Jonathan Ash-Edwards
Chair of Trustees
A former Warden Park student, Jonathan has served in school governance roles since 2007, including helping establish the Trust. His school governance experience now includes working to support other governors and trustees across the country. He has experience running small businesses and is Leader of Mid Sussex District Council, where he is responsible for giving strategic direction and leadership to the local authority.
Experience includes:
- Strategic, non-executive leadership and financial oversight of public services
- Chairing governing bodies, including involvement in multiple Ofsted inspections judging governance as effective
- Appointed by the Department for Education as a National Leader of Governance, supporting chairs of governors in other schools
Jenny Allik
Head of Client Services for a London based Software Services Company (Broadcast and Music industry). Broad commercial skill set.
Experience includes:
- managing complex relationships across a wide variety of clients, balancing the clients’ needs against the company’s policy and growth
- assisting in growing a business from a start-up with one UK client to a globally recognised solutions provider that is driving the industry standards in an ever changing and diverse market
- developing teams and working with a diverse range of people (from the creators of programming and music through to legal and technical teams effecting business change and ensuring compliance obligations are met)
Jessica Gray
Experienced corporate and commercial lawyer with a background in construction law and public/private partnership arrangements.
Experience includes:
- Advising the public and private sectors on large scale education projects
- Risk management and mitigation
- Corporate governance and strategy
- Management of complex, multidisciplinary projects
Esther Gunter
Legal recruitment manager and trainer with a broad commercial skills set and management experience.
Experience includes:
- analysing individuals’ potential and skills
- coaching and supporting staff and clients/candidates to identify career desires and support them through interview preparation
- advising businesses on employer branding, candidate attraction, interview processes and recruitment market intelligence
- nurturing talent, developing graduate or “first job” staff to be successful innovative employees
Hamish Hill
Hamish works in independent practice as a Clinical Psychologist, focussing on therapeutic work with children, young people and their families.
Experience includes:
- Therapeutic work as a Clinical Psychologist specialising in working with children, adolescents and families in both public (NHS, NSW Health) and private/independent practice settings in Australia and the UK
- Training and experience across a range of evidence-based therapies
- Experience in teaching, research and service development projects
- Working therapeutically with looked-after and adopted children and their families
Peter Hiscock
A business career of 34 years, until 2019, with JPMorgan Asset Management and its heritage firms as a senior product development manager.
Peter has also been volunteering in governance roles since 2010. These have included being a governor at a West Sussex secondary school for ten years and chair of a community interest company for two years in Brighton & Hove which helped the homeless access homes in the private rented sector.
Experience includes::
- strategic thinking and execution
- being a constructive and active player in senior leadership teams
- governance
- working in an environment where attention to detail, compliance and risk management are critical.
Stuart Robertson
Retired Chief Accountant of a leading international general insurance company. I have a strong belief that every young person should be given the opportunity to fulfill their full potential.
Experience includes:
- Leading cross disciplinary teams in highly complex commercial and regulatory environments
- Establishment of a partnership with a local organisation to resource “Business Games” run for Schools alongside the provision of mentors for pupils
- Strategy and financial control in a regulated multifaceted environment
Richard Stevens
Richard is a serving police officer with experience in child safeguarding. An experienced governor in primary education and a former Member of Sussex Learning Trust. Richard is also now the Chair of the local governing body at Northlands Wood Primary Academy
Experience also includes:
- Managing teams and projects
- Multi-agency working
- Health and Safety management and improvement
Subbu Veluswamy
Currently works as a Consultant Actuary for an insurance consultancy. Subbu has more than 25 years of experience in the financial services industry. Subbu believes that children’s experience in school forms a significant part of their future professional and personal lives and wants to contribute to the Trust to make sure that children of all abilities and backgrounds thrive and flourish in the Trust academies.
Experience includes:
- working for various insurance and reinsurance companies in financial reporting, valuation and pricing areas.
Phillip Potter
Phillip trained as a secondary geography teacher, teaching in a variety of schools before moving into the specialist school sector in 2007. Since 2011 he has been Headteacher of a large generic secondary special school for 11-19 year olds.
Phillip has a range of governance and trustee experience, including with SCITTS, charities and schools.
Experience includes:
- Inter disciplinary working
- a variety of senior leadership experiences
- coaching staff
- strategic planning
- supporting university programmes for teacher training courses
- development of senior staff
- supporting national reviews of specialist school services
