Our people

Dan has an exceptional track record as a leader in the education and commercial global business sectors. Most recently he has been CEO of Sparx Learning, the schools’ maths solution, where he grew the business from its original two schools to serving nearly two million learners in over half of the secondary schools in the UK, in addition to establishing a global footprint in 25 countries. Across his career, Dan has been a founder, CEO and investor in technology, education and EdTech, taking businesses from start-up to global scale.

Alongside his executive career, Dan has also held several non-executive positions. Until recently he sat on the board of the British Education Supplier Association (BESA) and currently sits on the Leadership Council at the Centre for Universal Education at the Brookings Institution (Washington) and on the board of Foresight VCT plc as a non-executive director. In 2020, he founded the EdTech Evidence Group to support evidence and efficacy in the EdTech sector. In 2022, he was awarded the Asian Tech Pioneer award by Diversity UK.

Tony McAleavy is Education Development Trust’s Education Director with corporate oversight of the educational impact of all Education Development Trust’s activities and our public domain research programme. Tony has worked extensively on school reform in many countries, particularly in the Middle East. He has an MA in Modern History from St John’s College, University of Oxford.

Sarah has extensive experience of working for not-for-profit organisations and has seen how education empowers individuals to achieve their full potential and act as a catalyst to transform our communities, creating more equitable, inclusive, and sustainable societies. At Education Development Trust she works collaboratively to develop the culture and people strategies which attract, retain, and enable our talented people to thrive and deliver impact.

Cheryl is passionate about creating change at scale, enabling people to make the most of their lives. At Education Development Trust, she is instrumental in telling our unique and inspirational story to audiences around the world ensuring we can continue to transform lives through education. Prior to joining Education Development Trust, Cheryl led the public engagement function at the Fairtrade Foundation.

Dr Anna Riggall leads Education Development Trust's global programme of academic educational research and promotes evidence engagement across the organisation. She has over 20 years’ experience leading international educational research and holds an MA in Education & Development Studies and PhD in Education. She specialises in the areas of education system reform, education for marginalised groups including children with disabilities, girls and refugees, teacher development, leadership, accountability and education in emergencies.

Ross’ initial career was primarily in financial services before moving into education three years ago. Since then, he has led Capita’s Skills and Employability business and is currently Managing Director of National Schools, providing scaled services to the Department for Education (DfE), Education Authorities and multi-academy trusts (MATs). Ross is a trustee for a multi-academy trust and a trustee for a local charity providing services to disadvantaged young people in East Surrey.

Mick leads the finance team at Education Development Trust, overseeing financial accounting, financial planning and analysis and commercial finance for the Trust. Through the application and promotion of highly effective commercial expertise, high standards in systems and controls, and a culture of transparency and accountability, the finance team ensures Education Development Trust programmes are characterised by compliance and value for money. Mick is a Chartered Accountant with a BSc in Philosophy and Economics, an MSc in Development Studies and 20 years’ experience in audit and finance roles in the professional services and charitable sectors.

Kurt has an excellent track record of senior leadership in digital transformation, technology management and service delivery, and 12 years’ experience working within education environments. Most recently, Kurt has held interim tech director roles at Staffordshire University and Crisis. Prior to specialising in interim roles, Kurt led a large technology team at Manchester Metropolitan University – a £400m business – managing digital and business change, network engineers, architects, and organisational change and analysis.

Dr Anna Riggall leads Education Development Trust's global programme of academic educational research and promotes evidence engagement across the organisation. She has over 20 years’ experience leading international educational research and holds an MA in Education & Development Studies and PhD in Education. She specialises in the areas of education system reform, education for marginalised groups including children with disabilities, girls and refugees, teacher development, leadership, accountability and education in emergencies.

Richard is Global Head of Research at Education Development Trust and leads its programme of global public benefit research. He has worked in education for over thirty years as a teacher, school leader, consultant and government adviser. He is the author of a number of books including Neuroscience for Teachers: Applying brain science in the classroom and Teacher-Led Research: How to design and implement randomised controlled trials written with Eleanor Dommett and Ian Devonshire.

Clare is Lead Adviser in Education and Technical Advisor for the TARGET programme in Ethiopia. She has worked in education for many years as a secondary school teacher and teacher educator at Oxford University, Oxford Brookes and the Institute of Education. Most recently Clare has worked in the middle east and sub-Saharan Africa as a consultant and government adviser focusing on system strengthening, school leadership and teacher development. She has an M.Litt from Oxford University on teacher professional knowledge and a PhD from University of Birmingham on education and nation building.

Richard brings over twenty years’ experience working in education. This includes 10 years as a teacher and middle leader specialising in science and pupil enrichment, and 5 years developing and managing programmes focussed on Global Citizenship. Since joining Education Development Trust, Richard has put this experience to use designing complex national programmes for governments around the world, helping to translate policy aspiration into reality – delivering impact, strengthening systems, and leading to sustainabe improvements for learners across the world. Richard now leads the Sub-Saharan Africa region, including the oversight of our multiple large-scale education reform programmes.

