Academy Trustees (ID 1037)

• Karl Fairley
  Chair of the Academies Trust Board
  Karl Fairley

  Karl Fairley has served as Sponsor Director of New College Durham Academies Trust since 2010 and as Chair of the Academies Trust Board since 6 July 2020. Karl’s professional background is within Human Resources/Organisational Development and he is an experienced Senior Manager with over 30 years’ experience in Board-level roles. Karl has a proven track record of leading and developing individuals and providing leadership and vision to enable delivery of the organisational strategic plan. Amongst many other commitments on behalf of the Trust, Karl also chairs Remuneration Committee and is a committee member of Audit and Risk and Standards Committees.

• Linda Rodham
  Co-opted Trustee and the Trust's Chief Executive Officer
  Linda Rodham

  Linda Rodham is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of New College Durham Academies Trust and Co-opted Trustee. As CEO, she has the key strategic role in the leadership of the Trust and provides strategic direction for the Corporate Team as well as monitors the effectiveness of the leadership teams of individual academies.

  Linda has been a senior leader for 21 years and a Headteacher for over 10 years with substantial experience of school improvement. Linda has been in her current role since September 2021.

• Paul Bradley
  Vice-Chair of the Academies Trust Board
  Paul Bradley

  Paul Bradley has served as Sponsor Director of New College Durham Academies Trust since 2022, and is the Vice-Chair of the Academy Trust Board.

  Paul is a Chartered Accountant with nearly 20 years post qualification experience across a wide range of areas, but has a passion for Education. He has an involvement in Education from Early Years right through to Higher Education, with various roles that he occupies.

  Paul is an experienced Senior Manager with 10 years’ experience in Board-level roles. Paul chairs the Trust Audit and Risk Committee and is a member of both the Resources Committee and Remuneration Committee.

• Mike Goodwin
  Mike Goodwin

  Mike Goodwin has served as a Sponsor Trustee of New College Durham Academies Trust since 2023, and previous to that served for 3 years as a member of the Local Governing Body of North Durham Academy.

  Mike worked as a senior manager in the Justice system in both the public and private sector, and, prior to retiring, worked as a management consultant, working with commercial organisations on staffing solutions and change management. He has experience of working at board level across a range of organisations.

  Mike is currently the Chair of the Trust's Resources Committee.

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• Rachel Wilson
  Outgoing Trustee
  Rachel Wilson

  Rachel Wilson is a new Sponsor of New College Durham Academies Trust. Rachel is the Chair of Governors at Wingate Primary School and brings with her extensive experience in a primary setting. Rachel has previously been Vice-Chair of Trustees at the National Governance Association and Company Director at a private training centre for apprenticeship training.

• Lisa Wilkinson
  Lisa Wilkinson

  Lisa Wilkinson has served as a Director on the Advisory Trust Board of New College Academies Trust since April 2024, joining the Trust’s Resources Committee in June 2024. Lisa’s professional background for the last 20 years has been at Beamish, The Living Museum of the North, where she is Sustainability Manager, advocating for and driving change to ensure best practice for greener, sustainable solutions across the museum. Lisa has a proven track record in project management, procurement, people and communication, and leadership. Lisa is an ambassador and champion of sustainability, not only at the museum, but in several networking groups, and sits on Durham County Council’s Climate Strategy Board, and on the Single Use Plastics Task Group; Association of European Open-Air Museums’ Sustainability Group; and the National Museum Directors’ Council Ecology Group.

• Jill Bowe
  Jill Bowe

  Jill Bowe has served as Trust Board Member of New College Durham Academies Trust since 2023 and has served as staff governor whilst working in Gateshead local authority in the 1990s. Jill is a Headteacher of a Special School and is an OFSTED Inspector of over 10 years for Primary, Secondary, SEND, Alternative provision and SEND Area. Jill’s professional background is within schools and colleges catering for pupils and adults age 0-83. She is an experienced Senior Manager with over 25 years’ experience in a variety of school provisions. She has a proven track record of leading and developing individuals, providing leadership and vision to enable delivery of organisation’s strategic plan. Jill has experience as a SEND advisor in a range of settings in the Northern region and humanities in Gateshead Local Authority. Jill has a Masters Degree in SEND and is a Specialist teacher for Dyslexia.

• Joanne Soanes
  Joanne Soanes