Mike Baker (Chairperson). An award-winning education journalist and broadcaster, Mike writes a weekly column for BBC News Online and monthly for The Guardian and Education Journal. He presents programmes on Teachers’ TV and appears regularly on BBC Radio. From 1989–2007, Mike was Education Correspondent for the BBC, appearing on The 10 O’Clock News, The Today Programme, and Radio Five. He was previously a Political Correspondent, Foreign Correspondent and Deputy Home News Editor for the BBC. He was a Visiting Professor at the Institute of Education and held Journalism Fellowships at Oxford and Michigan universities. He has published several books on education politics and won the Ted Wragg Education Journalist of the Year Award (2006).
His blog is at: www.mikebakereducation.co.uk
Jon Coles (Director General for Schools, DCSF). Jon has been Acting Director General for Schools in the Department for Children Schools and Families since May 2008. Previously, he spent three years as Director of 14-19 Reform, leading the drive to raise participation post-16 and attainment at 19, reduce NEET numbers, reform curriculum and qualifications and develop the new Diplomas. He also led work to develop a new planning and performance management system for post-16 education and training, through the transfer of funding for 16-19 year-olds from the LSC to local authorities. Previously, as Director for the London Challenge in the then Department for Education and Skills, he was responsible for developing and implementing the strategy to improve secondary education in London, working closely with Tim Brighouse, the Chief Adviser for London Schools. Before that, Jon was responsible for taking the 2002 Education Act through Parliament, having written the White Paper which preceded it. A qualified secondary teacher, his previous jobs have included implementing the infant class size pledge, developing future strategy for ICT in schools and a strategy for e-government, on secondment to the Cabinet Office.
Jon Batterham (Research Director, EdComs). Jon has overall responsibility for the EdComs' research team. He is a research specialist with a total of 12 years experience, eight have which have been spent undertaking education related research. His career in research started in 1996 with a small qualitative agency, Research Works, which specialised in retail and health education research. Jon then joined jra research, a full service agency in Nottingham, in 1999 where he was appointed Head of Qualitative Research. Working alongside quantitative researchers, Jon gained invaluable experience of combined methodology projects. His clients included at jra research included Asda, The Royal Mint, LEGO and The Tidy Britain Group.
Jon joined EdComs in 2000 after taking the decision to specialise in educational research. In the last eight years, Jon has conducted research for many of the key public sector, voluntary and commercial organisations involved in education to feed into policy change, qualification reform, resource development and communication strategies.
In his time at EdComs, Jon has primarily worked on projects that require a wide range of skills including quantitative, qualitative, idea generation and consultancy. He works closely alongside clients and his skill set enables him to adapt to meet the demands of the project. This has enabled him to build long term relationships with clients and provide advice when needed on their research needs. He has vast experience of conducting research with hard to reach audiences, parents, learners, teachers and key educational stakeholders. He has a particular expertise designing and conducting evaluation of educational initiatives/programmes.
He has been an Associate Member of the Market Research Society and member of the Association of Qualitative Researchers since 1996.
Martin Finn (Managing Director, EdComs). After graduating, Martin worked as a research assistant at the University of California, Riverside. He then worked as editor of educational materials for secondary schools, and as a freelance writer and editor of school books. Martin joined Educational Project Resources (EPR) where he ran the print, video, software and interactive school programmes that the company produced.
Martin was one of the founder members of EdComs. As Managing Director he is ultimately responsible for the development and delivery of all contracted programmes and, in this capacity, he manages the editorial, design, production, promotion and distribution processes. Martin has worked on numerous projects for major organisations such as DCSF Year of Food and Farming, RBS, E.ON, Bank of England, RAF and NSPCC.
As the child of two teachers, Martin has always been surrounded by education and has done voluntary work in schools throughout his career.
Rob Kitson (Training Director, EdComs). After studying at Exeter University and E.15 Acting School, Rob worked as a TEFL teacher and as an actor, specialising in educational theatre and television.
Since joining EdComs he has worked in both the Research and Projects departments. He has developed primary resources for the DfES; Halifax; Weetabix; Woolworths Kids First; and secondary resources for the Army; BT; and the RAF.
He is now in charge of EdComs Training, responsible for helping clients such as BP, UK Sport, Wrigley and RBSG achieve maximum benefit from face to face interaction with young people in schools. He develops and delivers internal and external training courses and has particular experience in organising and running workshops. He is a qualified Life Coach.
Declan Swan (MA, FRSA Chief Executive, National EBP Network). Declan Swan has been Chief Executive of the National EBP Network since October 2005. He represents Education Business Partnership Organisations (EBPOs) on DCSF’s Work-Related Learning and Enterprise Board and has been deeply involved in shaping work-related learning policy across England. He is also a member of the QCA’s Diploma Advisory Panel.
Prior to his appointment he ran his own consultancy business and undertook an early feasibility study to create a new National Skills Academy for the hospitality industry on behalf of the Edge Foundation.
