Laurie Forcier is a senior education leader with a passion for connecting people and ideas to drive system-level change. During her 25-year career in education she has worked in the world’s top think tanks, government agencies, universities, and corporations including the Urban Institute, the National Science Foundation, Harvard University, and Pearson. She now works independently, supporting partnerships and strategy for global education organisations linked by a common belief in the power of technology to make a quality education available to everyone. She speaks internationally on the future of education, skills and work; AI in Education; how we can support educators in the competent and confident use of technology; and why evidence is key to unlocking the power of EdTech.

Haili Hughes is a principal lecturer in mentoring and professional development at the University of Sunderland and Director of Education at IRIS Connect. She was a teacher for sixteen years. She has written five education books and is currently writing four more. She also works as a DfE ITT Quality Associate and travels the world delivering CPD on mentoring and coaching. She facilitates the ECF and NPQLTD for two national providers.

Bennie Kara is a former deputy headteacher in the East Midlands, specialising in curriculum, teaching and learning. She started her career in the inaugural cohort of Teach First in 2003, teaching English in East London. Since then, she has taught in four London boroughs and in South Oxfordshire, before her return to the Midlands to teach in Derby.

Bennie now speaks, writes and trains on diversity in the curriculum. Alongside supporting schools to diversify their curriculum, she is the author of ‘A Little Guide for Teachers: Diversity in Schools’ (Sage Education). She has written on the subject of diversity for publications such as Schools Week and the Chartered College of Teaching’s Education Exchange, as well as contributing to many books by educators. She is a nationally and internationally recognised keynote speaker. Her second book, ‘Diverse Educators: A Manifesto’, a co-edited book with her Diverse Educators co-founder, Hannah Wilson, was published in April 2022.

Ben Levinson OBE is Executive Headteacher at The Tapscott Learning Trust. In the Trust, he has led Kensington Primary School to flagship status in all manner of areas from inclusion to wellbeing. Under his leadership the school launched an innovative new curriculum, specifically developed to provide the best outcomes for children and prepare them for life in the 21st Century. Kensington was Primary School of the Year and Mental Health and Wellbeing School of the Year in 2020.

He has advised the Department for Education on workload and wellbeing and was part of the Expert Advisory Group responsible for the Education Staff Wellbeing Charter. He is a National Leader of Education, Chair of Well Schools, a Board member for Thrive at Five and an ambassador for the Youth Sport Trust, the British Council, and TeachActive.

Sinéad McBrearty is CEO at Education Support, the mental health and wellbeing charity for the education workforce across the UK. She advocates for a systemic approach to wellbeing for the education workforce, attending to the individual, the workplace and the wider policy environment.

Sinéad began her career at KPMG before moving to leadership roles in the not-for-profit sector. She has worked as an organisational development consultant and a lecturer and has been a trustee at a number of charities including Kaleidoscope Trust and Groundswell. She is a governor of a south London primary school.

Ella Roberts has been in education for over 20 years and has worked in a variety of Schools across East Sussex, before joining TKAT in 2014 becoming Deputy Director of Learning in 2016 and then Director of Teaching School in 2019. She’s held a variety of senior leadership roles including Deputy Headteacher, Headteacher and Deputy Executive Regional Director as well as supporting many schools in a consultancy capacity including leadership development and teacher coaching. Ella is also an EMCC Accredited Coach at Senior Practitioner level.

Ella is passionate about high quality teaching and learning and ensuring all children have the best educational experience possible. As Director of TKATs Learning and Development Network (LDN), she is committed to the development of all staff both within and beyond the trust, striving to promote a culture of continuous development by empowering colleagues to continue to learn, innovate and share knowledge. This commitment to learning and development underpins the belief that, through an ever improving workforce, we are able to transform the lives of the children in our schools.

Cat Scutt is Deputy CEO, Education and Research at the Chartered College of Teaching, the professional body for teachers. A former English teacher, Cat’s roles have since focused on supporting teacher development both online and through face-to-face activities, with a particular focus on development using digital technology, through collaboration and by engagement with research and evidence. She has worked in education in both the state and independent sector, as well as in corporate learning and development. Cat leads on the Chartered College Of Teaching’s work around teacher development and certification, including the Chartered Teacher programme, and their research activities and publications, including their award-winning peer-reviewed journal, Impact. She is currently completing her PhD at the UCL Institute of Education. She received an MBE for services to education in 2021 and has been a member of several government advisory groups.

Sam Sims is an education researcher, interested in teachers, teaching, and teacher professional development. He is a Lecturer at UCL Institute of Education, Research Lead at Ambition Institute and Research Advisor at Teacher Development Trust. Along with Becky Allen, he is co-author of the book The Teacher Gap. You can find him on social media @DrSamSims.

David Weston is the founder and Chief Executive of the Teacher Development Trust. He is Chair of the Department for Education’s Teachers’ Professional Development Expert Group and, alongside Bridget Clay, wrote Unleashing Great Teaching: the secrets to the most effective teacher development. David taught maths and physics for ten years in two schools in London and the South East. He is a Founding Fellow of the Chartered College of Teaching. David speaks and writes frequently for the education sector and national media and has had a number of radio and TV appearances on the subject of teaching, teacher development and LGBT issues.

