Our Members
Member Profiles:
Ahmed Mohammed
Appointed
January 2025
Committees
Audit (Co-opted)
Profile
Dr Ahmed Shawky Mohammed is the Founder and Managing Director of LevelUp Governance Ltd, bringing two decades of experience working for global consulting firms like PwC, Protiviti and EY. He is a member of the Global Committee of Research and Education Advisors of the Global Foundation for Internal Audit.
A Sloan Fellow of London Business School in Leadership and Strategy, Dr Ahmed holds a Doctor of Business focused on Mitigating Greenwashing from Durham University.
Dr Ahmed is passionate about promoting sustainable and ethical business practises by helping organisations reimagining business processes and controls to minimise unexpected surprises, make a meaningful difference, and long-term growth.
Anatoliy Strembitskyy
Appointed
November 2022
Committees
Quality, Standards & Business Planning
Profile
Born in Ukraine, Anatoliy (Toly) has lived in the UK for the last 25 years teaching in HE and FE for the last 11 years. In 2013 Toly completed a Master of Science Degree with distinction at University of Hertfordshire (Hertfordshire Business School) becoming a teacher the same year. In 2023 Toly completed level 7 Certificate for Executive and Senior Level Coaches and Mentors from Institute of Leadership and Management and became EMCC Accredited Coach/Mentor at Practitioner level. In 2024 Toly has achieved the status of Senior Fellow with Advance HE formerly Higher Education Academy (SFHEA) in recognition of attainment against the Professional Standards Framework for teaching and learning support in higher education.
Cecilia Mutuma
Appointed
October 2022
Committees
Resources
Profile
Cecilia is a strategic Inclusion and HR Leader with 20 years’ experience gained in multiple industries including financial services, legal, consulting, media and recruitment. Cecilia is passionate about Diversity and has delivered successful corporate diversity initiatives as well as working in the community mentoring teenagers from diverse backgrounds. She has two young children and is committed to creating a society where everyone can thrive.
Charlotte Simmonds
Appointed
October 2021 (re-appointed)
Committees
Audit
Profile
Charlotte began her career in the charity sector supporting small businesses before moving on to the construction and rail industries in a range of environmental, safety and quality management roles. In 2008 she joined the Houses of Parliament as their first Head of Fire Safety & Environment, went on to establish their Enterprise Portfolio Office with oversight of Parliament’s portfolio of investment projects and is now Deputy Managing Director of the Restoration & Renewal of the Palace of Westminster Client Team at UK Parliament. She is a Chartered Environmentalist, has featured in Management Today’s 35 Women under 35 as well as a runner up Shell Business Woman of the Future and is a STEM Ambassador. She has two small children and plays in goal for Bishops Stortford Hockey Club.
Deepa Rao
Appointed
October 2024
Committees
Audit (Co-opted)
Profile
Deepa Rao is an experienced internal auditor, Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG), Sustainability and Governance Reporting Expert currently leading ESG Governance and reporting at Cognizant, a global leader in technology and consulting services. With over 15 years of experience in internal audit, internal controls and risk management, Deepa has honed her experience at renowned consulting firms like PwC and KPMG. Her career spans several continents, bringing a wealth of global experience and deep industrial knowledge to her roles. She has worked across various industries such as education, real estate, property management, food and beverage manufacturing, automobile, motor sport, government, energy and more.
A Chartered Accountant (CA) and Master of Commerce (M.Comm), Deepa is a thought leader in ESG/Sustainability Governance and Accountability, and Reporting. She serves as an advisor for technology companies, including start-ups, helping them successfully implement comprehensive data management systems, robust governance processes, and accurate ESG Governance reporting. Deepa is known for sharing her insights and expertise within the industry in the fields of audit, assurance, sustainability and innovation in tech and business transformations.
Gareth Dace
Appointed
October 2024
Committees
Quality, Standards & Business Planning
Profile
Gareth Dace is employed by Hertfordshire Futures and leads on a DfE funded project that supports all secondary schools and FE Colleges in the county to work more closely with employers to enable students to gain better understanding of the world of work. He has worked for Hertfordshire LEP since 2017. Prior to that Gareth worked for Tottenham Hotspur Foundation.
Gareth recently completed a Degree Apprenticeship in Business and Leadership. He lives in Wormley and has 3 children the eldest of whom is an HRC student.
Hannah Nicholls
Appointed
December 2024
Committees
Quality, Standards & Business Planning
Profile
Hannah is one of our student governors.
Jo Dyne
Appointed
December 2024 (re-appointed to 31/07/2025)
Committees
Resources (Chair), Remuneration (Chair), Search & Governance
Other Positions
Vice Chair of the Corporation
Profile
Jo is the Finance Director at Volkerfitzpatrick UK Ltd, a multidisciplinary contractor that delivers innovative engineering solutions across the civil engineering and construction sectors including rail, highways, airport, marine, energy, water, and environmental infrastructure.
