Rachel Wolf

Sir Geoffrey is a former editor of the Financial Times and is a Senior Fellow at the London School of Economics. 

Amanda Spielman is research and development director of the academy operator ARK Schools, where she is also responsible for strategic legal, governance and regulatory matters. She was recently a member of the Sykes review group commissioned by Michael Gove to review the school assessment system. She has an MA in Comparative Education from the Institute of Education. She is also a chartered accountant and spent over 15 years in private equity, mergers & acquisitions, and corporate strategy in the UK and the US for Kleinwort Benson, Mercer Management Consulting, and Nomura International Principal Finance Group.

Theodore is Deputy Chairman of Jubilee Managing Agency. He is also Chairman of the Norfolk Community Foundation, and a trustee of Policy Exchange. 

Barbara is the former chief executive of the Girls’ Day School Trust, one of the largest and most successful providers of independent education in the UK. She established the first independent sector Academy (The Belvedere) in Liverpool, closely followed by Birkenhead High. 

Professor Le Grand is Richard Titmuss Professor of Social Policy at the London School of Economics. He was one of Tony Blair’s key advisers and has written books on the use of market systems in public services – including education. 

Sally is an adviser to Ark Academies. She is a former Director of Government Relations at 10 Downing Street and senior adviser to Tony Blair. Originally a secondary school teacher Sally has a BA (Hons) in Geography from Durham University, PGCE from London University and MA in Comparative Education from the Institute of Education. 

Heath is Chief Executive of Future Leaders which develops the next generation of leaders for challenging schools. He is the former Deputy Schools Commissioner. He also spent six years as a secondary teacher of English and Drama, having read English Literature at Queen’s College, Oxford. 

Geoffrey is a former partner for Lewis Silkin, where he acts as a consultant. He has helped to establish around 60 Academies, working with many of the major sponsors. He is on the board of ULT – a multi-Academy sponsor. 

Ian is the Chief Executive of the Ormiston Academies Trust, a multi-Academy sponsor. He has been a Visiting Professor at Wolverhampton University. He has extensive experience of education consultancy at a senior level with KPMG, DCSF and Local Authorities and is a former head. 

Paul Marshall is the co-founder and Chairman of Marshall Wace LLP. He is also a co-founder and trustee of ARK – a multi academy sponsor – and of the charity Every Child a Chance. He is chair of the Management Committee of the liberal think tank CentreForum.