Meet our people

Alastair Stewartis a presenter on GB News and will host a news and current affairs programme on Saturdays and Sundays. Before that, he presented a range of news and current affairs programmes on the ITV network and was one of

FED Ambassador. Alison Gellett. Ali leads The Big AI Project within The Oasis Big Education Institute, which seeks to empower every school in the UK and Republic of Ireland with the skills they need to approach AI ethically, safely and strategically.

Aliyah is a fierce change maker and the founder of Pupil Power, a national student-ledmovement challenging the reimagination of the future of education. Her advocacy strives tocentre youth voices; whilst bridging the gap between young people and educational leadersand policy

FED Ambassador: Andrew Copson was appointed Chief Executive of Humanists UK in 2009 and elected President of Humanists International in 2015. He is a former director of the Religious Education Council, the Values Education Council, and the National Council for

Chair of The Commission on Young Lives, Former Children’s Commissioner for England, and vulnerable children and Independent Chair, NHS Children and Young People Learning Disability and Autism Board.    Anne has spent the last three decades working to improve the

Anthony is immediate past CEO and current Co-Chair of the Washington DC-based National Center on Education and the Economy. He was Inaugural Chair, Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL); Inaugural Deputy Chair of the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and

Sir Anthony Seldon is one of Britain’s leading contemporary historians, educationalists, commentators and political authors. Artificial intelligence and well-being in education are two of his specialist areas. He was a transformative head for 20 years, first of Brighton College and

Barry qualified as a dentist in 1973 and spent the first twenty five yearsof his career working in mainly NHS general practice and becoming involved in dental politics atprofessional representative level locally and nationally. He moved to the Department of

Bella Cox is an internationally-acclaimed poet and multi-disciplinary artist now based in London, UK. She has worked for over 6 years as a poet, workshop facilitator, MC, and event producer in Kenya, South Africa and the UK. She is a

Ben Caulfield is CEO and co-founder of Eedi, an educational technology company that identifies and resolves over 90% of students’ misconceptions using best-in-class pedagogy and fully-qualified tutors. Eedi’s team of teachers, engineers and researchers are helping educators to close the

FED Ambassador and Learners Council Representative: Benjamin N’gonga is the Lead Marketing and PR for an independent music record label founded by Craig Fenton, Big Community Records. An artist-first social enterprise on a mission to surface and celebrate new talent

FED Ambassador: Bukky Yusuf is a Thought Leader, leadership coach and author with over twenty years teaching experience. She has undertaken a number of leadership roles within mainstream and special school settings, centring around professional development programmes, quality first teaching

FED Ambassador: Caitlin Bell is the Head of Market Development at Capita, where she leads strategic initiatives to expand market presence and drive business growth. In this role, she is responsible for identifying new market opportunities, developing go-to-market strategies, and

Catherine Roche is the Chief Executive of Place2Be. She began her career in teaching before completing an MBA and joining KPMG. Her pro bono support for Place2Be from 1996 inspired her to join the charity as Chief Operating Officer in

Charlotte Bosworth is Managing Director of Innovate Awarding. Charlotte’s career within Education commenced in 1996 with RSA Examinations Board and she has vast experience in curriculum, assessment and qualification design. Charlotte has spent much of her career working in partnership

My name is Chloe Hine, I am 24 years old from the South Coast of England and challenging the stigma around mental health is a passion of mine. I am an advocate for youth social action and love nothing more

Christian Foley makes it up as he goes along. His freestyles have taken him from the school classroom, to Oprah’s Television Networks and PMQ’s at Westminster, from the festival circuit to TED talks and the Premier League. Christian’s improvised performances

FED Ambassador: Christine Mullin is a business leader in the technology sector, specializing in B2B SaaS with an extremely successful track record in scaling businesses and leading successful exits including Dext, MetaPack, Bookatable and most recently Texthelp. Christine is known

As Managing Director of Capita Entrust Schools, working with over 6,000 schools across the UK, Claire understands the complexities and challenges faced by those in education, alongside the breadth of opportunities and potential for improvement. With over 25 years of

FED Ambassador: David Goodhart is a British journalist, commentator and author. He is the founder and a former editor of Prospect magazine. He was a correspondent for the Financial Times for 12 years; for part of the period he was

Professor David Hopkins is currently Chair of Educational Leadership at the University of Bolton, as well as being Professor Emeritus at the Institute of Education, University College London and the University of Nottingham. David is passionately committed to improving the