A Chartered Accountant, Jo brings to the Board 20 years’ financial expertise across different sectors including practice, telecoms and civil engineering along with experience risk management and acquisitions and mergers.
John Sills
Appointed
Oct 2017
Committees
Audit
Profile
John is a retired Commercial Finance Director, having worked in the retail, telecoms and IT and, most recently, the charity sectors. He spent 25 years with Dixons, including being part of a new Internet company, Freeserve, which was then became part of the mobile operator, Orange. He has been responsible for financial planning, due diligence, contract negotiations, integration of systems and processes and staff management. Since 2013 John worked in the charity sector, first at Action for Children and then the Education and Training Foundation (ETF). In these roles he has had experience working on contracts and funding from both local and central Government.
Kathryn Hardwidge
Appointed
January 2025
Committees
Audit
Profile
Kathryn is a Chartered Accountant (FCA) with extensive experience in risk, internal and external audit through her work in the commercial and not-for-profit sectors. Kathryn uses this experience in her voluntary roles of trustee and audit committee member for different organisations, including GEANT, the European association of national research & education networks and Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital Charity.
Mary Pooley
Appointed
April 2024
Committees
Quality, Standards & Business Planning
Profile
As Director of Government Programmes for leading educational charity and awarding organisation NCFE Mary has a particular interest in the opportunities and challenges involved in delivering T levels and other vocational and technical qualifications. Previously Mary spent over 30 years working in central Whitehall, mainly DfE so has a keen understanding of the inner workings of Government and how policy is made.
Nick Buckland OBE
Appointed
August 2021
Committees
Resources, Remuneration, Search & Governance. Quality, Standards & Business Planning (attends)
Other Positions
Corporation Chair, Chair of Search & Governance
Profile
Nick brings a wealth of experience to the position, alongside a keen interest in the further education sector, from both a personal and a business perspective. As an experienced Chair, Trustee and Director of a wide range of organisations in the public, private and voluntary sectors, he offers considerable expertise in governance, innovation and technology across a variety of industrial and commercial sectors.
Originally educated as a Mathematician, Nick worked in the IT industry for a number of years, in commercial solutions, high performance computing, virtual reality and the internet. Making a career change in the mid 1990’s, he developed a portfolio career working with many different organisations. He retains an interest in education, the arts, transport, agriculture and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics).
A fellow of a number of professional bodies and a Chartered Engineer, Manager and Information Technology Practitioner, Nick was appointed OBE in 2009 for services to Innovation and Technology. As a product of the further education sector himself, with fond memories of completing his A-Levels at College, he has maintained a passion for further education throughout his career.
Patience Egbo
Appointed
October 2022
Committees
Resources
Profile
Patience is a solicitor practising in corporate/company law. She has a Masters’ Degree in Law from University of London, and attended the College of Law, Chester. She is a qualified solicitor in England and Wales, having first qualified as a solicitor in Nigeria. She is a graduate of the University of Nigeria and holds an LLB.
Paula Davis
Appointed
July 2023
Committees
Quality, Standards & Business Planning
Profile
After gaining an HND in Business & Finance, I worked for 19 years for a Print Management Company whose core business was the airline industry. Initially, the business was a small family run organisation where I worked as a Sales and Quality Administrator. The business was subsequently sold, and I went on to become a Senior Account Manager for a business that had vastly grown in the preceding years.
In more recent years, I have worked at HRC as an Administrator (and more recently with the additional role of Technician) working with multiple departments and curriculum areas in that time.
Sophia Howells
Appointed
October 2022
Committees
Resources
Profile
Sophia has worked in the Housing sector for 11 years and is currently Executive Director of Operations at B3Liivng, the main provider of social housing in the Borough of Broxbourne, responsible for all aspects of housing management and repairs/ property services. Previously, Sophia has also worked for Haringey Council, Richmond Housing Partnership and B3Living as a Head of Service. Sophia is passionate about delivering excellent customer experiences and building strong links with the local community to enable an effective and customer-centric service. She holds a BSc in Government from the LSE.
Tony Medhurst
Appointed
August 2015
Committees
Resources, Search & Governance, Quality, Standards & Business Planning
Profile
Tony has in excess of 12 years’ experience as Principal & Chief Executive in two colleges and was appointed to the role at HRC in August 2015. He has senior leadership experience in both the public and private sector. He has an established track-record of delivering demonstrable quality improvement, partnership development, income growth, curriculum development and complex projects. He has chaired conferences, national policy groups and working parties reporting directly to ministers. He has delivered keynote speeches and workshops on education leadership in both the UK and overseas including the USA, Tanzania, Vietnam and Jordan. He was a previous winner of a national Education Partnership Award.