Movers and Shakers

Movers and shakers: McCandless, Coiffait-Gunn, MacKenzie, Robinson, Uttley, Spackman

Leader who worked on Bill Clinton's campaign and journalist who dined with Donald Trump among those with new jobs in education

Leader who worked on Bill Clinton's campaign and journalist who dined with Donald Trump among those with new jobs in education

This week’s movers and shakers include a leader who worked on Bill Clinton’s presidential campaign and a journalist who once dined with Donald Trump.

This column is our fortnightly guide to who is moving where in the schools community.

We are keen to hear about appointments at a senior level. Please send submissions for this section to news@schoolsweek.co.uk with ‘Movers and shakers’ in the subject line.

Mark McCandless

CEO, Areté Learning Trust

Start date: April 1

Previous/current role: CEO, Ryedale Learning Trust

Interesting fact: Mark once appeared on the television series ‘Springtime on the Farm’ due to his hobby and passion (outside of education) for keeping and breeding domestic animals and poultry native to Shetland.

Louis Coiffait-Gunn

CEO, CILIP: the library and information association

Start date: May 8

Previous/current role: Director of policy and public affairs, Publishers Association

Interesting fact: Louis loves being up in the hills and mountains, on foot, bike or board, and thanks his lucky stars he’s still able to after breaking his back in three places snowboarding in 2012.

Nick MacKenzie

Head of education, Browne Jacobson

Start date: May

Previous/current role: Partner, education team, Browne Jacobson

Interesting fact: Nick is a part-time podcaster and, despite suffering from claustrophobia, recently took up scuba diving with his (enthusiastic) son.

Kelly Robinson

Chief financial officer, HISP multi-academy trust

Start date: April 1

Previous/current role: Head of finance, HISP

Interesting fact: My great, great grandad was a famous English jockey, who rode his last race at the age of 78, died at 105 and had 32 children!

Jonny Uttley

Visiting fellow, Centre for Young Lives

Start date: April

Concurrent job: Chief executive of The Education Alliance

Interesting fact: I once went running with Bill Clinton when I was at Georgetown University in Washington, DC, and was an unpaid volunteer on his presidential campaign.

Journalist to chair exam board

A former national newspaper editor has been appointed as chair of trustees at exam board AQA.

Anne Spackman joined the charity earlier this month, taking over from Justin van Wijngaarden.

Spackman worked in senior journalism roles, including at the Financial Times and The Times. More recently, she has held trustee roles for a range of charities. She’s also chair of the Greenshaw Learning Trust.

The board of trustees is responsible for overall strategy, policy and steering AQA to fulfil its educational and charitable objective.

Interesting fact: When property correspondent at the Financial Times, Anne had lunch at Claridge’s with Donald Trump. He ordered steak and potatoes and asked the waiter to go heavy on the potatoes.

Latest education roles from

Chief Education Officer (Deputy CEO)

Chief Education Officer (Deputy CEO)

Romero Catholic Academy Trust

Director of Academy Finance and Operations

Director of Academy Finance and Operations

Ormiston Academies Trust

Principal & Chief Executive

Principal & Chief Executive

Truro & Penwith College

Group Director of Marketing, Communications & External Engagement

Group Director of Marketing, Communications & External Engagement

London & South East Education Group

Sponsored posts

Sponsored post

AI Safety: From DfE Guidance to Classroom Confidence

Darren Coxon, edtech consultant and AI education specialist, working with The National College, explores the DfE’s expectations for AI...

SWAdvertorial
Sponsored post

How accurate spend information is helping schools identify savings

One the biggest issues schools face when it comes to saving money on everyday purchases is a lack of...

SWAdvertorial
Sponsored post

Building Character, Increasing Engagement and Growing Leaders: A Whole School Approach

Research increasingly shows that character education is just as important as academic achievement in shaping pupils’ long-term success. Studies...

SWAdvertorial
Sponsored post

Educators launch national AI framework to guide schools and colleges

More than 250 schools and colleges across the UK have already enrolled in AiEd Certified, a new certification framework...

SWAdvertorial

More from this theme

Movers and Shakers

Matt Hood to lead new health reforms ‘delivery unit’

Oak National Academy founder to run new team under health secretary Wes Streeting to cut hospital waiting times and...

John Dickens
Movers and Shakers

Former OCR boss among new Ofqual board members

Duffy, who served as OCR chief executive for seven years, is joined by Oak National Academy board member Conor...

Ruth Lucas
Movers and Shakers

Movers and Shakers: WomenEd, Birmingham council, Transforming Lives, Wolf Inclusion, E-ACT, Sparx

This week’s movers and shakers include a former chicken-catcher, skydiver, competitive swimmer and award-winning cadet

Freddie Whittaker
Movers and Shakers

Delta Academies Trust names Sir Paul Tarn successor

New CEO will ‘build on what has been achieved to date’ as he takes over the reins

Jack Dyson

Your thoughts

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *