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Claire Knowles

Director, Karen Knowles Training and Development LTD

Claire is co-director of Karen Knowles Training and Development and works passionately to develop people to High Performance within their workplace regardless of their role. She specialises in workplace culture, leadership, and robust communication practises with a passion for ‘developing people to succeed’. Claire is a Licensed Insights Discovery Practitioner, specialising in supporting an understanding of self and others with an overall aim of working with businesses to ensure effective communication, Teamwork, and leadership skills for all staff. 

Adam Wright

Mentor, Chimp Management Ltd

Adam is a highly experienced mentor with a diverse background in mentoring individuals, teams, and organizations both nationally and internationally, across a variety of sectors. At Chimp Management, he has worked extensively in the public sector, particularly within the NHS, as well as in education, working with staff and senior leaders. In addition, Adam has supported clients across the corporate sector, working with everyone from CEOs and senior leaders to team members at all levels. Before joining Chimp Management, Adam ran his own successful coaching business, following several years in a high-pressure sales environment.

Alex Seal

Let's Go Zero

Alex worked in UK secondary schools for 15 years in a variety of roles before joining Let's Go Zero in September 2023.  Employed as a Climate Action Specialist, he helps to provide the most appropriate and effective guidance to our team of Climate Action Advisors by engaging with best practice and sharing examples of successful decarbonisation schemes more widely to inspire progress. He also speaks with wider partners directly, ensuring that the most up to date routes to zero carbon are shared widely and are accessible for all.

Graham Fitzgerald

Partner, Azets

Graham heads up the academy audit team at Azets in Teesside. He has over 30 years’ experience in audit and other advisory roles, and has been an audit partner since 2002. He currently works directly with over 30 academy trusts across the North East, and offers support and advice to colleagues and trusts nationally. He is a trustee and  chair of finance and and audit at a growing MAT, and holds the ICAEW’s specialist charity qualification.

Kath Hull

Chief Financial & Operations Officer, Lingfield Education Trust

Kath is the Chief Financial and Operations Officer for Lingfield Education Trust. She is a CIMA qualified accountant with over 20 years financial experience within the education and commercial
sector. She joined Lingfield Trust as a Finance Director in 2018 before progressing to her current position of CFOO where her remit expanded to include HR, Estates, H&S, Governance and Compliance.

She has led central services through a period of significant growth for the trust, and believes passionately in ensuring that high quality central services support schools and the wider communities. Her vision is to align resources to the strategic priorities of the trust, to ensure
finances are an enabler, and not a block, to achieving the key objectives for our pupils.

During her career Kath has also gained experience in HR, H&S, Governance and Compliance and holds qualifications in CIPD, SBM, Procurement, as well as coaching and mentoring.

Jon Holden

Cyber & FinTech Lead, CyberNorth

Jon Holden is a seasoned cybersecurity leader and advocate with a distinguished career in financial technology and digital security. He formerly served as the Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) at Atom Bank, where he led the organisation’s efforts to safeguard customer data and ensure the integrity of its pioneering digital banking operations. His innovative approach to cybersecurity played a critical role in strengthening trust in financial technology.

Beyond his tenure at Atom Bank, Jon is an active contributor to the regional cybersecurity ecosystem. He serves as the Lead for Cyber and FinTech at CyberNorth, the cybersecurity cluster for North East England, where he works closely with industry leaders to drive innovation and bolster the region’s digital resilience. His efforts have included supporting the launch of cybersecurity innovation centres in Newcastle and Durham, helping position the North East as a hub for digital security excellence.

Jon is also deeply involved with CyberFirst, an initiative by the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) aimed at inspiring and developing the next generation of cybersecurity professionals. Through this work, Jon mentors young talent, champions greater diversity in tech, and promotes opportunities for aspiring professionals to contribute to the future of cybersecurity.

His passion for innovation, education, and collaboration makes him a pivotal figure in advancing both cybersecurity and financial technology, while his contributions to the community exemplify his dedication to creating a safer digital world.

Vickie Henry

School Business Manager, St Joseph’s Catholic Academy (Bishop Chadwick Catholic Education Trust)

Vickie is the School Business Manager at St Joseph’s Catholic Academy, a large secondary school based in Hebburn, South Tyneside, and part of the 30 Academy Bishop Chadwick Catholic Education Trust. A former MFL Teacher, Vickie spent over 12 years working in both teacher and commercial recruitment across many sectors and industries before joining St Joseph’s in June 2021. Her passion for improving the recruitment process for all parties, not just employers, is really important and is evident in the changes made to their school recruitment process focusing on values driven recruitment for all roles, but particularly non-teaching positions across the school, which are nationally recognised as hard to fill.

Chris Zarraga

Director, Schools North East

Chris has been part of the Schools North East team since its inception in 2007 and in 2019 he was appointed Director.

Chris works with other leaders across the North East, the education sector and charity sector to represent the voice of North East schools, and lobby policy makers to ensure that the North East is not left behind when it comes to education policy. Chris has overseen the launch of the Ednorth evidence-based excellence programme, as well as the partnership with SHINE bringing over £500,000 worth of funding to North East schools.

Under Chris, Schools North East has moved to a greater focus on lobbying around education policy, with the launch of the Manifesto for North East Education in December 2019. As well as being a trustee of a local MAT, Chris sits on various boards including the board for Opportunity North East. Prior to joining Schools North East, Chris worked with over 165 schools in the North East and various education organisations including local authorities, Excellence Partnerships, 14-19 Groups, the Specialist Schools & Academies Trust, and School Improvement Officers. He led a large scale culture change project in education across the North East and was the development consultant for the LEGI funded Wansbeck Enterprise Education Network.