Speakers

Adeline has spent most of her career working to promote fairness and equality. She has been based in Cambridgeshire since 2021, working with Chambers of Commerce and the Department for Education to ensure the region had the skills they need to for local business to grow. She was home educated for most of her life, and this helped her gain a passion for the intrinsic value of life-long education and a growth mindset towards learning. Distinguishing between the difference of knowledge, skills and educational opportunity is key to Adeline's passion for advocating for young people's advancement in life - regardless of their socioeconomic background. As a current director and trustee at Anglian Learning, she is passionate about the importance of ensuring that every child and young person is given the access and encouragement to build the skills and knowledge they need to grow and thrive - regardless of their economic or educational background.

Alex has led Bourne Education Trust since its inception in 2012 having previously been headteacher of two secondary schools. The trust consists of 26 schools across primary, secondary and special phases in Hampshire, Surrey and the London Boroughs of Richmond and Sutton. Alex also chairs Surrey’s Inclusion Roundtable that is leading the county’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion strategy. In September 2023 he launched AI in Education (a not for profit organisation that provides specialist guidance to schools and colleges on how to navigate the rapidly evolving AI landscape purposefully and safely), in partnership with Epsom College.

Chris Seaton has 38 years of leadership experience in the charity sector, including 24 years working in school governance and leadership roles. Chris brings a passion for social transformation delivered through organisations that have a strong values base, are expertly led and put a premium on healthy positive relationships.

Chris is a founding consultant with 3A Consulting, a small network of former school trust leaders working nationally to support schools and school trusts at a system level. In this role, Chris has recently worked on two merger projects, one as an interim CEO and the other as a project manager. He has also conducted a local authority-wide research project to support the authority’s developing plan for academisation. Chris also works as a facilitator and as a leadership coach with NPQ lead providers and with a medium sized school trust in the south-east.

Previously, Chris was a founding member, trustee and the CEO of Schoolsworks Academy Trust in West Sussex. Under his leadership, the trust enjoyed 11 consecutive Ofsted ‘Good’ judgements, grew from one to eight primary sector schools, was successful in a free school application and saw a sponsor project turnaround from Inadequate to Good during Covid years. He led the change management to a centralised trust team and Schoolsworks enjoys excellent staff morale and retention.

Chris is a qualified solicitor and in addition to his professional roles, he is a member of a primary phase school trust in Surrey and a non-executive trustee of a primary phase school trust in Southampton.

David is Head of Recruitment Services at Governors for Schools, responsible for the charity's work supporting schools and academy trusts in sourcing high-calibre volunteers for their boards. He was previously Deputy Head of the Academy Ambassadors Programme, funded by the DfE, and has been actively involved in recruitment to governance roles in education since 2017.

David previously worked for British Cycling, the national governing body for the sport, focused on increasing participation in recreational cycling across Britain. A former newspaper journalist, David has a degree in communications from Chester University.

Dr Neil Gilbride CPsychol is an Honorary Senior Research Fellow at the University of Worcester as well as holding a variety of roles across the education sector. As a Chartered Psychologist, he applies the principles of psychology to leadership, people development, inclusion and organisational behaviour. His research has explored the demands that complex organisations place on adults level of psychological development, and how we can better understand decision making within complex and wicked problems that individuals face when taking on strategic levels of responsibility.

Pooven was appointed Trustee at Bourne Education Trust in September 2024. He has extensive experience in helping public sector organisations improve efficiency through business change transformation and digital technology implementation. Currently, as Industry Lead for Healthcare across UKI for DXC Technology, Pooven is working with the NHS to leverage digital solutions for better healthcare delivery. He holds an Executive MBA from the London Business School and a PhD from Imperial College, London.

Since completing my GCSEs and A-levels at the Ashington based campus of the NCEA Trust in 2017, I have gone on to be one of the first solicitors in the north east of England to qualify through the solicitor apprentice route.

Towards the end of my solicitor apprenticeship (around summer 2022), I received the opportunity to become a trustee of the NCEA Trust. At the time, I did not know what this role would entail, but having spoken to other trustees I soon realised this was something I would be delighted to be a part of.

I have now been on the trust board for two years and in that time I have been able to use my background of being a former pupil and as someone who has grown up in the local area to bring a personal perspective to help support and raise the ambitions of the young people who the NCEA Trust serve.

