CST Annual Conference

Baroness Sue Campbell is a leading figure in the world of sports. In 2003, Sue became the Chairman of UK Sport, working in the role for two terms and overseeing the successful performance of the 2012 London Olympic and Paralympic Games. In 2016, Sue was made the Head of Women’s Football for The Football Association and later made the Director of Women’s Football. In recognition of her services to sports, Sue has been appointed MBE, CBE and DBE, as well as becoming the Baroness Campbell of Loughborough in the County of Leicestershire, sitting on the crossbenches of the House of Lords.

As CEO of Be Human First Limited, Jaz helps leaders who want to influence, inspire and motivate their teams with greater engagement in order to grow their businesses and leave a lifelong legacy.

Jaz combines lessons learned from a challenging and often brutal childhood with those from her rise to TV presenter, TEDx Speaker, stand-up comedian and reality TV star. Her authentic honesty and humour consistently empower people to think differently about leading themselves and others.

Leora Cruddas is the founding Chief Executive of the Confederation of School Trusts – the national organisation and sector body for school trusts in England. She has advised successive governments and sits on several Department for Education advisory bodies. She was recently the vice chair of the Head Teacher Standards Review Group, a member of the external advisory group for the Schools White Paper, SEND National Implementation Board and the Regulatory and Commissioning Review.

Prior to founding CST, she was Director of Policy and Public Relations for the Association of School and College Leaders. Leora has six years of experience as a director of education in two London local authorities. She is a visiting professor at UCL Institute of Education. Leora was made a CBE in the 2022 New Year’s Honours.

Professor Becky Francis CBE is presently leading the Government’s independent Curriculum and Assessment Review, seconded from the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) where she has been CEO since January 2020. Before this, Becky was Director of the UCL Institute of Education (IOE), which is ranked #1 in the world for education in the international QS rankings. Her prior roles include Professor of Education and Social Justice at King’s College London and Standing Advisor to the Parliamentary Education Select Committee.

Throughout her career, Becky has sought to maximise the impact of academic research by working closely with teachers and policymakers. She has spearheaded high-profile research programmes assessing the impact of major reforms in the English school system on educational inequalities and is sought out internationally as an advisor to Governments on education policy.

Becky was the inaugural Charles Yidan Global Fellow at Harvard University. Her academic expertise and extensive publications centre on social identities and inequalities in educational contexts. She is best known for her body of research on social identities and educational attainment, including gender, race and social class.

Richard V. Reeves is the founding president of the American Institute for Boys and Men (AIBM). Before founding AIBM in 2023, Reeves was a Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution. While at Brookings, he focused on policies related to economic inequality, racial justice, social mobility, and boys and men.

Reeves is the author of several books, including Of Boys and Men: Why the Modern Male is Struggling, Why it Matters, and What to do About It and Dream Hoarders: How the American Upper Class Is Leaving Everyone Else in the Dust, Why That is a Problem, and What to do About It.

Inspired by his own experiences as a father and policy expert, Richard founded AIBM to bring awareness to the challenges facing boys and men today and to develop evidence-based solutions.

Bridget Phillipson was appointed Secretary of State for Education on 5 July 2024 and Minister for Women and Equalities on 8 July 2024.

She was elected as the Labour MP for Houghton and Sunderland South in May 2010.

Sir Hamid is Chief Executive of Star Academies. He has led the trust since its inception. Sir Hamid is passionate about the highest of ambition for children and young people from the most disadvantaged communities across the country, and this vision has guided the philosophy of the trust and his work in particular.

Sir Hamid is a member of several national and international strategic educational and policy forums. In this role, he has contributed to the development of strategies and programmes as diverse as teacher training, leadership development, community cohesion, curriculum reform and social mobility. He is committed to the development of a strong and world-class academy sector, and actively works to improve its reputation.

In recognition of his service to education, Sir Hamid was made a CBE in 2015 and awarded a knighthood in the Queen’s Birthday Honours 2021.

Sir Hamid is Chair of the Confederation of School Trusts.

Sir Martyn Oliver started as His Majesty’s Chief Inspector at the Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills in January 2024. He has worked in education since 1995 starting as a teacher and joined Outwood Grange Academies Trust in 2009 where he became Principal of Outwood Grange Academy and then a National Leader of Education. In 2016, Sir Martyn was appointed Chief Executive and Accounting Officer for Outwood, a role he held until he started as His Majesty’s Chief Inspector. Sir Martyn has also previously held Trustee positions for the Office for Students, Education Endowment Foundation, Confederation of Schools Trusts and for the David Ross Education Trust, was a board member of the Department for Education’s Opportunity North East and has advised both the government and the DfE on a number of groups.