[4] Joan Gruner, Alice's sister, had been a student at Girton 1874-1877, as well as at Trinity College, Dublin, and was a school principal.
[6] Alongside Gruner and other Cambridge University graduates, the original committee included educationist Helen Gladstone and social reformer Octavia Hill.
Following the example of the growing University Settlement movement, their aim was to "promote the welfare of the poorer districts of London, more especially of the women and children, by devising and advancing schemes which tend to elevate them, and by giving them additional opportunities in education and recreation".
[1][8] Here, her 'experience and untiring devotion to the work made her a most valuable adviser both to those who offered and those who were seeking educational posts.
'[9] Her obituary in The Times noted that in this role 'she helped to raise the status of women teachers, and the standard of education in schools'.