Our Board Trustees are appointed for their wide ranging knowledge skills and/or experience in the following areas:
Co-opted Trustees
Board Trustees may appoint Co-opted Board Trustees with the required skill set as is necessary to support its development from time to time. Co-opted means a person who is appointed to be a Trustee by being co-opted by Trustees who have not themselves been so appointed.
Joanne was Chair of Governors at Dartington C of E Primary School supporting the school community through the academisation process to join the Trust in April 2021. Joanne has spent her professional life working with small to medium-sized companies in the creative and software industries and currently works at the University of Exeter as the creative industries impact and partnership manager.
Rebecca is a Director in an international law firm, having worked in the legal sphere for her entire career. Rebecca brings legal insight to the board as well as having a keen interest in all areas of strategic growth, risk and commercial focus. Rebecca is local to the South West, having grown up in North Devon and lives in Exeter.
Mark's career has covered various role and responsibilities including setting up his own Consultancy business, working as a Design Engineer, co-founding a company to develop x ray and image processing technology for the food sector and CEO of Spectral Fusion Technologies responsible for recruitment and management.
Phil is an experienced Chief Finance Officer who matches excellent technical skills to incisive commercial awareness. He has 17 years of experience as a Financial Director within multiple sectors across multiple countries enabling him to provide clarity, design strategy and enabling actionable business development.
Maria is the CEO of YMCA South Devon, who provides Alternative Education for children & young people that can’t access full time mainstream education and also a very busy nursery for babies to pre-school age children. Maria has worked in many different settings with children & young people for over 20 years and strongly believes everyone has a right to quality education and that it is our duty as professionals to make it accessible for them regardless of any disadvantages they might face.
Gavin is the CEO of Infinity Academies Trust, a majority Church of England Multi-Academy Trust based in Lincolnshire. Gavin has been involved in primary education for over 20 years as a teacher, Headteacher, Executive Headteacher and CEO. Gavin worked for the Lincolnshire County Council leading on Education Strategy and supporting schools experiencing difficulties. He has successfully led schools through Ofsted inspections and academy conversions and Gavin is currently the Chair of Lincolnshire’s School Forum.
Lucia is an experienced Management Consultant, specialising in education and charity projects. She has worked for two leading Management Consultancies, two Multi-Academy Trusts, and now works as an independent consultant to the education, property and charitable sectors.
Ann has over 35 years of experience working in and with schools and established a background in leading and turning around schools in challenging circumstances. She has partnered with schools across the UK and internationally. She has been a facilitator on a number of NPQs and other programmes and is a public speaker and currently is highly acclaimed in the area of DEI. She is a qualified coach, coaching MAT CEOs and other personnel. Ann currently holds roles across a number of businesses, is a member of the Chartered College of Teaching's Ethics Committee, a Charity Trustee and School Governor. Ann was awarded the Freedom of the City of London in 2010
Having started her career in retail operations Helen has spent the last 10 years of her career working as an Executive Director and Director within organisations across multiple sectors including utilities, housing, and development. As an FCIPD Human Resources Professional, Helen has led organisations through many growth changes and regulatory reforms. She is passionate about people and the positive impact engaged and motivated people can make to organisations. Helen has a keen interest in technology and data and is passionate about using technology to release business opportunity.
Olga is passionate about empowering children and young people through inclusive, high-quality education, which can help reduce societal inequalities and enable everyone to thrive. She is a strong advocate for diversity, equality, and inclusion and has extensive experience in education, safeguarding, and child protection. Her work has spanned across England and internationally, where she has led educational programmes that promote inclusion and diversity. Additionally, she has provided training in safeguarding and DEI to children, young people, parents, educational staff, and senior school leaders, ensuring that schools are safer and more inclusive spaces. As a Trustee of the Learning Academy Partnership, Olga is dedicated to addressing inequalities in education.
Our Board of Trustees are looking to strengthen and expand our School Trust family of schools and are currently restructuring governance to meet the changing landscape as our School Trust grows.
The Board of Trustees are open to an ongoing review of governance to ensure that it retains and grows a high level skill base and highly effective governance, in order that it continues to increase its capacity to support the growth of the School Trust.
The Board of Trustees actively seek new members to the current board. This is a voluntary role.
The Trustees can be contacted through:
Juliet Brodie, Governance Professional
c/o Learning Academy Partnership,
Suite 4 Zealley House,
Greenhill Way,
Kingsteignton,
TQ12 3SB
Email: governanceteam@lapsw.org