David has over 35 years’ business experience, of which 25 years has been at board-level. He has deep expertise in PR, communications, strategy, sales and negotiation, from working at a very senior level with many SMEs, global trade bodies and

FED Ambassador: David Wootton CBE DL has over forty years’ experience in Education and in Educational Leadership, having been CEO of one of the highest performing MATs in the country, Trust Executive, Executive Principal, Principal, Headteacher and Music teacher, working

Dawn is Chair of the World Federation of Colleges and Polytechnics and is the Chief Executive of Burton and South Derbyshire College in the UK.  She is also Deputy Chair of the Chartered Institution for Further Education.  She has a

FED Ambassador: Emma Balchin has been the National Governance Association (NGA) Chief Executive since September 2023. In this role she leads the charity with a focus on improving educational standards and the wellbeing of young people. Working under the direction of

Farrah is the former co-founder and CEO of Primordial (a deep biotechfounded via Entrepreneur First), Uniformed, a national UK charity that hasraised significant funding and operates with an umbrella of ~50 partnerschools and organisations, and is currently building another start-up.

Floyd is a former Special Forces Soldier who delivered unparalleled success over a full career with 22 Special Air Service Regiment (SAS). He was awarded a DCM, the second highest gallantry award, for work in Iraq, and an MBE for

FED Ambassador: Gavin English has over a decade of experience across both independent and state education, including executive leadership and governance. He is currently Cognita’s UK Head of educational quality and improvement. He is also a charity founder with a focus

Geoff is a Fellow of the Inst of Directors, the Royal Society of Chemistry and the Institute of Environmental Management & Accounting. He is also a member of the UK Trade and Business Commission; and a Trustee of Lantra and

FED Ambassador: Gordon Marsden is a politician, historian , writer and commentator and was MP for Blackpool South from 1997 to 2019. Before entering Parliament Gordon was an Open University Lecturer and tutor for 20 years , helped launch and

Howard is CEO of Hub4Leaders & Evaluate-Ed Ltd. He has been involved with the education sector for over 35 years and founded the successful education finance software company HCSS Education, now part of The Access Group. Prior to setting up

FED Ambassador: Jacqui Latham is a highly experienced senior leader in inclusion, SEND and safeguarding, with nearly 30 years of experience in education. She is recognised for her strategic leadership, commitment to equity and passion for improving outcomes for children

James has spent a lifetime fighting to improve the education opportunities and life chances for young people from disadvantaged backgrounds. He is passionate about the role communities and local leadership play in this and in 2021/22 he co-chaired the FED’s

Jane Hickie is Chief Executive of the Association of Employment and Learning Providers (AELP). She is responsible for the overall management and strategic direction of the organisation, ensuring that AELP achieves its mission and objectives. Jane joined AELP in 2016

FED Ambassador: Jane Mann is Managing Director of the Partnership for Education and Education Director of the International Education Group at Cambridge University Press & Assessment. Jane has worked in the educational sector for nearly three decades, advising on, implementing

Jason is Chief Executive of Mission 44, a new charitable foundation launched by Sir Lewis Hamilton to boost social mobility in the UK. After starting his career as a teacher in east London, Jason has spent the last decade working in

Jason Horne is a Partner at GSV Ventures, a venture capital fund investing in the most dynamic entrepreneurs and companies across digital education and workforce skills. GSV’s portfolio includes ClassDojo, Class Technologies, Coursera, Course Hero, Degreed, Guild Education, Masterclass, and

Javid Mahdavi serves as the Managing Director of Nexus Associates (ICT) and Colwyn Technologies Limited, both dedicated to providing premium ICT services, with a specific emphasis on the Education Sector within the Public Sector. Javid’s journey in education began in

FED Ambassador: Jim Knight is the former Minister of State for Schools for the UK Government, and now a member of the House of Lords also working in education, and digital technology. Jim continues to develop his education expertise, particularly around

John, The Lord Bird MBE was born into poverty and brought up in care. His life journey has included spells as a prisoner, artist and printer. Now an activist, publisher and Crossbench member of the House of Lords, Lord Bird

FED Ambassador: John Camp OBE is an innovative leader, both locally and nationally, with a proven track record of system and school transformation. He is skilled in educational leadership and research, system change, organisational culture, leadership development and school improvement. John is

Jon is the Scholarships Lead for Blackbullion, a leading financial technology company dedicated to supporting young people with financial literacy and wellness. In his role, Jon is creating new ways for the private sector and the education sector to be

