CST Annual Conference

Dr Hilary Cottam OBE is a social entrepreneur, author and policy advisor. Her work includes the creation of new approaches and services for ageing, family life, work and care. Her first book Radical Help (pub. 2018) was hailed as ‘mind-shifting’ by David Brooks in the New York Times, has been translated internationally, and is widely credited with changing narratives and practice around welfare systems across Europe. Her new book The Work We Need challenges us to think differently about work and place-based economic policy. Her current research and practice centres on the future of urban and rural work and on new care economies. Hilary holds an Honorary Professorship at the Institute of Innovation and Public Purpose at UCL; she was named UK Designer of the Year in 2005 for pioneering the field of social design and has been named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum.

Dr Sally Burtonshaw is a Director at Public First, where she led the research for the Inquiry into White Working Class Outcomes. She also works on a wide range of other research and policy projects, including on the future of state-funded tutoring and countering mis- and disinformation in schools. Prior to joining Public First, Sally was Head of Policy at London Higher, representing over 50 higher education institutions across London. She began her career in a sixth form college and later worked on access and participation at The Brilliant Club. Sally is a trustee of The Elephant Group and a member of the Independent Schools Inspectorate’s Education Advisory Forum.

Katie Carr is a Director in the Education Practice at Public First. She leads the research for the Inquiry into White Working Class Educational Outcomes and a range of other high-profile education research and strategy projects, including surfacing the views of parents on education in the Parent Voice Project and understanding the views of parents, pupils and school staff in improving attendance in schools. Prior to this, Katie spent 10 years at the Department for Education, including as Chief of Staff to two Schools Ministers. She helped steer major legislation through Parliament and led national work on teacher recruitment and retention, regional school improvement, and school and trust strategy. Katie is Chair of Governors at a London secondary academy and a trustee of Tutors United.

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.

Daniel Susskind is the Mercers’ School Memorial Professor of Business at Gresham College. He is also a Research Professor at King’s College London, a Senior Research Associate at the Institute for Ethics in AI at Oxford University, and a Digital Fellow at the Stanford Digital Economy Lab. He is the author of Growth: A Reckoning, A World Without Work and co-author of The Future of the Professions. Previously, he worked in the British Government – in the Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit, in the Policy Unit in 10 Downing Street, and in the Cabinet Office.

Professor John Amaechi OBE is an organisational psychologist, Professor of Leadership at the University of Exeter Business School, and founder of APS Intelligence Ltd. For 16 years he's advised FTSE 100 boards and their international equivalents, including Fortune 100 and global enterprise, across Europe, APAC and the Americas. He served seven years as a Non-Executive Director of Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, Britain's largest healthcare organisation, chairing the HR Scrutiny Committee through the TUPE transfer of 10,000 colleagues and the Trust's response to the Manchester Arena bombing. His clients span professional and financial services, banking and capital markets, legal, insurance, technology, life sciences, and sovereign institutions.

His work returns to one consistent finding: most organisational underperformance traces to behaviour, in leaders and in colleagues, not to values, strategy, or culture in the abstract. Leaders who work with John and APS Intelligence don't leave with a sharper self-image and an inspiring afternoon. They leave with a measurable, auditable difference in how they lead under pressure, and with frameworks that make specific excellent behaviours the norm. APS Intelligence holds a five year average Net Promoter Score of +84.

John is the New York Times and Sunday Times bestselling author of three books, including The Promises of Giants, winner of the Porchlight Award for best business book, and It's Not Magic: The Ordinary Skills of Exceptional Leaders (2025). He holds an OBE, the 2023 Sport Industry Integrity and Impact Award, and a LinkedIn Top Voice designation. Before founding APS Intelligence, he completed his graduate training in psychology while playing professional basketball in the NBA, becoming the first British person to have a career in the League.

In 2026 he was appointed to the Mayor of London's AI and Jobs Taskforce, advising on workforce capability, role design, and the behavioural conditions that determine how organisations and their people adapt as technology reshapes work.

Headshot courtesy of APS Intelligence.

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 Ian Bauckham was appointed Chief Regulator at Ofqual in January 2024, following his service as Chair of the Ofqual Board from 2021 and as a board member since 2018. He brings extensive experience in education leadership, having previously led a school trust and served as a headteacher. Sir Ian has contributed significantly to national education policy, including reforms in initial teacher training, relationships and sex education, and modern foreign languages. He was President of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) in 2013–14.
He holds degrees in modern and medieval languages from the University of Cambridge, in education from UCL, and philosophy from the University of London. His contributions to education were recognised with a CBE in 2017 and a knighthood in the 2023 New Year Honours.
In addition to his role at Ofqual, Sir Ian has been Chair of Oak National Academy, an arm’s length body of the Department for Education that supports schools with online curriculum and lesson resources.