Governing Body Names

Louise is a lawyer who was a senior legal adviser to the Civil Aviation Authority before joining De La Rue plc. As General Counsel and Company Secretary, until retiring in March 2009, she was responsible for the provision of legal services to the Group and advising the Board on legal and governance matters and ensuring that appropriate systems were in place. She chaired the Risk Committee of the Board. She developed a business code of conduct and training programmes for the Board and other levels of management on legal and regulatory matters, and introduced a process for appraising Board performance. She has been chairman of the Employed Barristers Committee of the Bar Council and vice chairman of the Training for the Bar Committee and is a master of the bench of Gray’s Inn. She is a Trustee of Farnham Castle. Louise lives in Richmond, and her interests include music, theatre and the arts generally, as well as politics and travel. She was appointed to the RACC Board in 2009.

Sally has a legal and general business background with senior level experience in well-known international PLCs including De La Rue and, prior to that, Rolls Royce (aero engines). She is a former Associate Fellow and president of the Associates of Newnham College, Cambridge and is active in public service and the voluntary sector. She has variously served as a member of the Board of Visitors for a prison, the Review Body on doctors' and dentists' remuneration, deputy chair of the Independent Advisory Panel of the Department of International Development’s Business Linkages Challenge Fund and as chair and trustee of a number of charities and pension schemes; she is particularly interested in international and intercultural issues and is a former chair of Farnham Castle, trustee of Care International UK, the Institute of Business Ethics and One Small Step. She is also a former member of the UK Advisory Group for Challenges Worldwide. Sally’s interests include the arts, music and travel and as an enthusiastic potter she has attended courses at RACC and other further education institutions. Sally lives in East Sheen and became a Governor in 2004.

After a spell in the City, Tim taught in secondary schools before teaching teachers at what is now Roehampton University. He has studied and worked in America and Pakistan, where he was principal of Edwardes College, Peshawar, from 1982 to 1987. He retired in 2002 after 11 years as Director of the Westminster Pastoral Foundation. He is currently a non-executive director of an NHS Mental Health Trust. He is a long-term resident of Kew, married with 3 adult children. He has been a regular student at RACC since he retired.

Upon graduation from Trinity College Dublin with a Bachelor of Business Studies, Chris read law at the College of Law in London and then trained as a solicitor specialising in corporate restructurings and corporate finance before choosing to pursue a career in Investment Banking in the City of London. He worked in Corporate Finance providing financial advisory services across a range of industries for 8 years and is now an entrepreneur and consultant. Chris has an MBA from London Business School. He was appointed a Governor in 2011.

Sally works as a Policy Officer for a national children's charity. Her interests include education and environmental policy. Sally was appointed to the RACC board in 2006, and sits on the college's Employment and Organisational Development Committee.

Christina trained as a social and market researcher working in both the private and public sector. She joined Further Education in 1985 working as a lecturer and academic manager in a large 16-19 FE College in Essex. She was promoted to be an Academic Director, and then progressed as a Deputy Principal in a large general FE College in Hertfordshire. On 1st January 2000 she became the Principal & Chief Executive of Richmond Adult Community College. She has also served in a variety of voluntary roles as a Director of both Richmond and Kingston's Chambers of Commerce: elected President of Kingston Chamber of Commerce: Chair of the Committee of South London Principals; Governor and Chair of the Governance Committees of Grey Court School, Shene School and St.Dominic's Schools. She is married with three grown up children and lives in Surrey.

Alberto has a Masters in Industrial Engineering and an Executive MBA from the London Business School. After working initially in his native Spain, he moved to England in 2004 as a development manager of large retail and mixed use developments. After a period as a director of a leading London fund manager, in 2008 he was appointed director of an asset management company. He has several years’ experience of the formulation of business strategy, its approval and delivery gained while working in a number of European Countries as well as the UK, He and his wife have been Richmond residents for over five years, and share a personal interest in and commitment to further education. Alberto’s interests include diving, reading, languages and food, and he was appointed a Governor in September 2010.

Kevin is currently working with the Prospects group to develop their services. He set up an education and training consultancy in January 2008 and has worked on Further education mergers, leading on governance and management. He has also delivered Governance and Management training for the further education sector. Kevin has been a London Principal for eight years. In his last role he achieved outstanding for leadership and management and gained Beacon status for his College. He began his employment as a quality manager in paper manufacturing. He then went onto youth work in East London before entering further education. He began as a lecturer at Bournville College in Birmingham then worked in Leeds and became Deputy Principal at Chelmsford College in Essex in 1995. He then became Principal of Orpington College in south London and then Ealing Hammersmith and West London College. He has worked with the Open University for ten years as a tutor counsellor on a variety of social sciences courses. Delivered management programmes to the West Yorkshire Police, and contributed to social policy courses at Birmingham University. Kevin has been a south London Learning and Skills council member for the last six years, and has served on the London review for supported learning. He is passionate about the place of the student voice in colleges and continues to work closely in this area. He recently visited Beijing and Mumbai in order to make links with vocational Colleges and develop learning opportunities. Kevin was appointed to the Board of RACC in 2008.

