Our Members

Members have overall responsibility for the Trust and are like shareholders in a company.

Our members are:

Kevin Crompton

A former teacher in London, Kevin has worked in various roles in local authorities, has been adviser to the Teacher Training Agency on Teacher Standards, held senior roles in Birmingham Education Department, was Director of Children’s Services in Solihull and Bedford, and Chief Executive for Luton and Haringey local authorities.

Jon Harris

Jon is in his eighth year as Head teacher at Hamilton School in Birmingham.  Hamilton is a Primary Special School for Students with Autism.  Jon has been a senior leader in 5 schools – 2 special and 3 mainstream secondary schools.  Last year, Jon was the Chair of the Birmingham Special School Head teacher Association and Special Forum.  This work involves considerable joint work with a large Local Authority. Alongside teaching qualifications, Jon has a PgCert in Autism. Jon has been involved with EMAT and EMLC previously for a number of years and seen the organisation grow and develop.  He has been on the Performance and Standards Committee. Jon has two teenage boys and he takes part in many sports – football, swimming and cycling – and also attends matches involving Aston Villa and Walsall FC.  Jon’s other main passion is music.

Barry Langfield 

Barry has over 30 years experience working in education. He is passionate about social justice and social mobility and always places the learners at the centre of all decision making. He is a strong advocate of East Midlands Academy Trust and how they value that every child deserves to be the best they can be.

Barry brings a wealth of knowledge from further education where he spent the last 20 years as a senior manager in a number of London colleges.  He has worked tirelessly to raise the aspirations and expectations of learners and the quality and outcomes of their education. Whilst he is now retired he still retains that passion for education and all the opportunities it brings to young people.

Our Trustees

Trustees oversee the performance of our academies and report to the Members. They hold overall responsibility for governance across all academies. This includes:

• Holding executive leaders to account for the educational performance of the school
• Overseeing the financial performance and making sure money is well spent
• Setting the strategic direction of the Trust

Our trustees are:

Kevin Crompton - Chair

Kevin is a former teacher in London, having worked in various roles in local authorities, been adviser to the Teacher Training Agency on Teacher Standards, held senior roles in Birmingham Education Department, was Director of Children’s Services in Solihull and Bedford, and Chief Executive for Luton and Haringey local authorities.

David Houghton - Vice chair

David is a former senior Royal Air Force officer and aviator with experience of programme/change management and, as the UK’s Defence Attaché to both countries, was a member of the British Embassy’s Senior Leadership Team in Poland and then Vietnam. David holds a BA(Hons) in Education as well as Masters degrees in Training and Management & Airport Planning. He is currently a student at Portsmouth University, undertaking a Masters in Leadership & Management. Away from work, David unwinds on his bicycle and is a keen supporter of the Cobblers and the Saints.

Ayo Salam

Ayo has a background in financial services regulation with a number of regulatory compliance roles for various organisations in the finance and financial services sector.  Currently head of compliance for a global financial services business, he also has a background in law and has served as school governor in a secondary school in Milton Keynes.

Stephen Morales

Stephen’s career experience spans 30 years leading operations and change management in the public and private sector, including international roles. Currently, Stephen holds the position of CEO at the Institute of School Business Leadership. His responsibilities include advocating on behalf of the profession, creating the conditions for continuous improvement, providing confidence in the SBP workforce and contributing to discussions related to system-wide education policy reforms and implementation. In 2009, Stephen was awarded National School Business Manager of the Year. In 2015 and 2017 respectively, Stephen was invited to the Queen’s Garden Party and then the Queen’s 90th Birthday celebrations in recognition of services to education.

Leigh Jones

Leigh is Head of HR Operations for a national social justice charity working with disadvantaged children and adults. Leigh is experienced in project/change management, finance and HR and has worked across both private and charitable sectors. Prior to her appointment to EMAT, Leigh served as a Local Authority School Governor for a number of years.

Andy Davis

Andy’s background is in the hotel and conference industry before moving into vehicle sales and management. Andy has since worked as a Learning and Development Manager for almost 15 years and is currently employed as the Global Dealer Training Manager for a Major UK car manufacturer. Andy has served as a school governor on two governing boards, most recently of which was at Prince William School in Oundle. He has a been a member of the EMAT board of trustees for over two years. He also sits on and chairs the finance, HR and Estates committee as well as sits on the Audit and Risk committee.

Fiona Wheeler

A former parent governor at Northampton International Academy, Fiona worked as a solicitor in Northampton for more than ten years. She has been involved in school governance at a number of schools in Northampton for the past eight years.