Michelle Barker has over 9 years’ experience in supporting both UK and overseas education in state and independent schools through roles in EAL, SEND, and national curriculum tuition. Specialising in customer experience, she joined the team in 2019 eager to continue delivering on the needs of the TDT Network, now leading on the development and efficacy of this and expanding the reach of our charitable mission by connecting the people at its core. She has contributed to national programmes including the DfE-funded CPD Excellence Hubs and IoE Teachers’ Working Environments research, and led on our collaboration with the National Foundation for Education Research’s work into Teacher Autonomy. Alongside her work with TDT, she engages with the CollectivED Community, is a school governor, has published work in Tes, SecEd, and the Headteacher Update, and volunteers for a London based reading charity.

Heena Dave is an ESRC-funded PhD student investigating the pedagogical content knowledge of climate change education. She is the Co-Founder of Climate Adapted Pathways for Education (CAPE) and serves as a Senior Curriculum Designer for the Teacher Development Trust.  Formerly, she was Head of Science at Bedford Free School and co-authored ‘Cracking Key Concepts in Secondary Science‘.

Before joining TDT as an Expert Advisor, Sharon was Lead Practitioner at Coleshill Heath Primary school in Solihull where she led Professional learning, Development and Research. Sharon also led the school’s work in mentoring beginning teachers and Early Career Teachers. Sharon, has held a number of positions within Senior leadership, including Deputy Head. She has taught in both mainstream and specialist settings as well as teaching in North Carolina.

Katie has worked in education for over 20 years and is an experienced executive leader in both education and learning and development.  Working in the UK and International education systems, Katie has designed and delivered professional development experiences for Ministry’s, School Partnerships, Multi Academy Trusts, Universities and Training Providers.  She has thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to mentor and coach others on their journey into teaching, leadership and towards achieving qualifications such as the NPQ’s.

Prior to joining TDT Jo spent over 20 years teaching Business, Economics, and IT in a variety of state schools in the Yorkshire region including inner city, coastal and rural. These roles include academic and pastoral leadership positions at middle, whole-school and trust wide level. She has served on a school governing body as a staff governor and is a Specialist Leader in education. With a passion for improving educational outcomes for pupils by raising the quality of teachers’ professional development, Jo has led professional development in both schools and as part of a school improvement team across a Multi Academy Trust. She has also developed, led and facilitated evidence-informed professional development programmes locally and nationally in her role as a Research Lead and through the RSN network. Jo previously worked as an expert advisor for TDT, writing content for the new NPQs.

Emma is the Assistant Head for Staff Development and Wellbeing at a large comprehensive school in Oxfordshire. With around 250 staff, planning and delivering CPD for her large team is a core part of her role.

Emma also teaches history and EPQ! She has been teaching, mentoring and supporting colleagues for nearly 24 years! ”And I still love it. I loved it from the minute I did my first 20 minute segment of a lesson in my PGCE year. (It was about Henry VIII).”

”I want to make sure that all people involved in the teaching profession, no matter what level of expertise and experience, can also love teaching and supporting students and continue to love being involved with education for more than a few years. Giving our current teachers and non-teaching support colleagues the opportunity to feel valued, to feel expert and to engage with their own development at the speed and pace they want is all part of our CPD programme. We aim to build expertise, and to build careers. As a teaching school, I also look after the largest cohort of SCITT trainees, PGCE students and ECTs in Oxfordshire. Supporting a new generation of teachers, and giving our experienced colleagues opportunities to develop and grow as teachers is the best bit of my job!”

Adam Porter is the Director of Education and Technology at The Shared Learning Trust, with responsibility for developing the Quality of Education and Digital Strategy across the trust, from Early Years to Post-16.

He has held senior responsibilities in schools for over a decade and in that time has been responsible for strategic areas as diverse as school improvement and quality assurance, teaching and learning, curriculum and assessment, parental engagement, professional development and performance appraisal.

Adam has been previously accredited to deliver the NAML by the SSAT and as a CEOP ambassador, is a Microsoft Advanced Educator and now acts as a Lead Facilitator on two of the new specialist NPQs in partnership with the TDT. He also is on the executive committee for a local youth charity and has spoken on topics such as teacher professional training, curriculum and assessment and digital strategy.

Laura Masson has over 15 years of experience leading schools and is currently Director of Education for Aurora Academies Trust. Prior to this, she had experience working in both the independent and state sectors across every key stage.

In her various leadership roles, Laura has spearheaded the development of shared organisational vision and values to drive cultural change. She is passionate about supporting teachers and leaders within the education sector and is an associate of the Teacher Development Trust, a Fellow of the Chartered College of Teachers and a member of the Chartered Management Institute.

Laura remains devoted to her own learning, and has recently completed a MSc in Educational Leaders, and actively pursues professional development opportunities to become the best leader she can be. Laura has recently written research papers on mental health in leadership and the importance of engaging parents in their children’s education.

At the time of writing Laura has been shortlisted for the award of achieving most career growth for an apprentice in East Sussex.  By the time she speaks, she will know if she has one.  In her nomination, recognition was given to her devotion to the career development of all colleagues, regardless of their roles.