CEO of LGfL

John helped to found LGfL in 2001 and held senior leadership and advisory roles in both central and local government. He is passionate about harnessing digital innovation to inspire children and teachers to enable education transformation. John has been named in the top 25 IT Leaders in the UK and is currently a member of the DfE National EdTech Advisory Group. John most recently won the ERA Outstanding Achievement Award for accelerating the adoption of new technology in schools and his dedication to saving them money, keeping children safe, tackling inequality, energising teaching and learning and promoting wellbeing. 

 Deputy CEO of  The Create Trust

Chris Dyson, until a month ago was the headteacher at Parklands Primary, situated on one of Europe's largest council estates in Leeds. One of the most deprived schools in Leeds, with 64% Pupil Premium, when Chris arrived at the school, it had been deemed inadequate and had 150 exclusions in a year. Today exclusions are one in 9 years, the school has the highest progress score for maths in the country, and Ofsted judged the school outstanding.

Chris kept largely the same team as when he arrived, but has changed the culture of the school, with the proverbial 'carrot' being used rather than a stick, coaching used with staff, and the wellbeing of staff and children becoming the driving force. Upon leaving for a new role the succession planning was in place with the Deputy Head becoming the new Head Teacher. Chris is an NLE and sharing the story of how he achieved this transformation with leaders from other schools and is the Deputy CEO of a Trust in Birmingham with 4000 children, The Create Trust.

Founder of ThirdBox.org, Director at Edufuturists and Strategic Lead for Digital at Education Partnership North East.

Dan is passionate about saving teachers time and transforming education with AI technology. He is a former senior leader of a UK secondary school with an M.A. from Durham University and Post Graduate Diploma in Innovation from MIT. He was awarded the Tech Champion Award at the Digital Industry Dynamite Awards 2022.

Head of Computing, Teach First

Rachel is an experienced and dedicated professional with a strong background in education, technology, and innovation. As the current Head of Computing at Teach First, she is responsible for developing and implementing the training program for ITE. Rachel has a deep understanding of the latest trends and best practices in digital learning and is committed to using educational technology to enhance the teaching and learning experience. Prior to her role in education, Rachel gained valuable experience in the field of cyber security while working at PwC, which has contributed to her technical knowledge and understanding. Rachel is dedicated to driving positive change through innovative and evidence-informed approaches.  

Deputy CEO and Director of School Improvement at the Areté Learning Trust 

Prior to this role, Jon had worked in three different and diverse North East Schools for 20 years, with 15 of those being as a school leader in various senior leadership positions. Most recently as Deputy Headteacher and Director of Teaching School, Jon was responsible for the strategic leadership and the quality assurance of teaching and learning, professional development, initial teacher training and external school to school support. Jon has significant experience in contributing to system leadership via his extensive professional network of education professionals around the world. Jon’s innovative approach to school and organisational leadership challenges the habits that have gone before, looking at ways to improve education through change management. 

Director of One Life Learning

Named by Education Business as one of the 50 most influential people in Education in 2022, Dr Fiona Aubrey-Smith is an award-winning teacher and leader with a passion for supporting those who work with children and young people. As Director of One Life Learning and Founder of PedTech, Fiona provides strategic education consultancy services to schools and trusts, professional learning providers and EdTech companies. She is also an Associate Lecturer and Consultant Researcher at The Open University, a Founding Fellow of the Chartered College of Teaching, and sits on the board of a number of multi-academy and charitable trusts. 

An award-winning independent training provider delivering high-quality digital, cyber and ICT apprenticeships and non-apprenticeship training programmes.