FED Ambassador: Jonas Andrew-Phillip is an International Multi-Award-Winning TEDx Speaker, Workshop Facilitator and Host. He facilitates career and personal progression workshops, programmes and speeches for young people. Using his own personal transformation story of wasteman to winner Jonas supports his

As Founding Director of Oasis UK, Joy established Oasis as a group of organisations delivering education, housing, health, anti human trafficking and a wide range of local community projects.  When Oasis became a MAT, she took on the role of

Justin is the HundrED UK Lead and Founder and Director of Conscious Learning Ltd, connecting people with opportunities and unlocking potential. He leads the HundrED UK Community identifying innovation in education. HundrED has over 800 Ambassadors in more than 100

Justyn Randall has over 20 years’ experience building and scaling global businesses in recruitment, digital technology, HR consultancy, healthcare and education. Prior to Opogo, Justyn scaled Global Group internationally to £120m. Core to Justyn’s ventures is innovation; for the past

Karan Bilimoria, Lord Bilimoria of Chelsea CBE DL, is the founder of Cobra Beer, Chairman of the Cobra Beer Partnership Limited, a Joint Venture with Molson Coors, and Chairman of Molson Coors Cobra India. In the Monde Selection, one of

FED Ambassador: Karl C. Pupé FRSA is a qualified classroom teacher, leader and education consultant with over 17 years experience in the primary, secondary and Further Education sectors. He is also the author of the award-winning books The Action Hero

FED Ambassador: Dr Kate Bridge has spent more than 20 years helping young people discover what they are capable of – whether through Physics, sport, or learning life-saving skills such as CPR. A Chartered Teacher and Co-Chair of the Practitioner Council

Les Walton has a unique record of being a successful leader and innovator within most education sectors. As Headteacher, his school was identified by HMI as ‘one of the most successful urban schools in the country’. In his time as

Lorenzo is the Digital and Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning Lead at the Tony Blair Institute. He specialises in leading the development of large-scale digital learning platforms and in evaluating the impact of educational activities designed for young people. He

Madeleine Holt is a filmmaker, entrepreneur and campaigner in education. Formerly culture correspondent on BBC Newsnight, she makes films about innovative, community-minded comprehensive schools and has made the first in-depth film about XP school in Doncaster through her enterprise, Schools on

FED Ambassador: Marcus Cherrill. A versatile educator and trainer with over thirty years’ experience. Marcus has trained thousands of teachers in over 30 countries in teaching and learning, STEM and safeguarding. Prior to joining VolkerWessels UK as Early Careers Manager,

Marianne is the Managing Director of Education, Health, and Social Care at Capita, with over 13 years of public sector experience. She has held key roles, including Finance & Commercial Director at Sheffield City Council and Commercial Director at BFS.

Mark Dawe was appointed last year as the Chief Executive of The Skills Network after 4.5 years as CEO of AELP. He is on the Board of WorldSkills UK and AELP as well as a range of government advisory boards. Previously, Mark

Martin McKay, Texthelp’s CEO, award-winning entrepreneur and innovator, is an EdTech trailblazer with lofty ambitions for the world of literacy. Martin founded Texthelp when he was in his early twenties to help people with communication difficulties back in 1996. What

Ambassador: Mary Palmer is the CEO of the Teaching Awards Trust, an educational charity that celebrate and recognises the impact of educators across the UK via the Pearson National Teaching Awards and the Thank a Teacher campaign. Mary is a

Matt Hyde is Chief Executive of the Scouts, the UK’s largest youth movement. Formerly Chief Executive of the National Union of Students (NUS), he has undertaken a number of leadership roles in the charity sector and as Chief Executive of

Melissa Farnham is CEO of ASDAN and an experienced education leader with over 25 years driving inclusive practice, policy influence, and system change. Drawing on her own lived experience of resilience, she champions equitable learning pathways for disadvantaged learners. She

FED Ambassador: Melissa Richardson MBE. Starting her career as an apprentice in British Airways, Mel has been inspired by working with young people. Since her career journey began in 2012, she has worked in the emerging talent space and delivered

Dr Michelle Clement is Lecturer and Researcher on reform and delivery in government at The Strand Group, King’s College London. She is also Researcher in Residence at No.10 Downing Street. The purpose of her work is to understand how government

FED Ambassador Michelle Haywood is the CEO and founding Director of Ordinary Classrooms Educational Consultancy Ltd. Michelle is a qualified teacher and skilled System leader, with particular expertise within Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND), Inclusion & Safeguarding. As well

