Peter Rosengard is one of Britain’s leading Life Insurance salesmen. In 1990 he earned a place in the Guinness Book of Records for selling the largest ever Life Insurance policy. Peter has been involved in a number of hobbies throughout his career: In 1979 he founded The Comedy Store in London, thus helping launch the careers of Alexei Sayle, Ben Elton, French and Saunders and many others. He enjoys reading, writing, drawing people in restaurants, painting, and riding around London on his red Vespa scooter.
Sir Anthony Seldon, Vice-Chancellor of The University of Buckingham since 2015, is one of Britain’s leading contemporary historians, educationalists, commentators and political authors.
He was a transformative head for 20 years, first of Brighton College and then Wellington College. He is author or editor of over 40 books on contemporary history, including the inside books on the last four Prime Ministers, was the co-founder and first director of the Institute for Contemporary British History, is co-founder of Action for Happiness, honorary historical adviser to 10 Downing Street, UK Special Representative for Saudi Education, a member of the Government’s First World War Culture Committee, was chair of the Comment Awards, is a director of the Royal Shakespeare Company, the President of IPEN, (International Positive Education Network), Chair of the National Archives Trust, is patron or on the board of several charities, founder of the Via Sacra Western Front Walk, and was executive producer of the film Journey’s End. He appeared on the Desert Island Discs in 2016. For the last fifteen years he has given all his money from writing and lecturing to charity. He has three children; his wife of 34 years, Joanna, died of cancer in December 2016.
Dame Sally is Executive Principal at Holland Park School, one of London’s first comprehensive schools. Previously, Dame Sally was the National Director of Secondary Education at United Learning, managing 46 secondary academies and 14 independent schools.
Dame Sally was Principal of Burlington Danes Academy an 11 – 18 Ark Academy in Hammersmith & Fulham from 2008 – 2014. The school has 67% pupil premium and mostly serves the very deprived White City Estate. Burlington Danes was graded ‘Outstanding’ by Ofsted in November 2013. She acted as Executive Principal at Evelyn Grace Academy in Brixton until July 2012 and was Executive Principal of Ark Putney and West London Free School until July 2014.
Dame Sally was previously Head of Sacred Heart School an Ofsted ‘Outstanding’ VA school in Camberwell, London Borough of Southwark. She has always worked in inner city schools in London and has been in teaching since 1976.
Dame Sally chaired The Review of the Teaching Standards in 2012 and also chaired the Teaching Skills Test Review in 2013. Her book ‘Headstrong’ 11 lessons of school leadership was published in February 2015. The Secretary of State for Justice, Michael Gove, asked Dame Sally to conduct an independent review into Prison Education in 2015. The Coates Review reported its findings in May 2016.
Sally was made a Dame Commander of the British Empire (DBE) in the 2013 New Years Honours List. Dame Sally was awarded Fellowship of the College of Teachers in May 2016 and Fellowship of City and Guilds in April 2019.
Colin has worked in education leadership roles for over 40 years. He was a headteacher in London, Inclusion Adviser in the North East of England and Director of Education/Children’s Services in North Somerset and Birmingham with over 450 state schools. He led the education adviser team at the Department for Education and became Deputy Education Commissioner in Birmingham for the Secretary of State to lead the recovery following the Trojan Horse episode.
In 2018 he took up post as Professor of Educational Leadership at the University of Birmingham with the mission to create an Education Leadership Academy that blended the best research with excellent practice on the ground.
He was awarded a CBE for services to education in 2016.
He is a lifelong supporter of Liverpool Football Club and used to play keyboards in probably the best blues band in the South West before Birmingham took over his life.
Dame Cressida Dick spent over 38 years in public service, beginning as a patrol Police Constable in Soho. She served in the Met Police, Thames Valley Police and at the National Police College as well as spending two years as a DG at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. As a senior police officer in the Met she held command roles in police responses over a 20 year period to multiple terrorist attacks both in the UK and overseas – beginning with 9/11 and the first ever deployment of UK family liaison officers overseas to a mass casualty event. Between 2007 and 2009 she was in charge of security and protection in the Met, and between 2011 and 2014 led UK counter terrorism policing before becoming Commissioner of the Met in 2017- a post she held for five years. She has always had a keen interest in how ‘communities beat terrorism’ and the importance of education in countering extremism in all its aspects.
