The Mulberry Schools Trust is governed by a Board of Trustees and it is this Board who set the vision, values, ethos and work of all schools under its designation. The Board sets the scheme of delegation and appoints all governors, except elected staff and parent governors, on any local governing body that governs each school.
Membership of the Trust Board
Jane Farrell (Chair of the Trust Board)
Jane Farrell is the Chair of the Trust Board. Jane Farrell is the co-founder of EW Group, and Chief Executive from 1992 to 2021. She is a specialist in inclusive leadership, unconscious bias, organisational change and cultural adaptability. Her proactive approach is founded upon existing best practice and focusing energies on pragmatic solutions. Jane has vast experience in diversity consultancy and training, specialising in working with senior management teams to improve individual, team and organisational performance. Jane has delivered large-scale diversity programmes for our high-profile client base, including London Underground which at the time was the UK’s largest diversity management programme of its kind. Jane has also delivered similar diversity programmes for NHS Leadership Academy and Santander, amongst many more.
(Specialism: Business, Board Development and Project Management)
Sue Barrow
Sue Barrow is a member of the Mulberry Schools Trust and the Chair of the Trust Board’s Standards Committee. Sue is also Chair of Mulberry UTC’s Local Governing Body. Previously she was the Deputy Director of Education in Tower Hamlets with responsibility for the Schools Division with major responsibility for HR and resources including buildings, assets and finance. She was Director of recruitment at Cambridge Education Associates (CEA) and the interim project director for Islington when CEA ran Islington Local Authority. Ms Barrow has worked with a number of sponsors assisting in the development of new Academies including Pimlico and Mossborne.
(Specialism: HR, Personnel, Academies)
Alice Crawley
Alice Crawley is the Chair of the Finance Committee. Ms Crawley is a qualified Corporate Lawyer and has many years of experience in investment banking . Alice works for a multinational investment bank and is responsible for the business selection and reputational risk in her division.
(Specialism: Finance)
Lorraine Gibson
Lorraine is a Business Development Director UK, US & EMEA at Herbert Smith Freehills LLP
With 20 years of experience in international firms advising business leaders on strategic issues and operational effectiveness, Lorraine is commercially astute and quick to understand business priorities that inform the strategic direction of business groups and drive key deliverables. Additionally, she has managed multiple new, fledgling and established client relationships and conducted in-person client reviews over the past 15 years.
Lorraine is passionate about team leadership and has a particular interest in developing and training individuals that strive for excellence in a high performance environment.
(Specialism: Business Development)
David Gracie
David Gracie is the Chair of Mulberry Academy Shoreditch Local Governing Body. He became co-owner of Indigo in 2021, a governance advisory company. Prior to this, he spent five years at KPMG leading its Global Company Secretarial division, which supported clients with a range of governance and compliance services both in the UK and internationally. Previously, David spent 17 years at Makinson Cowell providing corporate governance and investor relations advice to FTSE 350 businesses. David is a Fellow of the Chartered Governance Institute, having qualified as a company secretary in 2005. Over the years he has given a great deal of his time to promoting the importance of governance, with specific emphasis on issues around gender diversity and disability and the role of a responsible board.
(Specialism: Legal, Audit and Governance)
Nusrath Hassan
Nusrath Hassan is Head of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion and the National Theatre. She is specialist in ED&I.
As a Trustees of the Mulberry Schools Trust and the Chair of Mulberry School for Girls’ Local Governing Body, Nusrath sits on the Standards Committee and Steering Committee for the Mulberry STEM Academy in partnership with Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Ltd. Nusrath is also a Trustee at The WOW (Women of the World) Foundation. For her efforts, Nusrath has been awarded ‘Young Star’ at the national Women of the Future Awards, is featured on the British-Bangladeshi Power 100 List, and has received numerous public accolades by leaders such as Former First Lady of the United States, Michelle Obama. She is fully committed to the positive developments that create a world where inclusion becomes a way of life.
