Our Team (ID 1204)

• Lawrence Foley
  Chief Executive Officer
  Lawrence Foley

  Lawrence began teaching in 2009 at Pimlico Academy during its transformation. After completing the Teach First programme, he held teaching and leadership roles in various London schools. He served as Executive Principal at Bobby Moore Academy before joining the Harris Federation, where he led Harris Academy Tottenham and Harris Science Academy East London. In January 2023, he became CEO of Future Academies. Lawrence holds an MA, PhD in English Literature, and the NPQEL qualification.

• Ben Keely
  Director of Secondary
  Ben Keely

  Ben has been a school leader since 2008, working in London and Essex. He led an inner London school to an Outstanding Ofsted in 2022 and helped improve a struggling Essex school. Ben is dedicated to providing quality education, uniting staff, and driving school improvement. He also co-chaired Heads Forward, supporting over 100 leaders in serving disadvantaged communities.

• Alberta Edland
  Chief Financial Officer
  Alberta Edland

  Alberta, a Chartered Accountant, joined Future Academies as CFO in April 2023. With over 15 years of senior finance experience in both commercial and non-profit sectors, she brings strong financial and strategic expertise. At the Harris Federation, she led academy finances, improved financial controls, and managed new school onboarding. Alberta is passionate about using finance to support outstanding educational outcomes.

• Oliver Wimborne
  Director of Education
  Oliver Wimborne

  Olly began his career as a teaching assistant at Pimlico Academy and later became a His Majesty’s Inspector for Ofsted. As Head of the Curriculum Centre at Future Academies, he led curriculum development and managed projects with the Department for Education, including the Latin Excellence Programme. He has also worked as a senior researcher at the Royal Society of Arts and holds master's degrees in philosophy and social sciences, as well as a PhD in social research.

• Andy Meighen
  Chief Information Officer
  Andy Meighen

  Andy Meighen has worked in IT within the education sector for many years including 8 years as IT Director at Harris Federation and an independent consultant doing several interim Head of IT roles for medium sized Trusts such as Anthem Schools Trust and Diocese of Chichester Academy. Previously Andy has worked across many sectors including several blue-chip organisations such as Capita and AXA.

Heads of Operations (ID 1207)

• Jenny Cain
  Head of HR
  Jenny Cain

  Jenny Cain joined Future Academies in August 2022. Jenny is a passionate, trusted, and driven HR professional with more than 19 years’ experience of working in the education sector. Jenny has a proven track record of influencing decision making with evidence-based thinking to shape the culture and vision of educational organisations. Jenny promotes ethical leadership, professional principles and values and has demonstrable experience of implementing and embedding an effective and efficient HR provision in rapid growing Multi Academy Trusts.

• Asma Hayat
  Marketing and Communications Manager
  Asma Hayat

  Asma has extensive experience working in schools and holds a Bachelor's degree in History, a Master's in International Law, and a Prince2 qualification in management. She has also worked in an embassy, further enhancing her strategic and communication skills through diplomatic engagements. Asma currently leads marketing and communication for the Trust, bringing a unique blend of academic expertise, project management, and diplomatic experience to her role.

• Andy Green
  Director of Operations and Compliance
  Andy Green

  Andy joined Future Academies in October 2023 as Director of Operations and Compliance, with over a decade in education. He has led school improvement programmes, managed compliance for a top Multi Academy Trust, and overseen 30 academy conversions, including a flagship Free School. Previously, he worked at the Department for Education, driving initiatives like the Greater Manchester Challenge and London Challenge.

• Natalie Parker
  Director of Teacher Development
  Natalie Parker

  Natalie became the Deputy Head of ITT at Future Teacher Training during its inaugural year in 2014. She took over the leadership of the SCITT programme in 2018, leading it through its second consecutive Outstanding judgement. With a long-standing passion for effective professional development, Natalie now leads our subject curriculum team in their work in developing teachers in our schools, and works closely with school leaders in their design and delivery of professional development. She’s also a visiting fellow for Ambition Institute, facilitator for the NPQLTD and serving Ofsted Inspector.

• Jonathan Been
  Head of Education Enrichment
  Jonathan Been

  Jonathan oversees the Careers and Enrichment provision at Future Academies. Jonathan holds a Level 6 qualification in Careers Leadership and works closely with the careers teams in each Academy to ensure that our students receive a comprehensive and progressive careers education reflecting the Gatsby Benchmarks. Jonathan works with the Future Charity to enable the enrichment teams in each Academy to deliver interesting and engaging enrichment opportunities for all students.

• Natalie Dormer
  Head of Partnerships and Life Skills
  Natalie Dormer

  Natalie joined Future Academies as Head of Partnerships and Life Skills in April 2024. She is an experienced school leader with a strong background in education. Previously, she held roles as an Assistant Principal, Head of Sixth Form, and Careers Leader.

• Anna-Maria O'Toole
  Head of SEND
  Anna-Maria O'Toole

  Anna-Maria is Head of SEND and Inclusion at Future Academies. She is a qualified English teacher. She has held a range of senior and middle leadership positions in London secondary schools. Pastoral care in secondary schools was the focus of her doctoral research particularly the impact on pupils with SEND.