Lucy French founded the charity, Never Such Innocence (NSI) in March 2014, and is currently CEO. NSI is an educational charity that gives young people across the UK and internationally the opportunity to reflect on conflict and how conflict impacts their lives and the world around them through poetry, art, speechwriting and song. It nurtures the next generation of thinkers, leaders and peace keepers through the arts, cultural exchange, dialogue and debate. NSI currently works with 9-18 year olds in 105 countries and fosters international dialogue, through workshops, roadshows and special events to bring children from different communities and indeed, countries together. Prior to Never Such Innocence, she opened the St. James Theatre, the first new theatre complex built in London for three decades. Over the years she has campaigned and fundraised for theatre, the arts and the voices of children.
Lucy sits on the Advisory Board for ‘Getting on with it: the micro-dynamics of post-accord intergroup social relations’ at Bristol University, is a Governor of Fairley House School, a committee member for the 2022 Lord Mayors Big Curry Lunch, an advisor to the Royal School of Church Music.
She was awarded an OBE in the 2019 New Year’s Honours List for Services to Young People and the Arts.
Matthew is a legal consultant specialising in debt capital markets transactions with over 25 years’ experience working at Allen & Overy LLP, one of the leading legal practices in this area. He currently works as an Adviser at the Bank of England. Over his career, he has been involved in a wide range of different types of debt securities offerings across various jurisdictions, including emerging markets. Matthew also has experience of tax driven structures, capital issues for banks and UK building societies, sovereign debt restructurings and corporate reorganisations. Whilst a partner at Allen & Overy LLP, Matthew was trusted by clients to advise on complex strategic financings and restructurings, notably advising the bondholder committee in the Greek restructuring in 2011/12 (the largest ever sovereign bond exchange offer), advising Co-op Group on the recapitalisation of the Co-op Bank in 2013 and advising GE on its corporate reorganisation in 2015 (the largest ever corporate bond exchange offer).
Matthew is a liveryman in the City of London Solicitors’ Company and is chair of the Governance Advisory Group of the Ruth Strauss Foundation.
Ishtiaq Hussain is a Senior Civil Servant. He has worked in several government departments since 2010 including the Department for Education (2011-15), Ministry of Justice (2015-16), Home Office (2017-20) and as an Advisory Board member on Ofsted’s Safeguarding Board (2017-20).
Since 2022, he has been working as an Assistant Director at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), leading work on Cohesion and Integration.
Ishtiaq has led work on Counter Extremism, Safeguarding in Education, tackling Race and Ethnic Disparities in the criminal justice system and Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG). He has also published articles and reports and delivered presentations in schools, colleges and universities as well as public and private sector organisations across the UK and in the United States.
He was a finalist for ‘Civil Servant of the Year Award’ in 2013. In June 2023, he was awarded an OBE in the King’s first Birthday Honours List for Public Service.
Simon is a specialist in strategic communications, international relations, and reputation management with over 25 years of experience as a lead consultant within the Chime Group. He has developed and executed complex communications strategies for globally recognized brands and advises NGOs across China, India, and Europe. Simon is also a trusted mentor and coach to prominent leaders across a wide range of sectors, including business, sport, music and politics.
Widely respected as a global authority on reputation management, Simon co-authored the award-winning book Lie-Ability and is a sought-after speaker on crisis and reputation management at international conferences.
Sir Harvey McGrath is Chair of the Advisory Council and a Director of the Impact Investing Institute, and Chair-elect of London Treasury Ltd. He is the former CEO and Chair of Man Group plc, and former Chair of Prudential plc, the London Development Agency, the Governors of Birkbeck, University of London, and of Big Society Capital.
An active philanthropist and social investor, Harvey is Chair of West London Zone, which supports at-risk children and young people, and a trustee of New Philanthropy Capital, a research-based charity which gives advice and guidance to donors and charities.
Sir Simon Schama, CBE, FRSL, FBA, is University Professor of Art History and History at Columbia University and a Contributing Editor of the Financial Times. He is the author of nineteen books and the writer-presenter of fifty documentaries on art, history and literature for BBC2.
