FED Ambassador: Dame Maura Regan DBE DL JP. Maura was Chief Executive Officer, Bishop Hogarth Catholic Education Trust (formerly Carmel Education Trust) until her retirement in August 2022. Maura was the architect of Carmel Education Trust, became its founding CEO having led the successful transformation of Carmel College from a single outstanding College to the lead school in a Multi-Academy Trust (MAT). The Trust is recognised as a leading organisation nationally. The Trust is now known as Bishop Hogarth Catholic Education Trust comprising 35 schools both primary and secondary.
In her role as an NLE, Maura and her Leadership Team supported schools across the region from all phases. She is a consultant for the Edwin Group and CST supporting and mentoring and engaged to support the performance management of CEOs. Additionally, she is a consultant for the Edwin group, an organisation that works with over 5,000 schools nationally. She is a Trustee of Schools North East, a Director of St Joseph’s Catholic Academy Trust Liverpool and a Trustee of the Gaudete Trust London. She is also a Member of Northern Lights Academy Trust. Maura has regularly been invited to address national audiences on the benefits and complexities of establishing and leading a Multi-Academy Trust in accordance with the principles of subsidiarity, solidarity and support for the common good.
Maura was a member of the National Advisory Group with reference to the published Recruitment & Retention Strategy document and a member of the national advisory group that drafted the programme for prospective CEO of Multi Academy Trusts. She is an elected member of the RSC Advisory Board North. She was invited by Lord Agnew to be a member of the working group with the DfE on the Opportunity North East Programme established by the Secretary of State. The group identified and worked with underperforming schools in the North East. She has championed the Just Change Campaign on behalf of Citizens UK (Tyne & Wear Division). This campaign is to ensure that free school meal children receive their full entitlement. Maura is passionate about making a difference and believes that ‘every child should be given every opportunity to succeed’. She has recently been appointed as a RISE adviser for the North East region.
Maura was awarded the OBE in 2015 and made a Dame Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (DBE) in 2021 in recognition of her outstanding leadership and service to education in the region and nationally.