Previously, Declan was Chief Executive of Welcome Skills Ltd (an international learning broker), Chief Executive Elect of the Sector Skills Council for hospitality, leisure, travel and tourism, and Director of the hospitality industry’s National Training Organisation.
He holds a BSc in Management from Trinity College Dublin and an MA in Social and Market Research from Westminster University, London. He also studied Strategic Planning at the Ashridge Management College.
Declan has undertaken charity work, which included raising money to refurbish and run a charity kitchen for homeless people in Fulham in 2003.
He is a Fellow of RSA and the Institute of Hospitality.
Marilyn Brass (B.Ed, MSc, Education and Community Manager, Anglian Water). Marilyn originally trained as a secondary school teacher and has worked most of her career in the east end of London, ultimately becoming Director of the Newham Compact, an education business partnership which focuses on raising the achievement of young people in inner city areas. She has also worked in Corporate Responsibility for a building society and been a manager in colleges of further education.
In September 2006 she joined Anglian Water, geographically the largest water company in England, to establish a comprehensive education and community programme. This aims to enhance young people’s appreciation of water as a vital resource and foster responsible attitudes on water usage, wastewater disposal, hydration issues and protection of the environment. Marilyn recruited a team of five to take the programme forward and worked with the team to manage the project during its inception and development.
This included opening two new purpose–built education centres in 2007, a mobile education centre, a website and a wide range of educational materials and resources linked to supporting the delivery of the National Curriculum. Over 24,000 young people have taken part in education sessions within the last year.
The programme is now being taken forward with a focus on changing behaviours and attitudes of young people and adults towards water usage. Anglian Water is very pleased that their programme received the Big Tick in the Awards of Excellence, and went through to the national finals for the BITC Education Award 2008.
Gary Forrest (Strategic Manager, Work-Related Learning and Enterprise, QCA). Gary joined the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) in 2000. His work includes monitoring, advising and supporting the development of the curriculum and qualifications and he has lead responsibility for work-related learning, careers education, enterprise learning and school-business links. Gary started his career as a teacher and worked in 11-18 comprehensive schools in Kent and the London Borough of Brent.
He then worked for the Careers Research and Advisory Centre (CRAC) as a courses manager before joining the School Curriculum Industry Partnership (SCIP) in 1988 as the regional coordinator for South West England and Wales. In 1995 he was appointed regional director for the Centre for Education and Industry (CEI) at the University of Warwick. Gary has extensive experience as a trainer and consultant and has been responsible for many publications including curriculum materials, quality standards, and training manuals. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.
Chris Blake (Business Improvement and Planning Manager, Gentoo Group). Chris Blake is the Business Improvement and Planning Manager of Gentoo Group, a non-profit group of companies owning and managing 30,000 homes and presiding over an investment programme of some £600 million.
Chris has been with the Group since its formation in 2001, having previously worked in the Chief Executive’s department at Sunderland City Council where he was responsible for undertaking service reviews. Prior to that, Chris covered a number of roles all related to business improvement. More recently, Chris has been instrumental in delivering the 'Excellence Matters' initiative within the Group using key management tools such as EFQM Business Excellence Model, Fundamental Reviews and piloting Business Process Re-engineering.
Chris volunteered to be a mentor for the 'Pupils First' programme a number of years ago and to date has mentored three young learners on very successful school placements...
Val Milnes (Head of Social Investment, Gentoo Living). Val is Head of Social Investment with Gentoo Living. Gentoo Living is the people side of the Gentoo Group, a registered social landlord in the City of Sunderland.
Val is a Chartered Fellow of the CIPD, she is a qualified teacher and her past roles have included Training Management for an industrial training board, Director of an education business partnership, Head of Finance, HR & Education for a national arts organisation, university visiting lecturer and Chief Executive of an education business link organisation. Her work has always had a strong focus on young people and she has won numerous personal and work related awards during her career. Most recently these have included the Edge national award for practical and vocational learning and the Business in the Community Big Tick for Pupils First. This led to the national Example of Excellence Award in the Merrill Lynch Education Category.
Val leads a team of ten at Gentoo Living, delivering a number of award winning projects in relation to skills development, citizenship, enterprise and entrepreneurship both in schools and the community.
Anne Bailey (Campaign Manager, BT Better World Campaign). Anne Bailey is campaign manager for the BT Better World Campaign, BT’s award-winning programme of support for young people and the largest single programme within BT’s extensive corporate responsibility work. Anne spearheads major initiatives for the campaign and has helped expand its reach to schools all over the UK and internationally. The campaign’s focus is giving young people a voice and developing their communication skills, skills that BT believes are essential for life and work in the 21st century.
Before joining BT, Anne held senior marketing and communication roles at Suffolk County Council and Safeway and ran her own consultancy with clients across a wide range of sectors. In addition to her role with BT, Anne is a non-executive director at Papworth Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. She has a BA from Harvard and is a member of the CIPR.
Jonathan Simmons (Geographic Information Developer/Consultant, Ordnance Survey). A physics and modern languages graduate, Jonathan has been with Ordnance Survey for 4 years. His work is varied, often with a focus on proving concepts and solving problems for customers.
