Ava Sturridge-Packer CBE
Former Headteacher of St Mary’s CofE Primary School in Birmingham and currently DfE and Birmingham Education Partnership adviser. In 2000 Ava was made a CBE for services to education.
Sir David Carter
Sir David Carter was CEO at the Cabot MAT in Bristol before becoming the first Regional Schools Commissioner for the South West of England. He then became National Schools Commissioner and, as an authentic education leader, was a strong influence on government policy.
Steve Munby CBE
Steve Munby has spent his whole career in education, first as a teacher and then as an adviser before moving into leadership roles. Between 2005 and 2017 he was Chief Executive first of the National College for School Leadership in England and then of the Education Development Trust, an international education charity. He is now a self-employed consultant and speaker on leadership and on system reform. Steve is also a visiting professor at University College London Institute for Education and is the facilitator for the Atlantic Rim Collaboratory (ARC) summits, which bring together education systems from across the world. He was awarded a CBE in the New Year honours list in 2010. His book Imperfect Leadership: A Book for Leaders who Know They Don’t Know it All was published in 2019 to critical acclaim.
Dr Kulvarn Atwal
Dr Kulvarn Atwal FCCT has spent his entire career teaching and leading in East London schools and is currently Head Teacher at Highlands Primary School. Highlands was recently awarded the Mayor of London's Schools for Success award for the third year in a row; one of only 30 primary or secondary schools in London to achieve this award. He is also currently Interim Head Teacher of Uphall Primary School, which is one of the largest primary schools in the country.
Kulvarn specialises in teacher professional learning. He has recently been awarded Fellowship Status at the Chartered College of Education and has published his first book, 'The Thinking School. Developing a Dynamic Learning Community'. He occasionally tweets @thinkingschool2.
Ela McSorley
Ela McSorley FCCT has worked in education in and around Birmingham for the last twenty-three years, eighteen of which within senior leadership teams. She has worked across a variety of different schools, including some time in international education, within a small multi-faith Trust as a Director of Learning and Teaching and a variety of schools across the midlands as deputy headteacher and now Principal of a large all-through school, in Small Heath, Birmingham. She has also worked as a curriculum advisor at QCDA and an English subject lead for ITT at the King Edward’s Consortium.
Ela is a founding fellow of the Chartered College of Teachers. She has worked as a leader in a pathfinder school on the Ethical Leadership programme and has been a member of the advisory group, developing the Chartered Teacher Programme and support for the early career teachers.