Mohammed is an Associate Researcher and Co-Chairs the Learners Council at The Foundation for Education Development. He also works for the Education Strategy Unit at the City of London Corporation and has been supporting the resettlement of Afghan refugees. Mohammed

FED Ambassador: Natasha Oppenheim is an advisor, investor and operator in the fields of education and the future of work with a focus on innovation. Natasha advises a wide range of pioneering education companies from those accelerating SEN reading to

Richardson’s passion for blending his technology background with education stems from his time as a US Peace Corps Volunteer in Senegal (1993-1995) and as Country Director of The International Rescue Committee in Liberia (2006-2007.)  . He has been on the

FED Ambassador: WorldSkills UK is a skills quality improvement partnership between employers, education and governments. Neil joined WorldSkills UK as CEO in 2015 and under his tenure, the organisation has grown and developed to focus on how international benchmarking from

Dr. Neil Hawkes D. Phil (Oxford), MEd, BA, FRSA is internationally well known as an inspirational speaker, educator, broadcaster, author and social commentator.  He is a popular TEDx presenter.  Neil’s thinking is having a profound influence on education and more

FED Ambassador: Dr Nicole Ponsford is an award-winning educator, researcher, EdTech founder, and creator of the Global Equality Collective (GEC). Recognised as BESA Person of the Year and listed on the Diversity Power List 2025, she is one of the

Olly Newton spent 12 years in the Department for Education working on policies including 14-19 diplomas, raising the participation age and finally as Head of Apprenticeship Strategy. Olly is now Executive Director of the Edge Foundation, where he oversees a

FED Ambassador: Pamela Burnard is Professor of Arts, Creativities and Educations at the Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge, UK. She has published 25 books and over 120 articles which advance the theory and practice of pluralising and assessing creativities

FED Ambassador. Patrick Craven FIEP. Executive Director Policy & Stakeholder Partnerships, City & Guilds UK. Patrick has over 30 years’ experience in the field of accreditation, assessment design and educational technology. From the design of educational resources with MESU/NCET and BECTa to running of post-sales technology support departments with

FED Ambassador: Patrick Wall is the Co-Founder of the Centre for Education Systems (CES.partners), building international comparative reviews to support policy making discussions. Patrick is also founder of edpol.net, a research project to support better and more enduring policy change.

FED Ambassador: Sir Paul Grant is the most senior education advisor to the Liverpool City Region Mayor. He is a native of Liverpool from a very large working class family. He was the Headteacher of Robert Clack School for over

Paul leads Coventry University’s enterprise and innovation work following a successful career spanning over a quarter of a century with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), representing and promoting the best of British industry and technology across the globe. His

Phil Denton is the Chief Operating Officer for EdStart Schools. He is a leader within an organisation looking to create a real alternative to mainstream education which transforms the lives of our societies most vulnerable young people. He is a

Rebecca Winthrop is a senior fellow and co-director of the Center for Universal Education at the Brookings Institution. Her research focuses on education globally, with special attention to the skills young people need to thrive in work, life, and as

FED Ambassador: Richard Gerver has been described as one of the most inspirational leaders of his generation. He is an award-winning speaker, bestselling author and world-renowned thinker. Richard began his career in education, most notably as headmaster of the failing Grange Primary

Rob is the CEO at ABE, a non-profit organisation which is dedicated to nurturing young entrepreneurs and business leaders by providing access to education across a range of settings. Before joining ABE, Rob held senior roles at education companies such

Robert is Chairman of Royal National Children’s SpringBoard Foundation, an educational charity providing boarding bursaries and other educational opportunities to children from some of the most deprived communities in the UK, many in care. He is also Chairman of the

Rod Bristow has led Pearson’s growth in online learning and also leads Pearson UK. He has worked in education for 40 years in qualifications, publishing and learning technologies across schools and higher education and corporate learning in the UK and

FED Ambassador: Rosie Clayton is an education specialist and entrepreneur with extensive experience working with leaders in schools, colleges, Multi-Academy Trusts, and Government on high-profile innovation and edtech programmes. She began her career in Government and policy before moving into

FED Ambassador: Rupert graduated in Law and, following operational service in the British Army, has built a distinguished career in venture capital and has a far-reaching insight into investment into innovative, viable and scalable early-stage companies. In 2013 Rupert founded