• Jack Rendle
  Head of Estates and Facilities
  Jack Rendle

  Jack, Head of Estates and Facilities at Future Academies since 2022, has over a decade of experience in managing estates. He leads strategic direction, ensuring compliance, safety, and sustainability. His expertise includes facilities management, risk management, and capital project delivery. Jack is dedicated to creating safe, efficient learning environments through energy reduction, planned maintenance, and value procurement, enhancing both educational experiences and estate performance.

• Dr Yvette Hyde
  Governance and Data Protection Manager
  Dr Yvette Hyde

  Dr Yvette Hyde has worked for the Trust since 2018 in a variety of roles including curriculum writing and admissions. More recently, in 2022 Yvette became the Trust’s Governance and Data Protection Manager. Prior to this, Yvette completed her QTS in 2016 through the Future Academies SCITT programme and taught Geography in the Trust’s primary schools.

• Steve Calton
  Head of Data and Analytics
  Steve Calton

  Steve joined Future Academies as Head of Data and Analytics in November 2022. He is an experienced school leader working in education for over 20 years. Previously, he held roles as an Assistant Principal, Deputy Head Teacher and Head of Science.

• Emma Palmer
  Programme Manager, Centre for Latin Excellence
  Emma Palmer

  Emma joined Future Academies in 2022 as Programme Manager for the Centre for Latin Excellence. She manages the delivery of the DfE-funded Latin Excellence Programme, working with 40 state schools across all regions of England to help them build or grow their Latin provision at key stages 3 and 4. From 2023 to 2024 she also managed the delivery of the key stage 3 and 4 history curriculum for Oak National Academy.

• Keith Cocks
  Head of Finance
  Keith Cocks

  Keith joined Future Academies in May 2023, bringing 3.5 years of experience from the finance business partnering team at Harris Federation. A chartered accountant since 2016, he began his career auditing academies, providing him with extensive experience in education finance. At Future Academies, Keith manages a team overseeing management reporting and reports to the CFO and Finance Committee.

Board of Trustees (ID 1306)

• John Nash
  John Nash

  Lord Nash had a successful career in venture capital and is a former Chairman of the British Venture Capital Association. He was Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Schools and joined the House of Lords in 2013.  

  After reading law at Corpus Christi College, Oxford, John briefly practised as a barrister but moved on to the City and then into venture capital. He is a Foundation Fellow of Corpus Christi College, Oxford, Vice Chairman of its Development Committee, and a member of its Investment Committee.  

  John supports several charities for young people. He has been the Chairman of Future since 2006. John is deeply passionate about transforming the life chances of young people. He is the driving force behind the Trust's Education Enrichment programme.  

• Caroline Nash
  Caroline Nash

  Lady Nash has a BA in History from Bristol University. A stockbroker by training, she had a successful career in the international division of a French merchant bank. She is a former counsellor for the Citizens' Advice Bureau.  

  Caroline has a deep love of history and its ability to help children make sense of the world around them and was the architect of the trust’s educational vision: libertas per cultum. Caroline was a driving force in placing Future Academies in the vanguard of those advocating for a knowledge-led curriculum in the mid to late 2000s. She is a great champion of Future Teacher Training, our renowned SCITT, the graduates of which now make up almost a quarter of our teaching staff. 

• Sir David Carter
  Sir David Carter

  Sir David was the product of a comprehensive school in South Wales and was the first member of his family to go to university where he studied for a Music degree at Royal Holloway College, London. He began his career as a music teacher in 1983 and went on to become a Local Authority music advisor, a headteacher, an executive head and the CEO of the Cabot Learning Federation, a multi academy trust in Bristol.  

   In 2014 Sir David was appointed to be the first Regional Schools Commissioner in the South West and took up the position of National Schools Commissioner (NSC) in December 2015. As NSC, his focus was firmly on building capacity so that the trusts that run our most challenging schools can sustain improvement over time. From 2018 to 2021 Sir David was the Director of System Leadership at the Ambition Institute and now works with several schools and trusts advising them on their strategy. In August 2020, Sir David published his book “Leading Academy Trusts-why some fail but most don’t” with the book having hit the target of 4000 sales in the summer of 2021.  

• Lara Newman
  Lara Newman

  Lara Newman is Chief Executive at LocatED, the government-owned property company, responsible for buying and developing sites for new free schools in England. Lara has over twenty years' property experience and has operated at the heart of the free school’s policy since its inception prior to the 2010 election. Previously a Board Director at Cleanslate Ltd, a development and property consulting company, Lara worked with many of the UK’s biggest landowners, agents, and developers; prior to that, as Managing Director at Navigant Consulting, Lara specialised in property deals and complex capital investment projects for government education capital programmes.   

• Maiken Vestergaard-Poulsen
  Maiken Vestergaard-Poulsen

  Maiken has a background in management consulting with McKinsey & Co. and in sales and marketing with AstraZeneca. She is a board member and co-owner of Burner International, located in Denmark and holds an MSc Economics and Business Administration from Copenhagen Business School as well as an MSc Psychology from the University of Westminster.   

• Paul Mullins
  Paul Mullins

  Paul is a chair of and investor in tech businesses. He was a mergers and acquisitions banker for 40 years. He has chaired the Industrial Development Advisory Board, the Education and Training Foundation and the DfE External Advisory Panel on FE College restructuring. He attended Bishop Wordsworth’s School Salisbury and has a Law degree from the University of Oxford. He is a fellow of The Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment and member of The Society for Education and Training.