Building a High Quality Trust - Speakers

Liz Anderson, Education Leadership Consultant, Former Trust CEO (Chair)

Liz entered the education profession following a successful 10 years in industry working in sales, training and people development. She has since led significant improvement in schools, both as headteacher and as CEO of Djanogly Learning Trust. Liz was instrumental in forming the Trust which now has nine schools in the East Midlands, all serving disadvantaged communities. As a school leader and MAT CEO, Liz also has extensive experience building a MAT from its formation to successfully sponsoring nine academies. She has worked in partnership with local authorities, other MATs and the DfE to share best practice. Liz is now working with other trusts looking to further develop and grow.

Paul K Ainsworth, Director of Education, Infinity Academies Trust

Paul has held director of school improvement roles in four multi-academy trusts and is currently education director with Infinity Academies Trust in Lincolnshire and facilitates the Education Executives Network for Forum Strategy Group. He has supported leaders of small rural primary schools to large 11 to 18 urban secondaries, working intensively with those in Ofsted categories. He is the author of nine books and his latest work is No Silver Bullets: Day-in, day-out school improvement. He has spoken at many educational conferences and a TEDx.

Ricky Brown, Teacher and Apple Professional Learning Specialist, Sync

With over 20 years of experience in the education sector, Ricky works with organisations around the UK to enhance the way they use technology. Ricky’s specialist subjects include leadership and management, accessibility, and strategic planning. He currently leads the CPD and training for educational specialist Sync and co-ordinates projects for a range of schools, colleges and charities - including Family Fund and Guide Dogs Association for the Blind.

Dr. Aneela Bukhari, Head of Education, Ormiston Trust

Aneela provides strategic and managerial oversight for the YSA programme for roll out in schools across England, within the Ormiston network, as well as external schools. Prior to this, she was head of school improvement and CPD in the largest privately-owned school system in the world, which has a portfolio of over 200 private schools and employs over 8000 teachers in Southeast Asia. She was a faculty member at a university teaching BA and Masters in Education as well as advisor to the Ministry of Education in the UAE.

Lisa Fathers, Deputy CEO, Bright Futures Educational Trust

Lisa has over 25 years’ experience in education, as a teacher, leader and executive MAT leader and NLE. Lisa has strategic oversight of school improvement, risk and assurance, and people development. She has a real passion for talent development, alongside MAT to MAT collaboration and stakeholder engagement. Lisa has a wealth of experience of delivering training to a wide range of clients from a diverse range of sectors. She is a mental health first aid instructor and led the first ever Greater Manchester Mentally Healthy School programme which won a national award.

Will Jordan, Co-Founder and CEO, IMP Software

Will Jordan FCCA has worked with academies and MATs since the first ‘phase two’ academies opened in September 2010. As a qualified accountant and financial technology specialist, Will now works with established multi academy trusts to strengthen their financial planning and reporting processes by replacing legacy software with MAT specific, agile tools.

Liam Knowles, Chief Finance and Operations Officer, Leading Learners Multi Academy Trust

Liam has over 15 years’ experience across various finance and audit functions in not for profit organisations. He has been with Leading Learners MAT since June 2020 and has helped facilitate the Trust’s organisational maturity and growth to 10 schools, with more on the horizon. Liam is a fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) and the Chartered Managers Institute (CMI). He is passionate about equity of opportunity, ensuring pupils receive the best possible experience, and is proud to be a board member of a community-focussed housing association.

Dan Thomas, Chief Executive Officer, The Learning Partnership

Formed of two local trusts, The Learning Alliance and The Learning for Life Partnership, Dan oversees a diverse new multi-academy trust containing 15 schools. They deliver excellent educational provision for pupils in primary and secondary schools across the North West. Dan works across the trust to help make sure they meet their ambitious goals. As well as setting forward-looking direction, and assisting The Learning Partnership's experienced and knowledgeable trustees, his role includes ensuring that schools are supported very well, including in relation to their leadership.

Mark Unwin, Chief Executive Officer, Create Partnership Trust

Mark is a highly accomplished education professional, bringing a wealth of expertise as CEO at Create Partnership Trust. With a background that includes serving as a deputy CEO, executive headteacher, headteacher, school improvement partner, visiting fellow, and university visiting tutor, he has demonstrated strong leadership abilities in various educational settings. Throughout his career, he has led schools serving across a range of communities, in cities including London, Manchester, Liverpool, Stoke and Birmingham and has demonstrated an ability to transform schools, elevating them from satisfactory to good, good to outstanding, and turning around schools from requires improvement and inadequate ratings. Mark is recognised for his dedication to aspiration and commitment to creating an environment where all children get a great education of academic success, character development, sports, music, the arts and cultural experiences.

Jonny Uttley, CEO, The Education Alliance Multi-Academy Trust

Jonny has been in post since April 2018, having previously been head teacher at South Hunsley School. TEAL is a trust of 10 schools in East Yorkshire, Hull and York, serving over 6500 students, and a SCITT which trains around 60 new entrants to the profession each year. As a National Leader of Education, he has worked with schools in many different contexts and is committed to a school improvement approach that puts real ethical leadership at the heart of our system, so schools create cultures in which staff genuinely thrive. Jonny is also an elected member of the DfE Advisory Board for Yorkshire and the Humber. The Education Alliance is a pathfinder trust for the ASCL/NGA Ethical Leadership Project and Jonny is the co-author, with John Tomsett, of Putting Staff First: A Blueprint for Revitalising Our Schools.