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Team

Abbie Clark Office Assistant Abbie was educated at Chislehurst & Sidcup Grammar School and has a solid administrative and PA background. Abbie has a great interest and passion for education and studies English Literature in her spare time with the goal of achieving QTS in the future.	Charlotte Pearce Cornish Advisor Charlotte Pearce Cornish graduated with a first class degree in Philosophy from Christ's College, University of Cambridge. Before joining NSN she worked with a group of Special schools where she devised an innovative system for tracking pupil performance and auditing special educational needs.	David Watson David graduated from St. Peter’s College, University of Oxford with a first class degree in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics. Previously he worked at the Institute for Government – where he co-authored a report on Government IT – and as a private tutor. He is currently studying for a Masters in International Relations at the London School of Economics.
Diana Berry Director of Development In addition to leading fundraising for NSN, Diana chairs fundraising for the Chelsea Academy Foundation and is a governor of Hanford School, Dorset. She has worked as Head of Fundraising for Conservative Campaign Head Quarters and before that worked at Sotheby's, as Senior Director of Sculpture and Works of Art, and Chairman of Sothebys Institute, London.	Katharine Howell Advisor Katharine Howell graduated from the University of Manchester with a first class degree in History, during which time she wrote for a major student newspaper before becoming an editor. She then completed her Masters degree at King's College London in Early Modern History before coming to New Schools Network.	Mike Crowhurst Publications Manager Mike has a degree in History from the University of Oxford and is currently studying for a Masters in Educational Leadership at the University of Warwick. Before joining NSN he taught History at a challenging school in Birmingham with the Teach First programme and worked in Parliament for Mike Penning MP.
Natalie Evans Chief Operating Officer Natalie is Chief Operating Officer of the New Schools Network. Prior to joining NSN she was Deputy Director of Policy Exchange, responsible for the output and strategic direction of their research team. Her previous roles include Head of Policy at the British Chambers of Commerce and Deputy Director at the Conservative Research Department.	Philippa Sexton Philippa is a qualified Chartered Surveyor, and has worked for a think tank, as well as specialising in property for a FTSE-100 company. She holds a degree in Land Management from the University of Reading and is studying for a Masters in Policy and Management at Birkbeck College, London.	Rachel Wolf Director Rachel is the Director of New Schools Network. Before she founded the New Schools Network, Rachel was an education adviser to the Conservative Party. She has also worked for Boris Johnson and the Institute of Education. She studied Natural Sciences at Cambridge and Economics at Birkbeck.
Sigrun Bjork Olafsdottir IT & Office Manager Sigrun has an extensive background in IT, Finances and Office Management. In her spare time, she bakes, creates lamps from recycled materials, produces websites and studies towards an open degree in the Open University.	Tom Philpott Advisor Tom was educated at Highfields Secondary School in Wolverhampton and Aberystwyth University. Before joining NSN Tom was the Head of Marketing at the School Governors' One-Stop Shop. He has volunteered as a primary school governor and a trustee of two charities.

Trustees

Barbara Harrison 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.	Michael Clark Michael is Director of UK Programmes for ARK Schools. He specialises in strategy and performance improvement in Education and Healthcare. He has worked for government departments, regulators, inspectors and non-profit organisations in England and America. Michael obtained an MA in Economics at Cambridge University, and has an MBA from Kellogg School of Management.	Sir Geoffrey Owen Sir Geoffrey is a former editor of the Financial Times and is a Senior Fellow at the London School of Economics.
Theodore Agnew Theodore is Deputy Chairman of Jubilee Managing Agency. He is also Chairman of the Norfolk Community Foundation, and a trustee of Policy Exchange.

Advisers

Dr Dan Moynihan Dan is Chief Executive of the Harris Federation of South London Schools. Of six Harris Academies inspected to date, four have been judged outstanding. Previously he was headteacher of two Outstanding London schools. Dan is an experienced inspector of schools, a National Leader in Education for the National College for School Leadership and author of various schools textbooks for OUP.	Geoffrey Davies 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.	Heath Monk 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.
Ian Cleland 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.	James Merriman James is CEO of the New York City Charter School Center, which serves as a resource and facilitator for new charter schools. He is the former director of the Charter Schools Institute of the State University of New York (SUNY), one of America’s largest authorisers of charter schools.	Paul Marshall 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.
Professor Julian Le Grand 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.	Rev Tim Hastie-Smith Tim was head of Dean Close in Cheltenham for ten years, and is a former chair of the Headmasters’ and Headmistresses’ Conference. He has been a school governor for a wide range of schools, and currently runs Perrett Laver’s practice within schools and colleges.