David Hughes became Chief Executive of the Association of Colleges in September 2016. Before that he was CEO at Learning and Work Institute, a leading think tank, research and policy organisation which was formed in 2016 from a merger he led between NIACE and Inclusion. From 2000 to 2011, David worked in senior roles at the Skills Funding Agency (SFA) and the Learning and Skills Council (LSC). At the LSC and SFA David led the funding and improvement relationships with colleges and providers and successfully took on trouble-shooting roles to rescue crises in capital funding and Educational Maintenance Allowances. Prior to that, David worked in the voluntary sector across a wide range of roles and organisations in the UK and Australia, in social housing, co-operatives, welfare, regeneration and community development. David has held many Board and Committee roles, including a few years as Vice-Chair of the East Midlands Regional Assembly in the 1990s. He played a leading role in establishing the new Education and Training Foundation in 2013 and has established and supported several third sector organisations.

Elizabeth Taylor has a background as an employment and enterprise provider and has worked in the sector since 1983. From 1989 Elizabeth managed the delivery of employment support, enterprise support (including social enterprise) and training programmes, delivered with 23 different funding streams- local authorities, Manpower Services Commission, Training Agency, Training and Enterprise Councils, Urban Programme, ESF, ERDF, City Challenge, Single Regeneration Budget, Employment Services, Jobcentre Plus, DWP, City Strategy Pathfinder, DWP District Managers Flexible Support Fund, Primary Care Trust, Care Trust Plus, Department of Health, the Future Jobs Fund, National Lottery Building Better Opportunities, Esme Fairbairn, Tudor Trust and the Lloyds TSB Foundation. Elizabeth worked on her first ESF funded programme in 1986.

Huw Morris is Director of Skills, Higher Education and Lifelong Learning within Welsh Government. In this post he is responsible for the oversight of higher education, further education and Government funded work based learning provision. Before taking on this role he held a variety of posts in universities including: Bristol Business School (UWE), Imperial College, Kingston University, University of Surrey, Manchester Metropolitan University and the University of Salford. Moving within and between these institutions he has held positions as a research assistant, lecturer, professor, Associate Dean, Dean, Pro-Vice Chancellor and Deputy Vice Chancellor. In these roles he has had direct experience of labour market and government policy research and the implementation of policy.

Jeremy was until recently Director-General for Policy at the Department for Work and Pensions. He now has a portfolio career. Previously, at the Department for Education, he worked on both schools and HE policy and was for 4 years a non-executive director of the Student Loans Company. He spent 2 years on secondment to HM Treasury heading the Housing Urban and Transport team. He also worked for a number of years at the Economic and Social Research Council. Jeremy is deeply interested in human capital issues and the critical importance of lifelong learning. He is also strongly committed to the use of evidence and analysis in policy making.

Professor Sharples works at the Education Endowment Foundation, seconded from the Social Science Research Unit at University College London.  Jonathan works with schools and policy makers across the sector to promote evidence-informed practice, and spread knowledge of ‘what works’ in teaching and learning. He writes evidence-based guidance for schools and works with practitioners to scale-up effective practices. He is the lead author of EEF’s School’s Guide to Implementation.

Sandra McNally is a Professor of Economics at the University of Surrey. She is Director of the Centre for Vocational Education Research, London School of Economics and is also Director of the Education and Skills Programme, Centre for Economic Performance, London School of Economics. Research interests include economic evaluation of government policies in schools and further education; labour market returns to education and training. She is a co-editor of the Economics of Education Review.

Tom has been the lead analyst for labour markets at DWP since December 2018 where his role is to ensure that all major decisions around labour market policy are based on great evidence. He joined DWP in 2001 and has worked on most areas of DWP business during his career including: policy and delivery roles on automatic enrolment into private pensions; analysis to inform the design of the new State Pension; and reforms of child maintenance and disability benefits. He was also seconded to HM Treasury to lead the analytical team supporting Lord Hutton’s independent review of public sector pensions.