national leader of governance

Mark has been designated as a National Leader of Governance (NLG) by the NCTL and is the Chair of the L.E.A.D Academy Trust (MAT). He has been a governor in a range of education settings for over 15 years. In particular he has led his own school from a stand-alone maintained school to a single academy, then to become a sponsoring academy and ultimately to becoming a multi-academy trust. He has extensive experience of each stage of this evolution and an appreciation of the work involved to manage the process of change.

In his capacity as the chair of a large and fast-growing multi-academy trust over the last five years and professionally as an education lawyer, Mark is acutely aware of how rapidly the education sector landscape is changing and that this can sometimes be confusing and disorientating for those involved in the governance of education providers. Mark’s consultancy work as an NLG is focused on making a contribution by supporting, challenging and coaching chairs and their governing bodies so that they are able to confidently and proactively take control of their own destiny. He is particularly well placed to work with governors who are considering developing and evolving their governance structure to meet the challenges of the new education sector landscape, perhaps through formal collaborations with other schools and academies. Mark believes that this area will be one of the key strategic issues for governing bodies over the next five years and that grappling with this agenda will be critical if schools and academies are to be able to remain fit for the future.