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 CEO of Education Impact Academy Trust.  The trust comprises 3 Special Schools, 2 nurseries and a Special FE College (19-25) – all in Birmingham.  Jon was recently Head teacher at Hamilton School in Birmingham.  Hamilton is a Primary Special School for Students with Autism.  Jon has been a senior leader in 6 schools – 3 special and 3 mainstream secondary schools.

 Jon was recently the Chair of the Birmingham Special School Head teacher Association and Special Forum.  This work involved 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 sons and he takes part in many sports – football, swimming and cycling – and also attends matches involving Aston Villa, Norwich City 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.

David Houghton

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.

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.

Nick Bell 

Nick has worked as a senior manager in the public, commercial and charitable sectors for many years. His experience includes roles as a Finance Director in a number of local authorities and as a Chief Executive of organisations including a large College Group; a company providing skills and training across the UK and internationally; an international charity and a large County Council.

Nick is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) and has previously held a number of non executive roles, including as a Governor of two universities, a trustee of the Whitehall & Industry Group and a Board Member of a Local Enterprise Partnership.

Nick lives near Oundle and first became interested in joining EMAT when he found out that his local Secondary, Prince William School, was part of the Trust. He has always been passionate about ensuring children have the best start in life and is focused on helping EMAT achieve its vision.

Martin Conlon

Martin, until his recent retirement, was Vice President, Internal Audit Services at Delphi Technologies PLC. During a 42-year career in the automotive/auto components manufacturing sector, he held other Finance leadership positions at Delphi Automotive Systems, General Motors, and Vauxhall Motors. This included expatriate assignments in Germany, United States, Thailand, Japan & Singapore. He has previously served on the Board and Audit Committee of West Herts College in Watford. Martin has no direct link with the East Midlands Academy Trust schools, as his own children are now starting out on their own careers, but he is motivated by the knowledge that access to excellent quality education is critical to every child fulfilling their potential.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Kate Whittlesey

Kate is an Independent Education Consultant specialising in SEND and Whole School Improvement and Director at The SEND Advisory Team. 

Kate has experience of working across all age ranges of education – from birth through to post 16. She has vast experience including SEND leadership working with MATs across the UK and directing regional SEND provision, large SEND strategic roles, local authority SEND advisory roles, regulatory board, SENCo and MAT trustee.

Throughout her experience Kate has developed a positive reputation in driving sustainable positive change, having successfully worked with schools from those in need of rapid improvement through to Outstanding. Kate carries out whole MAT/ school SEND reviews, coaching and mentoring, SEND training, and strategic SEND lead consultation work across the UK.