Home About us Schools Join us Policies Training News Newsletters Vacancies Contact us Who's who L.E.A.D. Academy Trust (to cease trading): Members: None Trustees: None L.E.A.D. Multi-Academy Trust (to be renamed L.E.A.D. Academy Trust): Members: Deryn Harvey Peter Berry Anne Frost Trustees: Diana Owen CBE Mark Blois Melvin Kenyon Nick Ydlibi Paul Graham David Williams Helen McNamara John Hobson Andy Buck L.E.A.D. Services: Members: L.E.A.D. Academy Trust Trustees: Peter Berry Michael Brunner Bobby Thandi Paul Worley Executive Team for the Multi-Academy Trust: Diana Owen CBE Bobby Thandi Neil Spencelayh Diana Owen CBE Diana is a Trustee and the Chief Executive of the L.E.A.D. Academy Trust. The Trust, which Diana set up in 2011, now consists of 25 schools. The schools are based in the Midlands and the North of England, educating children between the ages of 2 to 19 years. Previously Diana was a headteacher for fourteen years, and during this time, successfully led a school from special measures through to two consecutive outstanding Ofsted judgements. Diana has a wealth of experience having worked in a number of different schools. She has been an executive headteacher and has supported other schools as a National Leader of Education, a Primary Strategy Consultant Leader, coach and mentor. Through this work she has supported schools leadership teams nationally and has also met with ministers on a number of occasions to help steer government agendas. Diana has been involved in a number of national leadership steering groups and research projects as well as delivering presentations to audiences nationally and internationally. Diana has also lived and worked in San Francisco and Hong Kong. In June 2015, Diana was awarded a CBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours for her services to education. Mark Blois Mark is a Partner and Head of the education team at Browne Jacobson, a leading national education law firm. He has almost twenty years' experience as an education lawyer and over ten years as a governor across the maintained school, academy and further education sectors. He is a National Leader of Governance (NLG) and has been recommended as a Leader in the field of education in the Chambers UK & Legal 500 legal professional directories for over ten years, the former of which has described him as "an industry leader". Mark has chaired L.E.A.D. throughout its journey from a primary school to a stand-alone academy and onto the large multi-academy trust that L.E.A.D is today. He has previously served as a member of the Regional Council of the Learning and Skills Council and as a Director of the National Governors' Association. Mark regularly speaks at conferences including those of the Association of School & College Leaders, National Association of Head Teachers, National Association of School Business Management and National Governors' Association and he has been interviewed by BBC Panorama, BBC Radio Four and Sky News. He has contributed over 100 papers, articles and book chapters to education literature on a variety of aspects of education law and has given oral evidence to the House of Commons Education Select Committee. He is also a long-standing Teach First mentor. Mark is married with twin daughters. Deryn Harvey Deryn joined The Learning Partnership as a non-exec Director in August 2009. From 2002 to 2009 as Director of The Innovation Unit, Deryn supported hundreds of schools, colleges and LAs in their quest for solutions to the biggest challenges facing the system. In her former privileged position of senior civil servant in the DFES, she and the IU team had direct access to ministers and policy makers, thereby helping bridge the gap between practitioners and policy formation. Formerly, Deryn was the Headteacher of Willow Tree Primary School in the London Borough of Ealing. One of the largest primary schools in England, Willow Tree was the result of an amalgamation of three schools undertaken by Deryn in 1993. She had seventeen years of headship experience. During her time as a management consultant with Cap Gemini Ernst & Young, Deryn worked with a variety of government departments including the then Department for Children Schools and Families. Currently Deryn is leading on the National College New Models of Leadership Programme, where she and her team are "out there" with practitioners, finding out what is going on on the ground and in turn advising practitioners, LAs and policy makers on the possible ways forward and implications for leadership. Peter Berry Peter is a marketing consultant working with a wide range of clients in the education, government and private sectors. He has worked with the Department of Education on policy marketing issues and recently on its competitions for New Schools across the North of England. Other education projects include commissions for Teachers TV. He has also provided advice for numerous schools, education think tanks, a number of Children's Services departments and a leading education recruitment consultancy. Peter was Director of Marketing and