Maggie is Chair of the Learning and Work Institute Board. She is also a Council Member of the Open University and the Royal Anniversary Trust further education advisory panel. A past President of the Association of Colleges, a College Principal for 16 years and more recently a Chair steering a college out of intervention and into merger she has broad and deep experience of colleges and their delivery partners. As a former member of the boards of national funders, regulators and improvement bodies she also has a keen interest in policy and its impact. Maggie was made CBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list for services to local and national further education.

Jeremy was until recently Director-General for Policy at the Department for Work and Pensions. He now has a portfolio career. Previously, at the Department for Education, he worked on both schools and HE policy and was for 4 years a non-executive director of the Student Loans Company. He spent 2 years on secondment to HM Treasury heading the Housing Urban and Transport team. He also worked for a number of years at the Economic and Social Research Council. Jeremy is deeply interested in human capital issues and the critical importance of lifelong learning. He is also strongly committed to the use of evidence and analysis in policy making.

Richard is the Managing Director of ACT Training, Chair of ALS Training and a Senior Post Holder at parent organisation Cardiff and Vale College (CAVC) Group. He has 27 years’ experience in education and training and has held senior positions within the public, private and third sectors, including Head of Programme Funding for Post-16 Education and Training at the Welsh Government, Director for Wales and Strategic Planning of the National Institute for Adult Continuing Education (NIACE) and Chief Executive of Careers Wales. Richard is a board member of the National Training Federation for Wales (NTFW) and smoking cessation charity ASH Wales. He has been a member of a number of key education and training committees and has chaired the Learning and Skills Improvement Service (LSIS) Wales Country Panel and Credit Common Accord for Wales. He has also been a board member of Agored Cymru, YMCA Community College Ltd and Careers Choices Dewis Gyrfa Ltd. At ACT, and within the context of the CAVC Group’s strategic priorities, Richard is responsible for setting the strategic direction and the overall performance of the organisation.

Chris is a businessperson who has worked in large international corporations (like Mars, Allied Domecq, Grand Met and Coca-Cola, where he was Managing Director of Great Britain) and small local start-ups, including his own food and drink businesses. In parallel, Chris was Deputy Chair of the National Employment Panel (NEP), which advised the Government on Welfare to Work reform and was author of the influential report, ‘Welfare to Workforce Development’. He was a founding member and subsequently Chair of the National Council of the Learning and Skills Council (LSC). He undertook an Independent Review of Fees and Co-funding in Further Education, on behalf of the department for Business, Innovation and Skills. Chris was Deputy Pro-Chancellor of the University of Birmingham and subsequently Chair of the Quality Assurance Agency, with responsibility for overseeing the quality of UK Higher Education. He was a Chair of the Birmingham University School and remains a member of the School. He is currently a Governor of Cobham Free School and the ACS group of International Schools. In 2003 Chris was awarded a CBE for services to young people and the unemployed.

Lauren Harris is a director in the Standard Chartered Group Internal Audit function. Prior to this, she spent most of her career providing audit and advisory services at KPMG in the financial services and charity sectors. Working closely with board and audit committees to promote best practices in corporate governance and risk management. She has also held key roles in developing learning strategies, and currently chairs a global network with a mission to equip and accelerate the careers of women.

Hâf Merrifield is currently Director of Planning, Performance and Strategic Change at the University of Nottingham. Before joining the University sector Hâf spent much of her career in the Civil service, including as Director for Children and Learners for the East Midlands for the Department for Education with previous roles in the Department of Trade and Industry, Cabinet Office and, briefly, the European Commission. She also has experience as a senior manager in local government. She has a longstanding interest in the power of education and skills to transform life chances.

Tim had a long career in local authorities, retiring as finance director of a major Midlands local authority. Since then he has had a portfolio of activities including finance and organisational consultancy for the local authority, private, higher education and voluntary sectors, and non-executive roles in the public and private sectors. He is currently Chair of Audit for the local authority and Clinical Commissioning Group in North East Lincolnshire, and a non executive director of a tenant-led housing association. He was a governor of a local further education college for 17 years, and is a Trustee and local school governor for the Midland Academies Trust . Tim is a trustee of several local charities including a foodbank, Worklink Hinckley, that provides training into work for people with learning disabilities; and is Treasurer of his local Anglican church.

Ruth Spellman was the first and only female chief executive in the 116 year history of the WEA - the UK’s largest voluntary sector provider of adult education in England and Scotland. She recently stood down from this role to become an Ambassador. Ruth uses her extensive knowledge and experience of how education can change people’s lives, to shape the future of WEA and in her capacity as Board Member for various education charities. Ruth was awarded an OBE in 2007 for services to workplace learning and she holds three Honorary Doctorates. Ruth’s early experience in the public sector saw her lead the HR consulting practice at Coopers and Lybrand and at NSPCC as a HR Director, modernising the organisation’s approach to developing its people and winning the Employer of the Year Award in 1996. Ruth progressed to lead Investors in People where she overhauled the IIP brand, which subsequently became an acknowledged Superbrand. She departed achieving IIP for 33,000 employers, of which 15,000 were SMEs. Ruth was the first female Chief Executive of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers, where she led a strategy that focussed on retention of female talent, development path for young engineers, admittance to professional membership and engaged with public policy on transport, energy and the environment.