Emma Perkin is one of the founding directors of Trust Governance Professionals, the leading sector practitioner experts providing training, guidance and community for academy governance professionals. Their flagship programme of continuing professional development, Trust Governance Insight, has over 250 academy governance professionals in membership from trusts of all shapes and sizes.

Ernest is the CEO of Edurio, England’s leading stakeholder feedback platform for schools and school trusts. He is a frequent public speaker both in the UK and internationally on effective use of stakeholder feedback in schools and has published extensive research on stakeholder feedback, staff wellbeing and school improvement.

Jackie has worked as a governance consultant since 2012 and was appointed as a National Leader of Governance. She is based in the South West and has worked with school trusts across the country. She has a professional background in quality assurance, mentoring, training course design and delivering engaging, inspiring training. Jackie has delivered ERGs for trusts of all phases and sizes, including special schools and foundation trusts and she has supported trusts through growth and merger and provides mentoring support to trust boards and chairs.

Jackie is the programme director for the CST Chairs Development and Governing a School Trust Programmes; she particularly enjoys working with groups of chairs to support them in what can be an isolated and challenging role.

Jackie is currently the trust board chair for the Leading Edge Academies Partnership and is a member for the Academies for Character and Excellence. In her leisure time she enjoys time with her grandchildren and walking her dogs on the beautiful beaches of Cornwall.

Jackie was awarded an MBE in the New Years Honours list of 2022 for her services to education.

Neil Blundell is the CEO of Cathedral Schools Trust, a multi academy trust serving 12 schools (primary and secondary) and over 6,000 students in the wider Bristol area. Neil was headteacher at Bristol Cathedral Choir School (BCCS) from 2008 and worked through the growth of the organisation from 300 students to over 1,200. In 2013, he founded Cathedral Primary School, a free school sharing a campus with BCCS, and in 2019 successfully opened Trinity Academy, a secondary free school with a music specialism. Cathedral Schools Trust was formed in 2016 and BCCS became a teaching school in the same year. Neil has worked in a number of settings across the region as an NLE, EE, CTI coach and NPQEL facilitator.

Olivia D Hinds wears many hats in the education governance space and beyond. As the creator and host of The Governors' Podcast, a co-opted governor in a selective secondary school, and a member of the Joint Advisory Education and Safeguarding Group for a medium-sized multi academy trust/foundation in Birmingham, Olivia is deeply committed to championing diversity, wellbeing, and personal growth.

Since 2016, Olivia has embarked on a transformative governance journey, from corporate governance training to entering the education governance boardroom; starting as a school governor in the chair role at the age of 23 (October 2017). With over a decade of experience as a sought-after private tutor and student coach, she brings a wealth of expertise to her roles, advocating for the voices of the younger generation in all her endeavours.

Rob is a marketing strategist with a background in IT and e-business sectors. He leads NGA's Marketing and Communications Directorate, overseeing marketing, web, communications, governance development, and customer service operations.

Beyond his marketing role, Rob has held governance leadership positions, including chairing a single academy trust and a local governing board. He currently serves as a trustee for a multi academy trust.

Rukia leads the delivery of CST’s trust development services, connecting school trusts with expert governance and leadership specialists. This involves working closely with school trusts to understand their context and service requirements to develop a tailored project that is closely aligned with their objectives. Rukia has been involved in school governance since 2016, including being chair of a local governing body, and she is currently a trustee of a 24-school primary trust in the East Midlands.

Sildi has experience supporting financial crime transformation programmes, project management, regulatory reviews, and policy and procedure enhancement from his time as a financial crime consultant at Deloitte. He currently leads account management and operations at Enticeable, a growing agency delivering bespoke marketing solutions to clients across both business and consumer spaces. Alongside his professional role, Sildi also serves as a trustee at Southend East Community Academy Trust, where he provides strategic oversight of performance, financial planning, and safeguarding.

Tariro holds an Accounting and Business degree from The University of Nottingham and worked within the creative industry before repositioning into her current role in investment banking. Tariro’s professional pursuits align seamlessly with her interests in entrepreneurship, education, wellbeing, empowerment, and cultural equity. Her dedication to these pillars reflects a deep commitment to fostering positive change and progress within these realms.

Tariro’s multifaceted experiences and passions uniquely position her to the role of trustee, bringing knowledge and a seasoned perspective to the table. She attributes a significant portion of her accomplishments to the early leadership experiences fostered during her educational journey.