Abdu Zeleke is Team Leader for our TARGET programme in Ethiopia, a technical assistance programme which works to enable disadvantaged girls and boys including children with disabilities to improve their learning outcomes and successfully transition from primary to secondary schools and be well prepared for the job market. With over 26 years of experience, Abdu is skilled in program management, project design, strategic planning, monitoring and evaluation, financial management and operational systems oversight and has worked for organisations including RTI International, Save the Children, and WaterAid.

Libby is a seasoned programme specialist with more than 15 years’ experience leading large scale programmes in the development sector. Before joining EDT, she served as COO of a UK based reproductive health INGO. Libby leads delivery excellence in the Sub-Saharan Africa Region, responsible for ensuring programmes meet their commitments within cost, time and scope and achieve the highest levels of quality and impact.

Silas Bahigansenga joined Education Development Trust in 2017 to manage the Building Learning Foundations education programme in Rwanda. He is a development practitioner with over 12 years of experience leading and managing large scale programmes in education, early childhood development, youth economic empowerment as well as SRHR. He is PMD pro certified with a Masters in Business Administration and a Masters in Educational Leadership and Management.

Ross’ initial career was primarily in financial services before moving into education three years ago. Since then, he has led Capita’s Skills and Employability business and is currently Managing Director of National Schools, providing scaled services to the Department for Education (DfE), Education Authorities and multi-academy trusts (MATs). Ross is a trustee for a multi-academy trust and a trustee for a local charity providing services to disadvantaged young people in East Surrey.

Dr Nicky Platt is proud to lead our UK Education team – a team of exceptionally dedicated experts in a wide range of subjects, phases and specialisms.  

Nicky’s primary responsibilities are the strategic leadership of EDT’s education solutions and methods, ensuring quality-assured delivery across the portfolio, senior stakeholder management, profile-development, thought leadership, monitoring and evaluation of impact, driving long-term growth through income generation, and technical oversight of EDT’s at-scale UK contracts.  

Across her career, Nicky has worked as an English teacher, an academic (at Birkbeck College and the Universities of Oxford and Reading) and in educational publishing, leading materials development and teacher-training programmes across the Middle East and North Africa. Prior to joining EDT in 2018, Nicky worked as Publishing Director at the UCL Institute of Education, where she also led curriculum, pedagogy and assessment projects for overseas governments and co-directed the IOE’s Subject Specialism Research Group.  

Nicky has publications in the areas of literary studies and (more latterly) the curriculum and teacher-education. While retaining a keen interest in research, Nicky’s current focus is on supporting the Department for Education’s ambitions to provide the best possible professional development for educators at all stages of their careers.

Deborah Leek-Bailey is Head of UK Independent Schools at Education Development Trust. She oversees the independent schools which Education Development Trust owns and manages within the UK. Deborah is a former headteacher and government advisor, with experience of advising ministers on multi-stakeholder partnership engagement, focusing on raising aspirations, attainment and social mobility across sectors. She also holds an OBE for services to education.

Formerly Chair of the Board of Trustees at Unicef UK, former Chief Executive at Freeview and lead of the BBC's public education programme about digital technology, Ilse passionately believes in the power of education to transform lives and in 2017 she fulfilled a lifelong ambition to teach, leading A-level World Development at Godalming Sixth Form College. In her executive career, Ilse was Managing Director of Freeview Play at Digital UK. Prior to this she was Managing Director of Freeview, the UK's leading digital TV provider, following roles at the BBC where she led the corporation’s digital marketing.

Sara has been involved with Education Development Trust from the organisation's early days and was appointed trustee in 2006; she was appointed Vice Chair in 2012 and Vice President when she retired from the board in 2014.

Sara’s main areas of expertise are in director, senior leader and manager personal development and effectiveness in the workplace as well as in governance, recruitment and selection of trustees, directors and senior appointments, succession planning and working with organisations and individuals through periods of growth and change.

Formerly a governor of the University for the Creative Arts and the Surrey Institute of Art and Design University College, she was also a non-executive director of the Royal Berkshire Ambulance NHS Trust.

Starting out as a teacher of children with special educational needs, and then a lecturer in politics and philosophy, in 1989 Tanya joined VSO, becoming their Head of Programmes for Eastern Europe and the CIS. After three years with the European Children’s Trust, in 1999 she was appointed as the first CEO of Home-Start International. During this period she was seconded to Brussels to manage a grant-making facility for the European Commission. From 1995-2002 Tanya was the Chair of the UNICEF NGO Committee for CEEC/CIS in Geneva. Tanya was appointed as International Director at Leonard Cheshire Disability in 2004. 

In 2003 Tanya was given the European Woman of Achievement (Humanitarian) award and in 2016 was made an OBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours for helping to provide safe education for girls internationally.

