations that bring schools, colleges, and employers into the same room. It's practical, local, and focused on the long term.
And crucially, it's inclusive.
Because a sector that only opens its doors to the few will never reach its full potential. We need diverse voices, local leadership, and opportunities that reach every corner of our region – not just the privileged few.
Sustainable change
What excites me most is that we’re not just talking about economic growth. We’re talking about sustainable change and growth; green tech, international collaboration, and aligning our goals with the UK Maritime 2050 strategy.
This cluster has the power to attract inward investment, drive innovation, and become a catalyst for change in communities.
But it will also be something quieter: a signal to the people of Teesside that this industry, and this future, includes local communities. Change needs to be achieved with our local communities and not done to them.
One of the very first events I attended as part of the cluster was hosted by Tees Valley Education. Hearing Katrina Morley speak brought it full circle. I was back in a room where enthusiasm wasn’t something to tone down, it was welcomed, encouraged, needed. Katrina and Sean write more about this in their book Tackling Poverty and Disadvantage in Schools. In fact, there is a whole chapter dedicated to the Classroom to Careers work that Tees Valley Education implement with partners in the Tees Valley.
It also reflects what this cluster is about. It's about giving ourselves permission to care deeply and act boldly.
(Royal Navy Receives Honorary Membership of Tees Maritime)
We don’t have all the answers yet. And that’s exactly the point.
We're not pretending it’s solved; we're here to do the work.
If you’re reading this and you care about Teesside (or your own local maritime clusters!), about equity, about helping young people walk through the doors of possibility – then this is your invitation.
Come and help shape a maritime future that reflects the very best of us.
And if you fancy a cuppa while we figure it out?
My mug and I are always ready.
☕ Connect with Jo
Find out more about the Tees Maritime Cluster by visiting here
You can find Jo on LinkedIn here
Reach out via our contact us form here at the Maritime Cluster
🫖 Fancy a cuppa?
Could you be one of my next guests?
Here's a link that will take you to a quick form about the blog series. I'll be running 1-2 a month, so I would love to add prospective authors to the schedule.
Please do pass the link on to other change makers you might know of.
Ideas for content might include:
Particular project making a difference to the lived realities of hardship for others
Innovative approaches to understanding and/or tackling inequalities
Signposts of further support, free resources etc on a specific issue
Ideas or examples do not have to be school based
I’m happy to promote approaches, strategies and ideas - but avoid using the blog as a sales pitch for a particular product or traded offer please! (Unless it makes sliced bread look like a medieval idea….)