Recent projects, alongside an ongoing piece of work for Business in the Community, have included demonstrating the use of geographic information in flood analysis, the spread of animal diseases, and identification of green infrastructure for planning purposes.
Carl St. John Wilson (Pre and Post Sales Support Manager, Ordnance Survey. Carl is a Geography graduate with over 20 years of experience at Ordnance Survey.
His recent roles have been in external consultancy, solutions production and new product development. Carl is currently responsible for the delivery of technical support and consultancy.
Opi Rahman (Lead Business Analyst, KPMG). Opi Rahman has worked for KPMG for 7 years working within International Executive Services. Opi began his career as a tax consultant, worked in expatriate tax for 3 years and is currently working as a lead Business Analyst for the IES Technology team. Having studied Economics and Accountancy at University, he has found a way to put his mathematics expertise to good use by participating in the Number Partners scheme.
Opi has been the School Co-ordinator for the Number Partner programme with Tower Bridge Primary School since 2004. He liaises with the school on a weekly basis to manage the group of volunteers that play maths board games with the pupils to help develop their numeracy and confidence. He has recently taken up a further volunteer position of School Governor in Berger Primary School, Hackney.
Caroline Dewing (Senior Manager, Corporate Responsibility at Vodafone Group). Caroline has worked for Vodafone for 5 years and in that time has consistently focused on developing measures to protect young people and vulnerable individuals from inappropriate content and contact on the network. Key initiatives include the development of access control policies and supporting technology which restricts a ccess to age-restricted content.
A major focus has been the provision of education materials for parents and teachers and this has led to a number of pan-industry initiatives including the launch of TeachToday.eu.
Pascal Smith (Principle Safety and Reliability Analyst, Rolls-Royce). Pascal has been involved with the Science Alliance scheme at Roe Farm School for almost ten years. Initially he, together with a fellow engineer, went into classrooms one afternoon a week to help with practical work, particularly investigations and make the Science curriculum more interesting. His work at the school progressed to helping to organise and run an after school 'Imaginering' club with the same aims. Through the club, children are invited to participate in a number of activities including building Morse code buzzers or robotic ducks, helped by teachers and Rolls-Royce engineers.
Guy Esnouf (Head of PR and Public Affairs, E.ON UK). Guy joined E.ON UK as Head of PR and Public Affairs in January 2008 after 14 years in the US, most recently as Senior Director of PR at Microsoft. After doing a PhD in London University’s Department of War Studies, his first job was as Private Secretary to the then-Conservative Party Chairman, Norman Tebbit, and he was Political Correspondence Secretary to Margaret Thatcher during the 1987 general election. Guy went on to work as a lobbyist, and later spent four years at Glaxo Pharmaceuticals, before returning to head up the PM’s Correspondence Unit for John Major during the 1992 election.
Guy then joined pharmaceutical company Rhone-Poulenc Rorer, working initially in the UK before accepting promotion and a move to the US as Director of Worldwide Corporate Communications in 1994. In 2000, still in the US, Guy moved to Unisys, where he spent 6 years rising to Acting Vice President of Corporate Media Relations before joining Microsoft.
Jonathan Bramsdon (Partnership Director, Edge). Jonathan trained as a building surveyor and project manager before joining a UK Plc on their skills based management development programme. He subsequently worked in the learning and development environment for over 10 years during which time he set up and managed a QCA recognised awarding body. He was formerly the Deputy Chief Executive of a major learning and development charity. He is a member of the governing body of a London primary school.
Angelique Patnett (Vice President of Compliance – Global Wealth Management, Merrill Lynch). Angelique has been a Vice President of Compliance in the Global Wealth Management division for Merrill Lynch since 2003. She has held her current role supporting the European, Middle East and Africa wealth management business since 2006 and has been involved in the volunteering programmes offered at Merrill Lynch for several years.
In 2003 Angelique joined Merrill Lynch as a Compliance Examiner in New York to support its domestic GWM business in the Office of General Counsel. In 2003, Angelique was appointed as a member of CASA in Mercer County, an organization that provides independent fact finding reports to family court judges and links the gaps between children in need and charities that provide services ranging from clothing and healthcare to transportation. This organization brought her within arms reach of the needs of children in the care system in the USA and strengthened her resolve to help children as early in life as possible.
In 2006 she moved to London to assume her current role and continues her work with younger children by seizing the opportunities Merrill Lynch provides to work with children in the Tower Hamlets area of London. These programmes provide support to the community through the schools by teaching essential life skills such as goal setting, reading, and communication and presentation skills.
Prior to joining Merrill Lynch, Angelique held compliance roles in the financial services industry, including Wachovia, Prudential Financial and the New York Board of Trade. Angelique holds a Bachelors Degree from the College of Mount St. Vincent, in Riverdale, New York.
Angelique believes it is never too early or too late to provide children and young people with the basic life skills needed to make them active and productive members of their community. Empowering children by giving them confidence and helping to support them along their journey to adulthood is the greatest legacy one could ever give and it’s free.
More details on speakers to follow.