Team Profiles

James Toop joined Teaching Leaders after two and half years as a management consultant at Monitor Group. Before that he was a participant on the inaugural year of Teach First which he continues to support as an Ambassador on the Higher Education Access Programme and Maximum Impact Project. He graduated from Jesus College, Oxford with a BA in Modern Languages and is currently Chair of the City Fives Association, a sporting charity promoting Fives in ‘inner-city' schools.

ANDREA BERKELEY
Director of Development

Andrea has thirty years experience in London schools, recently leading Preston Manor - a specialist Science College, Leading Edge School and City Learning Centre - from ‘serious weaknesses' to ‘outstanding.' She is an associate consultant of the Institute of Education, tutoring and facilitating on NCSL senior leadership programmes and an executive coach with Tavistock Consultancy Service and Right Management, coaching chief executives in the business sector. She has contributed widely to education and social inclusion, lecturing, writing and broadcasting and serving on the boards of the Learning and Skills Council London West, Pupil Referral Units and the mental health charity Open Door.

Andrea graduated from Manchester University with an honours degree in English Language and Literature and has post-graduate qualifications in Psychology and Social Administration, Linguistics and Reading Development, Education Management, Counselling and Executive Coaching.

GEORGINA LIVERAS
Head of Core Programme

Georgina Liveras has been in education for over thirty years and is currently Teaching Leaders' Head of Core as well as being a leadership coach. She has worked closely, as part of the Leading Edge Partnership programme, with local schools, sharing successful strategies that raise achievement. In the last two years, Georgina has been involved in contributing to the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust literacy conferences across the UK. She leads on literacy within the Core Programme.

Georgina graduated from Cambridge with an honours degree in English Literature and Education.

LUCY PAYTON
Regional Director, South

Lucy has a background in international development, having worked for the Development Research Group of the World Bank in Washington D.C.   She then spent two years working as a management consultant with Boston Consulting Group, where she focused on organisational change projects.  She has a masters in International Relations from Johns Hopkins University and a degree in History from Cambridge University.

MELANIE RENOWDEN
Regional Director, North

Melanie has worked in education for 15 years on the development and direction of complex education initiatives with government, industry and schools.  Following four years at the Training and Development Agency for Schools working on teacher recruitment and training, she project managed the Department for Education’s ‘Science Year’, leading the initiative into its legacy year a gaining a Guinness World Record in the process.   In her role as Business in the Community’s Education Director, Melanie worked with businesses to maximise the impact of their involvement in education.  More recently, she worked for several years as an education consultant, tackling projects on work experience, school-business partnerships and teacher development.  Melanie served for four years as a Governor of a London primary school and is a former Trustee of Teach First.

THORA EBERTS
Regional Associate Director, South

Thora joined Teaching Leaders after finishing her Master’s degree in English Literature at University College London. Thora is a native of Berkeley, California, and prior to moving to London, she was a Reading and Writing Empowerment Teacher at Making Waves Education Program—a San Francisco Bay Area based non-profit organisation that fights for social justice by helping inner city kids overcome educational inequality. Thora has also worked as a Writing Tutor, and team-taught a freshman seminar as a Stevenson College Junior Fellow during her final year of university. Thora graduated from the University of California at Santa Cruz with a B.A. in Modern Literature. She currently teaches Key Stage 3 and Key Stage 4 English classes on Sundays.   

BRENNA DORRANCE
Regional Associate Director, North

Brenna, a native of Montana USA, has over ten years of experience in education, development and management.  While still in university she co-founded an educational non-profit organization working with children in vulnerable communities in Southern Africa, then she taught and worked as Advisor to a Board of Education in Japan for three years, later she became Associate Director for Education with a leadership development programme in Washington D.C.  After earning her Masters in Human Rights from the London School of Economics, Brenna managed conflict resolution programmes in Afghanistan before working as a deputy field organizer on the Obama Presidential Campaign in the USA.  She settled in the UK where she worked at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine in the international development programme consultancy arm.  In her free time Brenna volunteers with Refugee Action. 

MEHRUN BEGUM
Systems Manager

 

Mehrun joined Teaching Leaders in November 2010, after she spent a year at Ofsted where she supported the Architecture team and created and managed the teams Microsoft SharePoint site. Prior to this she worked in the Department of Education within the Disadvantage and Deprivation Team focusing her time on The Extra Mile Project. Her interest in education was derived from this project where she was exposed to tackling education disadvantage. She graduated in 2009 in Business Studies from John Cass Business Undergraduate School.

JACK CLARK
TLOD Manager

 

FATIMAH SALEEM
Finance Manager

Fatimah joined Teaching Leaders in October 2010. She graduated in 2008 with a BA Hons in Accounting & Finance and has since been working within the finance sector. Prior to Teaching Leaders, Fatimah worked at various head offices within the private sector. Alongside this she also volunteered at an Education and Development Association at which she was responsible for the day to day running of the charity’s finance department. Fatimah is delighted she is able to apply her skills to an inspirational organisation which has a huge impact on society.

PAULINE EWIN
Lead Coach

Pauline has a background in successful secondary headship, with Ofsted judgements of 'Outstanding' and 'providing exemplary leadership'. Headship experiences in Hertfordshire and Tower Hamlets, Ofsted training and a Local Authority leadership role has provided her with a breadth of skills, knowledge and experience which she has brought to her consultancy. She led the development on the New Visions programme, part of the NCSL's Headship Induction Programme and extended her expertise in training into facilitation and coaching; mentoring newly appointed and acting Headteachers in Tower Hamlets and beyond. Pauline has facilitated on NCSL's programmes for senior leaders: NPQH, Head for the Future, Professional Partners and also the School Improvement Partner (SIP) programme, developing and accrediting secondary SIPs. She has also designed and facilitated bespoke programmes for senior leadership teams and middle leaders. Pauline is an accredited coach with the NCSL working on their NPQH programme and an associate of the LCLL at the Institute of Education. She has contributed to Teaching Leaders since its inception, taking up the role of Lead Coach recently. She is currently studying for a Diploma in Professional Executive Coaching, accredited by the Institute of Leadership and Management and holding EMCC's Quality Award, to extend her practice further.

Pauline began her career in education as a secondary science teacher following graduation from Bedford College, London University, a period doing scientific research on a Science Research Council studentship and a PGCE from Chelsea College, Centre for Science and Maths Education.