our trustees
Mylene mcguire
(Chair of The Trust Board)
appointment date - 01/09/2024
Mylene has worked for more than 35 years in schools in urban contexts. Mylene has a strong track record of effective school improvement having been commissioned as a National Leader of Education (NLE) to support schools in challenging circumstances.
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Mylene also has experience in senior leadership within Manchester Local Authority and working with the DfE and other partners.
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Her past experience spans roles as a Teacher, Headteacher, Executive Headteacher, Primary strategy manager, governance lead, consultant on the national pilot and rollout of the Improving Schools programme; a mathematics and literacy consultant, School Improvement partner, and as the senior officer for quality assurance in 3-19 Education for Manchester City Council.
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Mylene now works independently as an educational consultant having retired from her post as Executive Headteacher of a small Federation of schools in Manchester
Sarah Walker
appointment date - 06/02/2020
Sarah is employed by Cisco UK as the Managing Director for the Enterprise Business. Sarah is also a Non-Executive Director at Liverpool Women’s NHS Foundation Trust where she Chairs their Quality Committee, and is a member of The Institute of Sales Management with a specific focus on their Mental Health and Wellbeing Thought Leadership initiative.
Sarah is an experienced Executive Leader with a track record for creating and executing strategic change and transformation programmes to improve operational performance of business units; focused on improving customer advocacy and employee engagement within the major business, public sector and corporate environments.
Sarah joined the Trust in 2018 as a Trustee and was appointed as the Chair of the Board of Trustees in September 2021. Sarah is the Lead Trustee for Safeguarding.
dANIELLE BARROW
appointment date - 06/02/2020
Danielle is a founding Trustee of GMAT. She is an experienced Leader with a wealth of knowledge and experience in schools. She is an Education Business Partner, with a responsibility for People Policy And Recruitment at Manchester City Council.
sarah green
(VICE CHAIR)
appointment date - 06/02/2020
Sarah was the Education Endowment Foundation’s Content Specialist for Literacy in 2021-22 and continues to work closely with them in an alumni capacity. Alongside this, Sarah is both a Trust Director of Literacy for The Prospere Learning Trust in South
Manchester and a consultant literacy specialist delivering training and support to schools and trusts. She is also a Voice21 National Oracy Leader, a Teacher Development Trust (TDT) Associate, and is an Evidence Lead in Education (ELE) with Manchester Communication Research School.
During her nineteen years in education, Sarah has taught English across schools in Tameside, Stockport and Manchester, and has extensive experience in both middle and senior leadership. In her trust-based role, she provides school-to-school leadership support specialising in evidence -informed CPDL, curriculum development
in English and whole-school teaching & learning, with a focus on improving literacy, oracy and SEND provision. She has also worked with One Education in Manchester over the last two years to co-develop their new Secondary Reading Award framework.
David lea
appointment date - 04/10/2022
David began his career as a Management Trainee with NatWest International Division. Following this, David spent 15 years in the print industry ultimately managing the design and print for brands which included Marks and Spencer and Pepsico. In addition, David was employed at British Airways where he was responsible for developing partnerships with some of the UK's leading brands and he was also employed at Libra Europe, where he supported some of the UK's major retailers transform their business.
Most recently, David was employed as the Commercial Director at Manchester City Council working across the organisation to develop a commercial culture that would allow the council to continue to deliver all of its essential services against a backdrop of very significant funding cuts. David is currently a non-Executive Director for MediaCo Group.
For many years, David volunteered as a Regulation 33 Visitor for Manchester City Council's Looked after Children's homes. David is the Chair of the Board of Directors at his local golf club.
Domain Olufowobi
appointment date - 12/12/23
I was appointed as Finance Governor in October 2020. Being extremely passionate about making positive impact by helping people to develop, becoming a Finance Governor at MCPA provides me an opportunity to contribute relevant skills and value to MCPA's governing board.
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I am a Director at Mazars providing audit service large and listed corporates in diverse industries, with relevant experiences in Financial Planning and Reporting, Corporate Strategy and Restructuring.
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Outside of work, I enjoy spending time volunteering, watching football (I'm a big fan of Manchester United), playing billiards and learning to play new musical instruments.
john rowlands ceo
appointment date - 06/09/2020
asif khan
appointment date - 12/12/23​
I have worked within local government for more than 20 years primarily for Manchester City Council. I have an extensive understanding of local government finance and the environment in which the Council operates. My role as a workforce finance specialist has allowed me to enjoy a rewarding career at the Council steadily increasing my influence in relation to workforce and financial budgeting, planning and reporting. My current role encompasses responsibilities that cross traditional Finance and HR boundaries and allows me to influence issues about which I am passionate including work on gender and ethnicity pay gaps and the Manchester Living Wage. Outside of work I enjoy spending time with my family and watching Manchester United and Lancashire County Cricket Club.
The role of Trustee allows me to use all my experience and passion to help contribute towards improving the life chances of all our young people whilst ensuring that we value our differences and treat people fairly.
LISA DYSCH
appointment date - 12/12/2023
With over 25 years in the property industry, I have extensive experience across the private rental sector as a landlord, agent and tenant. In my previous roles with Allsop Ltd and The
Co-operative Group, I worked closely with a breadth of customers including central and local government, corporate and individual landlords, investors, receivers and social housing providers. For the past ten years, I have been part of the Contract Leadership team on the asylum accommodation contract for Serco, firstly as Property Director and more recently as ContractSupport Director. As part of the Contract leadership team, I am responsible and accountable for developing and delivering the strategic vision across the whole contract. As a leader, I expect and encourage high standards of service delivery with internal and external customers, stakeholders, and suppliers, whilst ensuring full compliance within the appropriate legal and regulatory frameworks. My experience and knowledge of the residential property landscape and the challenges both tenants and landlords face are well-placed in my position on the GMAC families and community committee. Outside of work, I enjoy any kind of live music; spending time outdoors and trying to learn to draw.
TAsneem Said
appointment date - 11/11/2021
Janice Allen
appointment date - 01/09/2024
Janice Allen worked in Secondary Schools across Manchester, Salford and Rochdale for 25 years and was Headteacher of a large Secondary School in Rochdale up to 2023.
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Since leaving mainstream education, Janice has worked supporting education in custody settings for young people, Alternative Provision and Pupil Referral Units. She works as a contractor for the charity Right to Succeed across Rochdale and Liverpool City Region and also currently acts as a consultant on areas of importance in education including Violence Against Women and Girls, Race Equality and Human Rights across the GM region and nationally.
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Janice is a Trustee of Early Break, a substance misuse charity based in Greater Manchester and has served on boards from schools to place-based charities and Evidence-Based Education. She served as the Secondary representative on Rochdale Safeguarding Board and Complex Safeguarding.
Janice is particularly interested in the areas of inclusion, safeguarding and SEND and ensuring schools do what is in their gift to develop best practices in this area.
our members
john falder (chair)
ROBIN LAWLER
KIRSTIN KERR
VICKY ROSIN
SUB COMMITTEES
Finance and Audit
Domain Olufowobi (Chair)
Danielle Barrow
Adrian Jubb
david Lea