Andrew is Professor of Molecular Immunology at Imperial College London, where he is also Director of both the Graduate School, which has more than 6000 Doctoral and Masters students, and the School of Professional Development, which oversees external short courses and the training of academics to teach. His laboratory conducts research on understanding how to manipulate the immune system to treat disease, in particular in relation to transplantation. In addition Andrew has a strong interest in the ethics and regulation of research, and is the Chair of the National Research Ethics Advisors’ Panel and a Trustee of Action Medical Research. He lives with his family in St Margarets, and was appointed to the board in October 2011.

A chartered accountant with a Masters degree in Finance from the London Business School, Naren worked in India and Africa before moving to England in July 2005. He worked initially as a financial analyst and manager for a leading commodities trading company. He joined Lehman Brothers (subsequently acquired by Nomura Investment Bank), where he worked on strategic reviews, mergers and acquisitions and finance-related projects across a number of sectors in Europe. Since March 2010, Naren has been a senior adviser for UK Financial Investments, a company set up to manage the UK Government’s investments in financial institutions including RBS, Lloyds, Northern Rock and Bradford & Bingley. Naren’s belief in the transformation potential of education is based on his own experience. Interested in cricket, reading and movies, Naren was appointed a Governor in September 2010.

Amanda is Chief Economist and Director of Analysis at the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS).  Her previous job was as Chief Economist and Director for Children and Families at the Department for Work and Pensions.  She has also been Chief Economist at the Office for National Statistics (ONS), and the Competition Commission, and has held senior posts with Oxera economic consultants, the Department for International Development (DFID), the European Commission, and HM Treasury. Amanda was on the Council of the Royal Economic Society; has recently been Treasurer of two other charities and Vice Chair of a fourth; and was runner up “UK Trustee of the Year”. She has extensive board level experience, and a keen interest in education and training, as well as a desire to make a contribution to her local community. Amanda has three children at local schools, and was appointed a Governor in 2010.

Mike qualified in medicine in 1968 and specialised in child and adolescent psychiatry. He ran an inpatient psychiatric unit for adolescents in Epsom until 2003 and is currently working part-time in the SW London and St Georges NHS Mental Health Trust. He has had a lifelong interest in the work of voluntary organisations and has been a professional advisor to Cruse and Relate. He was also a Governor at his children’s primary school in Kingston, where he still lives. Mike is married with two married children and is an enthusiastic RACC student. He became a student Governor of RACC in 2008.

David has almost thirty years experience of working in the voluntary and community sector, mainly in the health and social care sector. He was Director in a London Dial-a-Ride agency and has held principal posts in a number of organisations including Chelsea Social Council, and Age Concern in both Hackney and Wandsworth. David has been Chief Executive at Richmond Council for Voluntary Service (RCVS) since February 2007. David has worked as a trustee on a number of boards, was chair of a trade union branch for many years and chaired a housing association. As CEO at RCVS, David represents the voluntary sector on key planning structures including the Local Strategic Partnership, its Executive group, and performance management structures. David’s interests include Victorian literature and music. His main passion, however, is running - particularly long-distance - and he is a member of Worthing and District Harriers. He was appointed a Governor in September 2009.

Helen graduated with a BSC from King’s College London and an MBA from Cass Business School London. Her career over the last 20 years has developed from sales to communication training. Working in Japan for four years she provided soft skills training, including Presenting & Negotiating in an International Context, to managers in multinational companies such as Sony, Mitsubishi Electric and Shell. Helen’s training career exposed her to many interesting industries and counties such as the aerospace industry in France and Indonesia. Most recently she has been highly successfully in helping MBA candidates in their bids for acceptance into top schools such as Harvard and London Business School. Personal passions include horse riding and writing with her continued participation in Flamenco, Japanese and Interior Design at RACC sparking her interest in contributing to the college’s success through the voluntary role of student governor. Helen was elected a Student Governor in November 2009.

After an initial position with Glaxo, working as a plant breeder, Chris changed career, working in the IT industry. He retired from IBM in July 2005, after a 27 year technical and sales career, holding a number of varied roles, with wide and varied business, Management and Operational Management experience. His last position was a Sales and Marketing Executive with responsibilities for a major IBM Business Partner. Since leaving IBM, Chris has been actively engaged as a Trustee for Integrated Neurological Services based in Kew, and worked for Young Enterprise and Kingston University Business School, mentoring students and delivering business skills. Chris lives in Kew, and is married with two grown up children. He was appointed to the Governing Body of RACC in 2008.