Who We Are

Karen is a founding Member of the Trust and Chair of the Board of Trustees. She is an independent education technology consultant following her retirement from Birmingham City Council after 32 years of service working with schools and the Local Authority. As well as supporting technology and information systems in Birmingham Karen was involved for many years with data standards nationally as a member of the DfE’s data collection STAR Chamber and Information Standards and Strategy Board.  She is a very proud mother of two daughters, Samantha and Charlotte, both of whom are ex-students of Ninestiles School and Solihull Sixth Form College.

Vince Green is the Chief Executive Officer at Summit Learning Trust from September 2022. He joined us in January 2021 as Education Director where he provided support and challenge for our secondary and Post 16 phases. Prior to joining Summit, Vince was Regional Education Director and Executive Principal at a large multi-academy trust. Before this he was the Principal of Bristnall Hall Academy for five years, the highest performing secondary provider within its local authority and trust. Vince started his teaching career in Sendai, Japan and has held a variety of leadership roles in the West Midlands in rapidly improving schools.

Richard is Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees and Chair of Cockshut Hill Local Governing Body. Richard took up post of Vice Chair of Board of Trustees in January 2020. Richard is an education and skills consultant, most recently advising the British Council and the Korean Institute for Curriculum and Evaluation (KICE). Previously he retired following eight years as Chief Executive of Sector Skills Council Asset Skills. A former schoolteacher, Richard spent over 14 years in two spells with The Newspaper Society. There he was responsible for establishing Newspapers in Education and occupational standards for journalists, and for new media opportunities research. He was a board member of the National Council for the Training of Journalists and Chief Executive of the Print Education Forum.

Glen has over 25 years commercial experience in the Business and Industrial sectors with expertise in strategic planning, new product development and developing digital marketing programmes.

He has worked for a number of large multinational corporations including GEC, Honeywell and IMI. He has lived and worked in Ireland, Switzerland and Australia.

He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing is a guest lecturer at Birmingham University Business School and has mentored MBA students at the Business School.

Glen is a big sports fan and enjoys cycling, golf and riding motorbikes throughout the Midlands.

Emma Pritchard is CEO of The Black Pear Trust,  based in Worcestershire. Emma has worked in education for 15 years, over this time she has worked in a diverse range of educational establishments. Furthermore she has worked alongside the Local Authority in a school improvement capacity, offering school-to-school support for schools in challenging circumstances. Emma has also worked alongside Universities to develop ITT programmes and have offered training to other professional bodies.

Caroline is Chair of Lyndon School Local Governing Board. She retired five years ago having taught English for thirty seven years in Birmingham. Fifteen years ago she was appointed to be a Magistrate and now sits as a Presiding Justice, Mentor and Appraiser in the Adult, Family and Crown Courts. Much of her spare time is spent watching Rugby and keeping in touch with her four children, two stepchildren and three grandchildren.

Lucinda worked in the legal industry for more than 30 years as a corporate solicitor in the City of London and then for a major supplier of content and technology to the courts, government and public sector lawyers, private practice lawyers and in house legal teams. Most recently she was Managing Director of the European legal business of Thomson Reuters. Her focus has always been how legal services can be delivered more efficiently and how technology can improve the administration of justice. Originally from South Yorkshire, Lucinda has lived with her family near Banbury for 26 years, and is enjoying more time at home with family and friends having spent many years of travel to the US and Europe

Jim joins us as Trustee through a connection made with the Birmingham Chamber of Commerce for his knowledge and background in technology.  He has spent the majority of his 30-year career designing and implementing systems across many industries and latterly providing thought leadership on topics including digital transformation, project management and AI.  As the son of a miner, in his last two roles he has been a passionate advocate for the Social Mobility networks in each organisation, as well as an active sponsor of intern programmes promoting equality and inclusion.  Jim has two children of school age, Matthew and Megan, one at the start of their secondary school journey and one at the end