CEO of The Mercian Trust - a family of 9 secondary schools - serving the Priority Education Investment Areas (P-EIAs) of Walsall and Sandwell. I am a member of the national DFE Headteacher Reference Group working with ministers and officials to support government policy development and implementation. I am also a member of the West Midlands Advisory Board (AB) - formerly the RSC headteacher board. ABs are responsible for advising and challenging DFE Regional Directors (formerly RSCs) on decisions delegated by the Secretary of State. In my first 3 years as CEO, I have grown the Trust in size (from c5,000 to c10,000 students) and influence (establishing a central structure and capacity as a 'Strong Trust' supporting school improvement and strategic development in the region beyond our schools). As a senior leader in the education sector, I have a track record of delivering outstanding outcomes for students and pioneering new schools, programmes and qualifications. I have successfully managed transformational change, most notably through increasing opportunities for disadvantaged students by forging progression routes into employment and university for young people from underrepresented groups and in technology-enabled learning and digital convergence.As CEO of Quaerere Academies Trust I led 2x MATs into a formal Trust Partnership and then a Trust merger with the transfer of the 3x Q3 academies into The Mercian Trust.As the founding Principal of Walsall Studio School (the Black Country's first and only Studio School academy for 14-19 year olds) I led the pre-opening, opening and pioneering phases of a new school. I have established the studio school as a hub of innovation leading the L3 Core Maths pilot programme and overseeing the school's designation by the NCTL as a lead school for the delivery of TSST Maths (responsible for the up-skilling of teachers with a second specialism in maths). In May 2018 the studio school was selected to be one of the pioneering providers to develop and deliver T-Levels.In 2016 I led an application to open an Alternative Provision Free School in the Black Country. This was approved by the DFE in September 2016 and I have chaired the project steering group through the pre-opening and opening phases. The Ladder AP Free School opened in January 2019.My signature strengths include being analytical, strategic and deliberating effectively. I am an achiever who works best when I know I can achieve something significant every day and I enjoy working with people to transform 'good' into 'exceptional'.