Executive Chair
Dame Christine Gilbert CBE
Dame Christine Gilbert CBE is providing additional support as Executive Chair while Becky is on secondment.
Education Endowment Foundation:Zoe Lewis CBE
Zoe Lewis CBE
Meet our in-house team.
Zoe became Middlesbrough College’s first female Principal in 2013 and has since developed the college substantially in skills priority areas such as engineering, green energy, construction, health and digital sectors.
The College group with turnover of circa. £60m is based in the Tees Valley, with its apprenticeship training arm Northern Skills, serving employers across the whole of the North East of England. The College supports over 2000 employers with their workforce needs and trains over 13,000 students annually across every sector of the economy from entry level to level 6.
Middlesbrough College leads on a wide range of government initiatives such as being part of the North East Institute of Technology, delivering T levels, Multiply programmes, Skills Bootcamps and Higher Technical Qualifications. A specialist engineering training company, TTE is also part of the group and offers training to UK and overseas clients.
Zoe is currently part of the FE Commissioner’s Principals Reference Group and chairs a range of national groups that work to advise and improve on skills policy matters.
Naomi Eisenstadt CB
Naomi is currently a Non-Executive Board Member on the DfE Board and the DHSC Board. She also Chairs the NHS Northamptonshire Integrated Care Board.
Sir Peter Gershon
Sir Peter is a former Chair of National Grid, a former non-executive Chairman of the Aircraft Carrier Alliance Management Board, a former Trustee of The Sutton Trust, and a former independent Chairman of the Dreadnought Alliance.
Lucy Heller
Lucy is Chief Executive of Ark, an education charity.
Professor Sir Kevan Collins
Kevan is a non-executive board member at the Department of Education and adviser on school standards to the Secretary of State.
Hanneke Smits
Hanneke was most recently Senior Executive Vice President and Chair of BNY Investments, and a member of BNY’s Executive Committee.
Sonia Thompson
Sonia Thompson is the Headteacher at St Matthew’s C.E. Primary School and the Director of St Matthew’s Research School in Nechells Birmingham.
Sarah Breeden
Sarah Breeden is Deputy Governor for Financial Stability at the Bank of England. She is a member of the Monetary Policy Committee, Financial Policy Committee, Prudential Regulation Committee and the Bank’s Court of Directors.
Graham Elton MBE
Graham is a Partner at Bain & Company where he ran the Private Equity practice in EMEA from 2005 to mid-2018 and is now Chair. He has 17 years of experience on the firm’s Investment Committee and was also a leader in the Media practice.
Zoe Lewis CBE
Zoe became Middlesbrough College’s first female Principal in 2013 and has since developed the college substantially in skills priority areas such as engineering, green energy, construction, health and digital sectors.