Domini Leong

Domini is a Deputy Headteacher of a large, inner-city, very comprehensive Secondary school in Bristol. She has 12 years of senior leadership experience in multiple schools in Bristol and previously as a Head of English, Literacy lead and local authority advisor in various schools in the London Borough of Southwark. She is also a Cohort 15 Future Leader with Ambition Institute and has a MA in Education. Domini also contributes to the Race Equality in Education Group (REEG) on Bristol City Council.

As one of the first BAME senior leaders to be appointed in a Bristol secondary school 13 years ago, Domini has made it her mission to use her experience and knowledge to support and lift up other BAME colleagues. As an enthusiastic sociologist, Domini is also passionate about challenging all forms of inequality and knows first-hand the power that a good education can have on social mobility.

Julia Skinner

Julia is a retired Bristol headteacher who has used her experience since retiring in the world of governance. During lockdown, she has offered 'listening ear' sessions for anyone in education who just wanted a safe space & some blue-sky thinking. Over 50 people (incl BAME colleagues) have taken her up on these sessions & have found them really beneficial.

Julia is a Founding Fellow & a member of the council of the Chartered College of Teaching & is an active member of the Diversity & Inclusion group & the Constitutional committee both of which are working on the diversity of the membership of the College.

She is based in Bristol & is very comfortable using virtual technologies.

Abbigael Bainton

After joining the Teach First Leadership Development Program in 2013, Abbigael went on to teach Science in an inner-city Bristol school for 5 years leaving her position as an Associate Assistant Principal in 2018. She then taught the IB Diploma Biology and Chemistry for two years at Island Academy in Antigua, W.I. before returning to Bristol in 2020. She is now working as an Assistant Principal for Pastoral and Personal Development. Abbigael is passionate about working to improve the quality of education available for all students and completed a masters in Educational Leadership focusing on the role of teachers as role models and the impact of representation in teachers.

Katie Friedman

Katie is an experienced senior leader in Bristol, currently serving as a Deputy Principal within the Cabot Learning Federation, who works with leaders at all levels and is passionate about diversifying leadership of schools to ensure that children get the best education in their short time with us.

Katie believes that everyone should have access to the magic of coaching and loves co-creating powerful coaching relationships which enable freedom and growth to be their whole selves. Katie is visionary and strategic, loves ideas and innovation and has a healthy disrespect for comfort zones whether they belong to people, organisations or systems.

Sharon Porter

As an experienced educator and researcher, Sharon’s passion in education is the act of learning, and seeing the satisfaction that educators and their students experience when they achieve their goals. Sharon’s experience extends to coaching and mentoring Newly & Recently Qualified Teachers, and supporting experienced educators improve their practice. Sharon has been a Specialist Leader in Education (SLE) and a Lead Practitioner in inner-city Bristol schools. She is currently embarking on her PHD in the area of educational research and leadership.

Matthew Bennett

Matthew Bennett is a born and bred Bristolian, having grown up in South Bristol before undertaking a Biology degree and training to be a teacher at Exeter University. From there he worked at a school in Staffordshire, where he ran a boarding house, was head of years 10 and 11, and ran the Biology department. On his return to Bristol, he took up the position of Head of Biology at an inner-city Bristol school before progressing through Assistant Head and Deputy Head positions, overseeing learning, teaching, pupils and staff. From September 2020, Matthew takes on his first role as Head of School at an independent school in Bristol. During his 20 year career (so far!) he has undertaken an MSc in Learning and Teaching, and is currently in his final year of his MBA through the Open University. He has a genuine belief in lifelong learning. Matthew is passionate about leadership that impacts positively on the lives of everyone: staff, pupils and parents. For Matthew, schools are the way to change society and effective leadership will support schools in this aim.

Claire Stewart-Hall

Claire is a former headteacher and experienced senior leader who now works as an executive coach to support people to reflect on how their systems, processes and structures enable positive cultures. She uses a blend of transformational and psycho-dynamic coaching approaches, alongside her research of transactional theory and andragogy.

Claire believes answers to our own development lie within us. She uses creative tools for unlocking and building rapport and creates trust to offer people time to reflect on their current situations and change meaning perspectives.

She works with Head Teachers and leadership teams to ‘unlearn’ limiting assumptions and develop ways to challenge thoughts and ideas in a safe environment.

Annie Massey

Annie is currently an Assistant Principal at a North Somerset state secondary school where she is responsible for the outcomes and attainment of KS4 pupils as well as a teacher of English. She has held a variety of leadership positions over her 13-year career, from KS3 English Coordinator, to Head of English. Most recently she was an Associate Assistant Principal in a Bristol school where she was in charge of whole school Teaching and Learning, staff coaching and CPD as well as leading the school's ITT programme. Annie understands the challenges of building a career whilst juggling home life and children, and is passionate about sharing her knowledge and experience to ensure there is a wider representation of women BAME leaders in our schools. She is an experienced coach and would love to support and empower others to navigate the challenges they may face in building their career.

Abi Tidball

Abi Tidball is an Assistant Headteacher for Teaching and Learning in a diverse secondary school. She has been teaching for 10 years and before that worked as a youth worker mentoring young people in London. She is passionate about equity, diversity and equipping young people to have the audacity to disrupt the status quo. She has educational coaching experience and is committed to raising other leaders up so that we can build leadership structures that are representative of the young people we serve.

Cashan Campbell

Cashan is an Assistant Vice Principal currently at Fairfield High School, her once secondary school. She worked in South Bristol early on in her career and then in North Bristol. She has experience of a variety of middle leadership roles as a Head of House, a High Ability Coordinator and a Head of Year. Eventually, working in a school that she was passionate about, that was successful and on an upward trajectory, and where there was diversity amid its student and staffing cohorts, has given her the confidence to feel as though she can mentor others and share her experiences and knowledge. She has always been lucky enough that, when faced with self-doubt, the support and advice she sought from colleagues and loved ones seem to manifest into self-belief. She recognises the need for many people to talk through a process before engaging with it and wants to give support to aspiring BAME teachers and leaders in the same way.