Advisory Council

Since leaving school headship in 2006, Susan has held a number of key roles with a variety of national and international organisations. She currently shares her time between the Eden Academy Trust and the British Council.

As CEO of the Eden Academy Trust, Susan is responsible for its strategic vision and direction. The Trust comprises 10 schools and settings in West London and the north of England, all of which have been judged as good or outstanding. Susan was instrumental in the founding and development of the Trust which provides education for children aged 3-19 with a range of complex needs.

In her position as Senior Adviser at the British Council, Susan provides sector expertise and advice to a wide number of educational programmes – involving ministries of education, school leaders and teachers across approximately 40 countries in Asia, the Middle East and Africa. She has particular interest in leadership and professional development, and inclusion.

Susan is a Trustee of the National Federation of Educational Research (NFER) and the Confederation of School Trusts (CST). She was awarded a CBE for Services to Education in the Queen’s Birthday Honours in June 2021.

Angela Falkenberg is an experienced school leader whose personal leadership commitment is to support students, educators, and families to have skills of resilience and optimism and for leaders to be and lead well. She makes effective use of data and research and has curated a range of ‘fit for purpose’ high impact culture building and wellbeing strategies that make a positive difference.

She is currently President of the Australian Primary Principals Association, past principal of three primary schools, and has held leadership positions in secondary schools and in system roles. She has also been a wellbeing leader, behaviour coach, a literacy leadership coach, and additionally led the recruitment and development of teachers to SA’s Aboriginal and Anangu Schools.

Angela's teaching career began in indigenous education in the NT and has included roles in primary and secondary education with a focus on students and families experiencing educational disadvantage. She also led a three-year health care project in the neonatal nurseries of the Women’s and Children’s Hospital and is a past president of charity SIDS and Kids SA. She holds a master’s degree in special education and continues to embrace the joy of life-long learning.

Angela is also rational optimist as she can’t see the point in being anything else.

Toby is Professor of Education at the University of Nottingham. His research is focused on how policy and practice interact to shape educational opportunities and outcomes – in particular across local systems and through networks – and the nature and role of leadership in these processes.

His research includes studies funded by the Association of Education Committees, the Economic and Social Research Council, the Education Endowment Foundation, the Nuffield Foundation, the Wellcome Trust and the UK Department for Education.

He currently chairs the Greater Manchester Priority Area Partnership Board on behalf of the UK Department for Education. His most recent book, Leading Educational Networks: Theory, Policy and Practice (Bloomsbury, 2022), was co-authored with Dr Annelies Kamp, University of Canterbury, Aotearoa New Zealand. He has advised the OECD, EU and ministries in several countries on issues relating to school leadership and educational system reform.

Eric is a results-driven education leader with a distinguished career spanning instructional leadership, school administration, and superintendent roles. He is adept at fostering inclusive learning environments, developing professional learning experiences, and leading transformative school and district improvement. Eric is also passionate about creating meaningful student experiences in school for lifelong success.

Eric is enjoying his second work opportunity with the National Center on Education and the Economy (NCEE). In his previous tenure with NCEE, Eric served as a Senior National Facilitator. He rejoined NCEE during the summer of 2019 and currently serves as Chief, Learning Design. In this role, Eric oversees the crafting of game changing content, tools, and supports to drive widespread, knowledgeable leadership committed to high performing systems. NCEE's work blazes new paths by creating new narratives for education and translating research into inspiring, actionable and trajectory-altering policy and program designs.

Dr Trivina Kang is Chief Strategy and Partnerships Officer at the National Institute of Education (NIE), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, where she leads on strategic planning and international engagement initiatives. She is also a faculty member of the Policy, Curriculum and Leadership Academic Group, where she lectures on leadership and qualitative methodology.

Prior to her current appointment, she was Associate Dean (Professional and Leadership Development) overseeing NIE’s suite of signature leadership programmes for school and middle leaders, as well as professional development programmes for Singapore educators.

A passionate educator and researcher, Dr Kang facilitates learning in several of NIE’s milestone leadership programmes, leads funded projects on issues of educational praxis, and serves as Associate Editor for the Asia Pacific Journal of Education. She also actively consults for the Ministry of Education, Singapore and international organisations.

Susan Patrick provides expertise for advancing policy and transforming education systems in the United States. She has more than 25 years of experience working with federal and state policy makers in partnership with the field in developing and analyzing policies supporting education, innovation and technology breakthroughs, publishing research, and advancing global best practices.

Susan served as CEO of Aurora Institute, President and CEO of the International Association for K-12 Online Learning, at the U.S. Department of Education as the Director of the Office of Educational Technology, in the U.S. House of Representatives, and as legislative liaison for the governor of Arizona. She has worked directly as a technical expert with the White House, U.S. Congress, numerous state governors, legislatures, state education departments, and state boards of education.

Pasi Sahlberg is professor of Educational Leadership at the University of Melbourne, Australia. His previous work includes teaching and teacher education at the University of Helsinki, director general at Finland’s Ministry of Education, senior education specialist at the World Bank in Washington DC and the European Commission in Torino, and visiting professor at Harvard University. His research interests include educational change, international education policies, teacher development, school leadership, and education futures. Pasi’s latest books include Let the Children Play: How More Play Will Save Our Schools and Help Children Thrive (2019), and Finnish Lessons 3.0: What Can the World Learn from Educational Change in Finland (2021). He is a recipient of the 2012 Education Award in Finland, the 2013 Grawemeyer Award in the U.S., the 2014 Robert Owen Award in Scotland, the 2016 Lego Prize in Denmark, and the 2021 Dr. Paul Brock Memorial Medal in Australia. Pasi lives with his family in South Melbourne.

Michael Stevenson is Senior Consultant, OECD High Performing Systems for Tomorrow. HPST brings together British Columbia (Canada), Estonia, Finland, Germany, Singapore, Australia and the United Kingdom to develop new education purposes, policies and practices in support of human flourishing in an AI world.

He also co-leads a major research project on learning ecosystems in Latin America, Africa and India. And he is orchestrating a Talent and Innovation Ecosystem in Doncaster, where he was brought up. The work has potential to support levelling up across the north of England.

Michael founded and co-chairs the Global Education Leaders Partnership. He has also led education at Cisco Systems and at the BBC.

Dr. Jordan Tinney recently retired as Superintendent of one of Canada’s largest school districts in Surrey, British Columbia. Serving previously on three other Boards, he understands education environments large and small, rural and urban. With a Ph. D. in curriculum, a Masters in Leadership, and qualified as a Certified Evidence-Based Executive Coach, Jordan now serves leadership and education as a strategic consultant. With a deep interest in the complexity of leadership and ways to support effective governance, Jordan is currently working across Canada in numerous jurisdictions to support governance and leadership at the system level.

Jordan recently led a two-year project to write leadership competencies for system leaders in British Columbia, was an external advisor on Manitoba’s rewriting of leadership standards for school leaders, and recently co-authored a series of case studies on global leadership competencies. He also has written a series of documents supporting powerful and inclusive governance for Boards of Education across British Columbia. Jordan enjoys a range of work from governance, policy and strategic planning to executive coaching at the individual or team level – all in the service of quality education for all children. He now lives in Kelowna with his wife and son where he enjoys getting out on his dirt bike, roaming the hills and mountain lakes, and trying to improve his golf swing.