Board of Trustees

Liz Rayment-Pickard is a free-lance education consultant having worked in a complex educational landscape for all of her career. Liz has held positions as Head of Young People and Education at the Mercers’ Company, was the Assistant Director of Education at Wandsworth, and for twenty years was a head teacher and Ofsted inspector in inner city schools in London. Liz was also Deputy Director of Ark Academies and Executive Principal of the King Solomon Academy and Ark Academy. Liz has also had significant experience with education NGOs in challenging contexts: advising and supporting schools in India, United States and South Africa. Liz is passionate about social mobility, protecting the vulnerable and closing the attainment gap and is a founder of the IntoUniversity charity. Liz is currently a director at the Voices Foundation and Southwark Diocesan Multi-Academy Trust as well as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

Felix is a corporate affairs consultant with extensive experience in promoting and protecting the reputations of purposeful brands. Felix has previously held senior positions at communications consultancy freuds and Global, the UK’s largest commercial radio group. At Classic FM, owned by Global, Felix had responsibility for the station’s national arts partners and music education outreach. He started his career as a publicist in classical music and the performing arts. Today, Felix is a Director at Hawthorn Advisors, providing corporate affairs consultancy to technology, media and financial services businesses. Felix was educated in Colchester and trained as a violinist with the Essex Youth Orchestra. He has a first-class degree in music from King's College London.

American born, Canadian raised and now a proud British citizen, Jadis Tillery has a global outlook and 18 years of experience in the full marketing mix specialising in digital and social media. As a consultant, she has been a trusted advisor to private equity firms, brands and celebrity clients. She is currently supporting Hult International Business School across their five global campuses. Passionate about the power of music, Jadis has sung daily with her daughter since she was born who now sings herself to sleep.

James is the President of Home-Start UK. He is also the chair of trustees of the Resurgence Trust, which, among other things, publishes the ‘Resurgence and Ecologist’ magazine. He is also a trustee of the Tedworth, Headley and Staples trusts and the Kay Kendall Leukaemia Fund. He is a patron of Best Beginnings.

Kathie is an experienced Non-Executive Director, often taking the role as an independent director on a board. She has a portfolio of board and senior advisory positions working in the UK and internationally. Kathie has a strong background in finance, spending most of her executive career at Citigroup, and previously Schroders, having started her career at Esso. Her primary focus is on infrastructure and energy financing and throughout her career, Kathie has worked closely with governments and industry players.

Winnie Mensah has had a long and distinguished career in John Lewis Partnership in HR, currently specialising on Excellence in Customer Service. Of Ghanaian extraction, she is a stalwart of the company’s choirs and has clearly inspired all of her children who are passionate singers as well.