Dr Tim Coulson is Chief Executive of Unity Schools Partnership, an academy trust of primary, secondary and special schools serving 15,000 children. He started his career in education as a primary teacher and taught in five schools, becoming Headteacher of William Tyndale Primary School in Islington in 1990. He subsequently worked for the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, leading the development of curriculum and assessment materials, led the Lambeth Education Action Zone and then led the Government’s National Numeracy Strategy. He worked at a senior level in five local authorities, including as Director of Education for Essex County Council, overseeing 550 schools across the county. He was the first DfE Regional Schools Commissioner for the East of England.

Tim is currently the chair of The Eliot Foundation Academies Trust, the Norwich Priority Area partnership Board and the Schools Wellbeing Partnership.

Julia is Chief Executive of Pro Bono Economics – a charity which helps other charities understand their costs and improve their impact. She was also invoved in setting up the Education Endowment Foundation – a £135m fund to improve educational outcomes for disadvantaged children. She holds a portfolio of non-executive roles including a ministerial appointment as Forestry Commissioner. Julia studied PPE at Oxford and has an MBA from London Business School.

Nimal Hemelge, formerly Vice President – Global Contracting & Commercial Operations at UnitedLex, has worked worldwide for FTSE100 and NYSC listed organisations in a variety of senior leadership and operations roles. Currently, as a commercial and contracts expert, Nimal drives process and quality improvement across key national infrastructure contracts ensuring operational delivery. He is also an Accredited Assessor for the UK Government Commercial Function. Prior to this, Nimal built and led a global Contracting & Commercial Excellence Practice providing enterprise commercial and legal services to DXC Technology. Nimal is also a member of the Institute of Engineering and Technology (MIET), a self-professed ‘technology and data analytics geek’ and proud father of five.

Bob is a chartered accountant who was Head of Finance at Oxfam GB having been partner and Head of Charities at PricewaterhouseCoopers. Bob served 7 years on the board of Prostate Cancer UK, stepping down as Treasurer in 2018. He is a member of the Charity Finance Group Large Charities Group Committee, and a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants Corporate Governance Committee. He has previously served as a member of the FRC's CAPE Committee for Accounting by Public Entities, and has been deeply involved in the development of accounting standards for charities in the UK and internationally. He speaks frequently on issues related to charity finance and accounting, as well as accountability and risk.

Joy Hutcheon was a member of the Board of the Department for International Development (DFID) from 2011 to 2018. From 2011 to 2016, as Director General for Country Programmes, she oversaw DFID's bilateral development programmes in some 30 countries. From 2016, as Director General Corporate Performance, she was responsible for DFID's finance, HR, programme management, commercial and communication functions. Before joining the Board, she had been Director for East Africa, Director for Communications, Research and Evaluation, and headed up DFID's programmes in Zambia (from Lusaka) and Afghanistan and Pakistan (from the UK). Before joining DFID in 2003, Joy worked in the Home Office.

She was made a CB – Companion of the the Order of the Bath – in 2017 for services to international development.

A qualified secondary school science teacher, Angela went on to join and then lead a curriculum development and research unit within the Faculty of Education at Cambridge before joining the UK government agency for technology and education as director responsible for evaluation and research.

She has held professorial title in four leading universities; Bristol, Bath, King's College London and Oslo. Throughout her research career, she has worked with teachers and learners in a range of schools and is an experienced designer and deliverer of CPD for teachers. Most recently, as CEO, she has led the transformation of the College of Teachers into the Chartered College of Teaching working with practising headteachers and teachers across the country. Angela is also trustee for CfBT Schools Trust.

Jonathan is the Director of Education at Public First, a leading policy and strategy consultancy that works with some of the biggest and most prestigious organisations in UK education to give advice on public policy, government relations and communications.

He has spent the past 15 years working in education for and with the UK government. He spent 8 years in the civil service, including two and a half years working in No10 Downing Street in the administrations of Gordon Brown and David Cameron as the Head of Education in the Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit. Jonathan has also worked in the private sector (Serco), in the voluntary and international education sector (Varkey Foundation) and in a think tank for three and a half years as Head of Education for the think tank Policy Exchange, where he wrote seventeen reports, book chapters and policy papers covering all element of schools, further education and higher education policy in England, many of which were subsequently taken up as government policy proposals.

Jonathan is a frequent media commentator in print and broadcast and has discussed education policy on various outlets including the Today programme, Sky News with Adam Boulton, The World Tonight, BBC Breakfast, Jeremy Vine, and in all major national newspapers.

Jonathan is also a Member of Astrea Academies Trust, and was a Co-Founder and Chair of Governors for eight years of Greenwich Free School.

Muchemi is the Head for Technology for Development at the Tony Blair Institute (TBI). Prior to joining TBI, Muchemi was a Technology Consulting Partner and the Advisory Leader for County Initiatives at PwC Kenya. With over 20 years of global experience in business-centric ICT and dynamic technological solutions, Muchemi has guided private and public sector organisations through global technology implementations, ICT transformations, strategy, operations and governance work, and change management. This includes extensive efforts to bring technology-led changes to communities in Kenya and the East African region. Passionate about youth empowerment, Muchemi founded the Presidential Digital Talent Programme to bridge the employability gap in the ICT industry, receiving the Moran Order of the Burning Spear award from President Kenyatta in 2018.