Joshua Miles is the Director for Wales at the Learning and Work Institute, leading on our activity in Wales and working closely with Welsh Government and other Welsh partners. Prior to joining L&W, Joshua Miles was the Director for Confederation of Passenger Transport (CPT) Cymru. Joshua was previously the Head of Policy for the Federation of Small Businesses Wales. He has been a member of several Welsh Government advisory bodies such as Transport for Wales’ Advisory Panel, the Valleys Taskforce and the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales’ Research and Innovation Committee. He has also been a board member for Traveline Cymru. Joshua holds Master’s Degree in Public Policy from Cardiff University and studied at the Institut d’Etudes Politiques in Bordeaux as part of his undergraduate study. He speaks both Welsh and French. Joshua has previously worked for the Construction Industry Training Board, Welsh political consultancy Positif Politics and for the former MP for Ogmore Huw Irranca-Davies.

Kay is head of campaigns, policy and development for L&W in Wales. Kay has expertise in working with broadcasters on social action campaigns and working with stakeholders and partners across Wales, she leads on promotional activity for the Adult Learners' Week festival and the Inspire! Awards to raise awareness and widen access to lifelong learning. Alongside this other development and policy work includes Family Learning, ESOL, Essential Skills and Community Learning.

Calvin joined L&W from Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council where he was Principle Officer for Adult Education. Calvin has 15 years project management experience with ESF and ERDF European projects, and was a member of the Learning partnership board, Older learner network board and had experience of project development across 14-19 and post 16 education, employment and skills sectors. Calvin is currently responsible for project development and delivery across Wales including current work on the Personal Learning Accounts Pilot, F.E Skills Development Fund and the evaluation of 'Working Wales' for the Welsh Government. He is also leading on a Welsh Erasmus+ KA1 Mobility project to share best practice on Adult Learning campaigns and Learner Ambassadors across Europe.

Wendy is Office Manager and Events Coordinator.  Wendy supports project logistics planning and budget management, as well as being responsible for office systems, accommodation strategies, buildings and maintenance and health and safety regulations. Wendy is responsible for the co-ordination and distribution of papers for the Wales Strategy Group and wider networks and plays a key role in the co-ordination and evaluation of all external events including conferences and training programmes.

Nisha is the Campaigns, Marketing and Communications Officer at L&W. She is involved in the coordination, creative planning, and the delivery of the annual Inspire! Awards and Adult Learners’ Week campaign in Wales to raise awareness and the benefits of lifelong learning. Nisha also manages and maintains all digital communication platforms such as the website, social media channels and email marketing; and develops ways to creatively showcase our work to maximise the reach and impact of our work. Nisha also supports the planning and delivery of Wales events and associated projects.

Stephen has been chief executive since 2016, having spent two years previously as deputy chief executive. He joined from Working Links, where he led on policy, strategy and business development. Prior to this, he worked for the London Development Agency as director of employment and skills, commissioning programmes and leading the work of the London Skills and Employment Board; was chief economist at the Social Market Foundation; and spent six years as senior policy advisor in HM Treasury working on policy for skills, productivity and child poverty.

Naomi is Deputy Chief Executive and Director of Policy and Research and Learning and Work Institute. She joined the team in January 2022 from the British Red Cross, where she was Director of Policy and Advocacy.

As Deputy Director, Sam focuses on making an impact on policy and practice through L&W’s research into learning, skills and employment. Previously, Sam was Director of Policy for Impetus, specialising in education and employment support for young people from disadvantaged backgrounds. At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Sam co-founded the Youth Employment Group, bringing together key leaders and experts around the youth employment sector to help drive the UK’s response. Previously, Sam was Head of Policy at ERSA, the representative body for the employment support sector, and led the public affairs teams for employment and skills providers in the private and charity sectors. Sam is a GoLab Fellow of Practice 2021 and a Mental Health First Aider.

Naomi Clayton is deputy director for research and development. Naomi has more than 14 years’ experience in policy and research with specialisms in employment, skills and labour market disadvantage issues. Prior to joining L&W, Naomi was deputy director at the What Works Centre for Local Economic Growth, and policy and research manager at Centre for Cities where she was responsible for developing and overseeing programmes to support effective policy and practice. She has worked with partners across the UK to support them to use of evidence and demonstrate impact through the implementation of skills strategies, youth employment support and in-work progression pilots, and the development of local industrial strategies.

Paul Cleminson is Director of Finance and Operations. Paul qualified as a Chartered Management Accountant in 1996 and has spent the majority of his career in a number of commercial sectors before moving into a large Housing Association in 2014 and joined L&W during 2022. Paul’s career has largely focussed on Operational Finance roles and has also taken in periods of management of non-financial and front line staff

Helen joined L&W as Chief Economist in July 2022. Over the past 20 years she has worked on a diverse range of projects in the field of employment and skills, applying experimental and quasi-experimental evaluation techniques to estimate the causal impact of policy changes. Helen has worked with a wide variety of administrative and survey datasets and has particular expertise in the use of linked government administrative data, spanning education, skills, benefits receipt, employment and offending. Prior to joining L&W Helen was Principal Research Economist at the Institute for Employment Studies for five years, having previously worked at the National Institute of Economic and Social Research, the Policy Studies Institute, the Centre for Economic Performance and the University of Surrey.

Emily Jones is head of research at L&W, responsible for leading research and development projects to ensure they make a positive difference to policy and practice. Emily’s work focuses on lifelong learning and skills, and she leads our apprenticeships and technical education programme. Emily also leads our research on the National Retraining Scheme.