Ayo has over 20 years experience in financial services. He has held a number of senior appointments in governance, risk management and regulatory roles for various organisations in the finance and financial services sectors. He has served as Chair of the Audit and Risk Committee for a large multi academy trust and is passionate about education and attainment particularly as it impacts underserved communities in the UK.

Alison is the Sir Roy Griffiths Professor of Public Management at Kings College, and a cross-bench peer in the House of Lords. She specialises in the relationship between education and the labour market. In March 2011 she completed the Wolf Review of Vocational Qualifications, and in 2015/16 was a member of the independent panel member on technical education, chaired by Lord Sainsbury, which formed the basis of the Government’s Skills Plan.

Professor Dame Carol Black is currently Chair of the British Library, the Centre for Ageing Better, and Think Ahead, the Government’s fast-stream training programme for Mental Health Social Workers. She chairs NHS Improvement’s Advisory Board on Employee Health and Wellbeing, and is Adviser to NHSI and PHE on Health and Work. She is also a member of RAND Europe’s Council of Advisers, and of the Board of UKActive. On 27th February 2020 Dame Carol’s Independent Review for the Home Office on illicit drugs was published. She recently completed her seven-year term as Principal of Newnham College Cambridge, where she was a Deputy Vice-Chancellor. She still sits on the University’s Advisory Board for the Centre of Science and Public Policy, and the Strategy Board on Student Mental Health and Wellbeing. She is a Patron of the Women’s Leadership Centre in the Judge Business School.

Charlotte is the director at Reform thinktank. She was previously the Capitalism Editor and columnist, and then Managing Editor, of the media start up UnHerd.com. Charlotte has worked in a variety of roles across the public, private and third sectors looking at how to reform public services in order to deliver better outcomes and better value for money, including Department for Work and Pensions and Centre for Social Justice.

David is the Chief Executive of the Association of Colleges. Previously he was the Chief Executive of Learning and Work Institute. Before that, from 2001-11 David worked in a number of senior roles in the Skills Funding Agency. He previously held a number of voluntary sector roles in the UK and Australia, and a range of Board and Committee roles.

Ian was the 2016/17 President of the Association of Colleges. He was Principal of Hackney College between 2007 to 2016 and prior to that a Principal and Senior Manager in two London Colleges. He previously worked in the local government and voluntary sectors and is now working as an executive coach and in educational consultancy.

John is the member of the Welsh Assembly for Newport East. He worked as a lecturer in Further and Higher Education, prior to becoming a solicitor and then being elected to the Welsh Assembly. He has previously served in a number of Ministerial positions and is currently Chair of the Equality, Local Government and Communities Committee.

Sir Alan Tuckett OBE is Professor of Education at the University of Wolverhampton, Past President of the International Council for Adult Education and Honorary Fellow of UNESCO's Institute of Lifelong Learning. He led the work of L&W's predecessor NIACE from 1988-2011, and since then has been an honorary life member and emeritus research fellow. At NIACE Alan started Adult Learners' Week in 1992, and saw its adoption by UNESCO and spread to more than fifty countries. Alan worked at the Friends Centre Brighton 1973-81, where he helped start the national adult literacy campaign; was Principal of Clapham-Battersea AEI in ILEA 1981-88, and policy adviser to ILEA's Chair FHE 1987-8. Alan has honorary doctorates from eight universities, he is a Fellow of City and Guilds, of the College of Teachers and of the Assessor's Guild. he was inducted to the International hall of Fame of Adult Educators in 2006, and made Distinguished Professor of the International Institute of Adult Education in Delhi. He has worked recently with UNESCO, the World Economic Forum, CREFAL in Mexico, OECD and numerous governments. He is Vice Chair of the 2019 Commission on Adult Education.

Dan Finn is professor emeritus at the University of Portsmouth and an international expert on the design and delivery of public employment services, activation policies and partnership working between public and private providers. Over the past 30 years he has been published extensively and has supervised and managed a wide range of policy-focused comparative research projects and evidence reviews. Dan has been an expert adviser or consultant for international bodies, including the World Bank, the European Commission and the ILO, and for UK bodies including the National Audit Office and the House of Commons Work and Pensions Committee.

Dave Simmonds OBE was the chief executive of the Centre for Economic & Social Inclusion up until its merger to form Learning and Work Institute. Dave was the co-founder of Inclusion in 1996 and built it to be a respected voice in UK ‘welfare to work’ research and policy. Dave has also worked as a special adviser to the House of Commons Work and Pensions Select Committee, and the OECD. Dave has advised the Scottish and Welsh governments, as well as the Northern Ireland Executive and the Republic of Ireland on their work on unemployment. Dave was awarded an OBE in the honours list for summer 2005 and is an Honorary Fellow of the Institute of Employability Professionals. Prior to Inclusion he was interim director for England at the National Lottery Charities Board, now Big Lottery, and held various posts at the National Council for Voluntary Organisations, where he was responsible for economic policy and voluntary sector involvement in labour market programmes.