Sameena Choudry is the founder of Equitable Education Ltd, an educationalconsultancy specialising in closing the attainment gap. She is also co-founderof #WomenEd, a grassroots movement for connecting existing and aspiring womenleaders in education. She has worked as a teacher, lecturer,

Sarah is Chief Executive of Inspiration for All, a not for profit social enterprise that harnesses the capabilities of business to work with education to advance social mobility together. Originally a maths teacher, Sarah moved into educational publishing, creating market

Sarah is a passionate educator, business leader and champion of enabling life progress through literacy. CEO of Middlesbrough-based Lexonik, Sarah qualified as an English and Drama teacher in 2003, and spent almost 2  decades teaching youngsters in the Teesside region

Shane is the managing director of Lsect, an education publishing and events company operating across the UK. He is the publisher of the leading education news outlets Schools Week & FE Week. He joined the organisation to launch FE Week

Shaun Odili currently works at the charity Versus Arthritis, where he focuses on the intersection between health and work. In his previous role at Bliss he led a research project examining the service and provision of neonatal allied health professionals, psychological

FED Ambassador: Dr Simon Hyde is General Secretary of HMC, the world’s first association of Headteachers with over three hundred schools in the UK and another 60 internationally. As Head of the King’s School in Macclesfield, he led the Foundation’s

In a career spanning over 40 years dedicated to raising aspirations and transforming lives through education and training, Stella worked in Further Education (FE) for 30 years starting as a part time hourly paid lecturer and rising through the ranks

Stephen has over 25 years’ experience in education including senior roles across several schools in the North West of England most recently that of principal. He has worked in maintained schools and academies that serve diverse populations including some of

FED Ambassador: Steve Smith joined SIAS in January 2022 as Managing Director, under his stewardship SIAS has quickly become one of the fastest growing End-Point-Assessment and Awarding Organisations nationally, positively disrupting traditional models and markets through the introduction of a

Professor Steve West CBE, DL is Vice-Chancellor, President and CEO of the University of the West of England, Bristol. Professor West is the President of Universities UK (UUK) and Chair of the UUK Mental Health in Higher Education Working Group.

Dame Sue John was the headteacher of Lampton Academy from 1997 to 2015. During the London Challenge she was the secondary director of the leadership strategy and as a National Leader of Education worked with some of London’s most challenging

Sue Williamson is Chief Executive of SSAT. She joined SSAT in 2002 and focused on leadership and innovation.  Sue worked with Professor David Hargreaves on the personalising learning agenda and developed SSAT’s suite of leadership programmes.  She was Headteacher of

Tarquin Wethered is an investor in private companies with a growing specialism in Education, Services and Technology companies. He is a Director at THI Investments, a pan European investor in private companies with >€2bn AUM, as well as a board

Professor Toby Salt was the Chief Executive of Ormiston Academies Trust, a group of over 42 schools, where the team doubled the number of schools and raised education standards. Toby has also recently retired from being the CEO of the

FED Ambassador: Tom Clark CBE was formerly Chief Executive of George Spencer Foundation School and Technology College in Nottingham during which time the school received consecutive ‘outstanding’ Ofsted reports. For 3 years he was Associate Director of the Specialist Schools

Founder & CEO, Skills Builder Partnership Tom founded the Skills Builder Partnership in 2009, whilst a secondary school teacher in Hackney. The Skills Builder Partnership brings together a global group of more than 800 partners around a common language and

Dr Trevor Lee is former principal at Merchant Taylors Prep School, Northwood that has been recognised as excellent in all aspects by the Schools’ Inspectorate. Trevor successfully compiled and presented two proposals to the Department for Education for the creation

FED Ambassador: Trish Franey has been actively involved in the development of leadership and school improvement initiatives at local, regional, and international levels for over twenty years. Under her leadership, a failing urban Primary Community school was transformed and awarded

Dr Vanessa Ogden is CEO of the Mulberry Schools Trust (MST). Vanessa is an NLE and has undertaken a range of school turnaround work. She is an Honorary Academic at the UCL, Institute of Education and has a doctorate specialising

Vikas Pota: is the Founder of T4 Education, a digital platform he established as a response to the challenges posed by the pandemic on education, globally. T4 seeks to strengthen the cause of teachers and schools by providing them with

Vivi Friedgut is a fintech entrepreneur and the founder and CEO of Blackbullion, the financial wellbeing platform for students which is available to over 1.2 million young people across dozens of universities and colleges in the UK, Australia, NZ, Ireland