Communications for the National College of School Leadership (NCSL) for five years from its inception and played a leading role in establishing its reputation and impact nationally and internationally. His involvement across the range of policy and implementation issues associated with school leadership initiatives ensured and continues to ensure a depth of understanding of the schools' landscape. Prior to NCSL, he was Assistant Chief Executive (Marketing & Corporate Affairs) for City of York Council. He has worked as a consultant with public and private sector organisations in Slovakia, Hungary, Sweden, Denmark and Australia, as well as the UK. He has been a member of the CIPR Awards Judging Panel and holds an Advanced Diploma in Public Relations. He studied at the University of Kent, the University of Wales Aberystwyth, Leeds Met University, and Manchester Grammar School. Andy Buck Author, speaker, former headteacher and director at National College, now the CEO of Leadership Matters, creator of the BASIC coaching model and founder of Cadogan Press and The StARTed Foundation. A geography teacher by trade, Andy went on to become a headteacher for thirteen years at two schools in east London. In his second headship, his school was judged outstanding and he was designated a National Leader of Education. In 2009, he was appointed as a director at the National College for School Leadership and in 2012 was made Managing Director at one of the largest academy groups in the UK. Andy has subsequently founded Leadership Matters which aims to improve the educational outcomes for pupils by supporting great leadership development. He has written seven books on leadership and coaching, including the best-selling ‘Leadership Matters’. In 2018, Andy was invited to become a Founding Fellow of the College of Teaching and in 2019 established The StARTed Foundation, which aims to support young talent in the performing arts. More recently he has set up a small independent publishing company, Cadogan Press. Melvin Kenyon Melvin worked for 20 years in retail for the John Lewis Partnership, Richard Shops, Boots, and T&S Stores where he was a member of the plc board for five years. He later spent almost 10 years working for the National College for School Leadership, an agency of the Department for Education, in a variety of leadership roles, including Chief Operating Officer. His core skills are in IT and he still carries out occasional pieces of IT consultancy. He has also been responsible for a variety of other corporate services including HR, procurement, membership, and facilities management; he is qualified in programme and project management and in the management of risk. Melvin is a non-executive director of Ongo (formerly North Lincolnshire) Homes where he also serves on the Audit and Risk Committee. Originally from Oldham he attended Manchester Grammar School and then studied at Oxford University where he gained a degree in Classics and Modern Languages. He now lives in the East Midlands. Nick Ydlibi Nick has been Chair of the Local Governing Body at the Glapton Academy since it gained Academy status in October 2013. He is a chartered accountant by profession, having trained with Ernst and Young, and has worked in various financial roles across the Boots Company for the past 23 years, culminating in his current role as Senior Financial Manager for the Boots Opticians business. David Williams David began his professional career as a secondary school teacher before commissioning into the Royal Air Force in 1984. After 22 years military service in a variety of operational, command and diplomatic roles he joined Ofsted where he enjoyed both regional and national responsibilities. In 2014 he moved into Higher Education where he spent three years as a Senior Lecturer with the University of Lincoln. He now works with local agencies and organisations focusing primarily on promoting opportunities for young people. David is a qualified teacher, has a Masters Degree in the Management of Human Resources, is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. David lives in Lincolnshire with his wife, has two grown children and is a keen cyclist. Paul Graham Paul became a Non Executive Director with the L.E.A.D. Academy Trust in 2018. He is a Chartered Management Accountant who has spent 28 years working for Rolls-Royce in a number of Finance and Commercial roles culminating in his current role as Director of Commercial and Strategy. Paul has previously served as a Primary and Secondary School Governor for many years and holds an Institute of Directors Diploma in Company Direction. Helen McNamara Helen became a Non-Executive Director with L.E.A.D. Academy Trust in December 2019. Helen started her career as an HR professional within the construction industry including global roles with AMEC and Davis Langdon PLC, before moving into the public sector. For the last 11 years Helen has worked for the Care Quality Commission, the regulator of Health and Social Care, and currently leads CQC’s Organisational Development. The role has developed