(Specialism: Business, Inclusion, Community and Law)
Denise Jones
Denise Jones is the former Councillor for St Katharine’s and Wapping in Tower Hamlets and has held this position 1994 to 2022. Denise was the former Leader of Tower Hamlets Council from 2006 to 2008. Denise runs a bookshop in Bricklane and she has led on many community projects over the years including the creation of Mile End Millennium Park and the Idea Stores. Denise is also a Director Lea Valley Park, Trustee at Rich Mix, V&A Museum of Childhood, Trinity Buoy Wharf and the Portal Trust.
(Specialism: Education, Community and Business Leadership)
Zishan Nurmohamed
Zishan is a Partner at Ernst & Young LLP (EY), within the external audit practice and works primarily on signing the audits of leading mid-market and entrepreneurial businesses. Zishan is the Regional Audit Practice Leader for the Midlands and South West England, which followed 4 years of leading the UK EY Assurance business’s efforts on implementing Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.
Zishan spent a number of years working with Mosaic, which became part of the Princes Trust both in its London Regional Leadership Team but also as a mentor, which connects with his own personal journey through social mobility.
(Specialism: Finance, Audit and Risk)
Dr. James Ohene-Djan
Dr James Ohene-Djan is a Senior Lecturer and Assistant Pro Warden at Goldsmiths’ University of London. He has over nine years’ successful teaching experience at undergraduate level within Goldsmiths’ Department of Computing, developing, preparing and delivering courses in telecommunications, database systems, electronic commerce, computer programming and information systems.
In 2004 he was presented with the Goldsmiths award for the development of learning and teaching. His current administrative responsibilities within the Department of Computing range from Department Senior Tutor to Schools Liaison Officer. Areas of supervision Adaptive and personalisable hypermedia, hypertext telecommunications systems and e-commerce, user interface design and web-based database systems. James’ research has resulted in 25 refereed publications in international journals and conference proceedings and has been presented at 10 international conferences. James has acted as session chair and review committee member for the IEEE International Conference series on Advanced Learning Technologies.
(Specialism: Higher Education & Curriculum)
Sarah Sarwar
Sarah Sarwar has completed her Teach First teacher training placement at Lister Community School and was recently appointed Assistant Headteacher . Ms Sarwar is a former pupil of Mulberry School for Girls. Prior to training with Teach First, Sarah was the President of Queen Mary Students’ Union.
(Specialism: Community and Alumni)
Mark Traynor
Mark Traynor is a Partner at Bates Wells and Braithwaite LLP and acts for commercial, charity and private clients in all aspects of transactions involving commercial property, including development, acquisitions and disposals. Mark has high level experience of PFI, academies and property law relating to these fields.
(Specialism: Academies and Property Law)
Nizam Uddin OBE
Nizam is Chief Strategy Officer of “algbra”, a technology-based financial ecosystem dedicated to global financial inclusion by focusing on the underserved and underbanked. Nizam was previously the Senior Head of Mosaic and Community Integration at The Prince’s Trust, where he oversaw the organisation’s community cohesion and social integration activities and led Mosaic, an independent Initiative founded by HRH The Prince of Wales to uplift diverse communities across the UK’s highest areas of deprivation. Nizam has a strong interest and background in overcoming the societal and economic challenges that prevent disenfranchised and minority communities from fulfilling their potential. He is a 2019 Greenberg World Fellow at Yale University and a 2019 US State Department International Visitor Leadership Programme (IVLP) participant. Nizam was awarded an OBE in the Queen’s 2020 Birthday Honours list for services to social mobility and community integration.
(Specialism: Charity Law, Education, Community and Business Leadership)
Dr. Vanessa Ogden (Chief Executive Officer)
Vanessa Ogden is the CEO of the Mulberry Schools Trust and was formerly the Headteacher of Mulberry School for Girls, which she led for 16 years. Vanessa has been a designated NLE since 2011. She has subsequently been involved in an extensive range of ‘school to school’ support, including chairing the Board of the Somerset Challenge. She is currently Chair of the Fair Education Alliance and Chair of the Unicorn Theatre. Vanessa is an academic visitor at the UCL Institute of Education.
