CST CEO Leadership Summit 2026

Anne-Marie has led the Brilliant Club since March 2020. She has developed the charity’s strategy, scaled existing programmes and led the establishment of new areas of work. She is widely acknowledged as a powerful voice in social mobility and education and has advised institutions, ministers and policy makers.

During her time as a Director at King’s College London Anne-Marie provided strategic, institution-wide leadership for social mobility and had significant successes in widening participation, student success, academic support, communication, evaluation and fundraising. Anne-Marie helped to establish the What Works Centre for Access and Student Outcomes and co-founded an award-winning parental engagement and community organising endeavour, Parent Power.

For over six years Anne-Marie held a public appointment as the Independent Chair of the Department for Education’s Bradford Opportunity Area and has significant expertise in place-based working.

Anne-Marie has a Masters with Distinction in Public Policy and Management from Birkbeck, University of London. She holds a University of Oxford Teaching Award and was awarded an MBE for services to higher education in 2018.

James is Assistant Director at Citizens UK. He leads a team of community organisers in South London as well as Citizens UK's work on migration. James is a dual British and Iranian national and grew up in Thornton Heath, Croydon. He has a first class degree in philosophy, politics and economics from Oxford University as well as an MPhil in modern middle eastern studies and an MA in community organising from Queen Mary University of London. James is also a governor of a primary school in Brixton.

James is Assistant Principal for Civic Responsibility at Dixons Academies Trust, where he has worked for six years. His work looks at developing the role of school trusts and schools as anchor institutions in communities. Outside of teaching, he has worked in policy and politics in the UK, US and New Zealand.