alongside the organisation which was created in 2010; so Helen has lead the development of organisational values and behaviours which remain very relevant, and specifically leads programmes of leadership and management development, wellbeing, performance management, inclusion, reward and recognition. As a keen HR professional Helen is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development. John Hobson John grew up in Nottinghamshire, where he attended Nottingham High School and then studied at Durham University. He has recently returned to the county and became a Non-Executive Director with the L.E.A.D. Academy Trust in 2020. He has experience of the education sector as a Non-Executive Director of a Multi-Academy Trust based in Berkshire. His core skill is in Human Resources and has worked as an HR Director for multinational organisations in the I.T Services sector, where he was responsible for teams based in the UK and across Europe, Africa and the Middle East. His work involved working closely with clients in both the private and public sectors and he is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. More recently he has worked as a Consultant, providing HR services to clients across the IT industry. He is married with one son and enjoys cooking and yoga. Anne Frost Anne was a senior civil servant until 2020. Her civil service career included working in regional Government Offices and running a College for Fire Service personnel. She held a range of posts at the Department for Education, many of which involved support for disadvantaged pupils and was also the Department’s lead for Further Education. Her most recent role was as a Housing Director at the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government. Before joining the civil service, Anne was an officer in the Royal Air Force where she was stationed in both the UK and Hong Kong. She is currently the Chair of Trustees for a multi-academy trust in Melton Mowbray. She is also a Trustee of NACRO, a national social justice charity, where she sits on both the strategy and education committees. Michael Brunner Michael has a pharmacology degree and spent a year in research working at the Wellcome Foundation before moving into the commercial world. He also studied for and gained a Diploma in Marketing from the Institute of Marketing. He has over 30 years' experience in sales, marketing and training, and team development in the healthcare and pharmaceutical arena. He has worked in the UK, as well as the Middle East, Africa and the Indian subcontinent. In 2008 he founded Harlaxton Associates, a consultancy based in Nottingham offering help to growing businesses, and training and development for staff and managers. Bobby Thandi Bobby became the Deputy Chief Executive of the L.E.A.D. Academy Trust in February 2016. He originally joined L.E.A.D. as the Business Director in January 2013 and is responsible for the strategic financial management, systems and operations of L.E.A.D. Academy Trust. Bobby is a qualified chartered accountant and has previously worked within a large secondary school, free schools and the Children and Young People's Department of a local authority. Bobby has provided consultancy services for schools covering finance, ICT, catering, project management, premises design and development. He has also previously held senior finance roles with employers ranging from the Audit Commission to Derbyshire Police Authority. Neil Spencelayh Neil became the Deputy Chief Executive of the L.E.A.D. Academy Trust in September 2020. He is responsible for leading on school improvement and quality assurance strategies across the academies. He plays an integral role within the Trust leading, both strategically and operationally, the support, advice and guidance that enable the academies to succeed and ensures the consistent delivery of L.E.A.D.'s principles and values. Prior to this, Neil worked in Lincolnshire schools, gaining significant experience through a range of leadership roles, including over 11 years of headship experience in two contrasting schools. During his first headship at Spitalgate Primary School, the school was recognised for its rapid improvement and was judged to be one of the 100 most improved schools in the country. Neil's second headship involved establishing a new school, Witham St. Hugh's Academy, within a new community. This academy was judged outstanding by Ofsted across all aspects of its work. The academy also received accreditation as a National Support School and National Teaching School under Neil's leadership. Using a range of coaching and mentoring strategies, Neil has led school-to-school support since 2007, working with colleagues in many varied settings and contexts. He became a National Leader of Education in 2013, primarily working with leadership teams of schools judged as inadequate or requiring improvement. Neil has also undertaken the Additional Inspector role during Ofsted inspections. Photography: Miro Photography Charity Registration Number: 1153236 Contact us Disclaimer Accessibility Site map