Sufian is the Director of Talent and Teaching School at Chiltern Learning Trust, with responsibility for overseeing four SCITT provisions,  two regional Hub areas in the South East of England, as well as Behaviour and Attendance Hubs. Chiltern Teaching School is one of the largest providers of CPD to the sector nationally. He is a passionate activist within the educational landscape around race, equity and inclusion. He is a serving Ofsted Inspector. Sufian is the proud Co President Elect for the Chartered College of Teaching, as well as a Fellow for the Chartered Institute of Educational Assessors. He plays an active role in numerous charitable organisations as a Trustee and also holds key governance roles within educational organisations. 

Catherine is the founder and Chief Executive of Refugee Education UK - a charity helping refugee and asylum-seeking children and young people get into and thrive in education - from primary school to university. She is also a founding director and board member at Jigsaw Consult, a social enterprise building evidence on education, forced migration and technology through research. Catherine has led large-scale multi-national practical interventions and research programmes and worked in sixteen different countries. Before working for Refugee Education UK and Jigsaw Consult, Catherine worked in education in emergencies at Save the Children UK, and as a teacher. She has a degree from Oxford University, a Master's in Education from University College London, and is an honorary fellow at Winchester University. 

Dr Anne Margaret Smith is Owner and Director of ELT Well, Speech and language therapist, ELT educator & SpLD assessor. Anne founded ELT well in 2005 and offers professional development and resources to language teachers working with neurodiverse learners in all contexts. Anne taught English as a foreign / additional language for over 30 years, has been a dyslexia assessor for 20 years, and is now also a speech and language therapist, working with autistic adults.

Joanna McIntyre is Professor of Education at the University of Nottingham.  Jo is interested in how we can understand and improve the lives of those who are educationally marginalized or disadvantaged by society.  Jo's book, Refugee Education and work in the field of refugee education explores the barriers and opportunities schools face when working to support refugee children. Jo’s recent research projects include an exploration of the role of arts in fostering a sense of belonging for newly arrived young people in cities in Europe, a project with Swedish educators looking at implementation of an inclusive model of education for refugee pupils and a series of research collaborations with Refugee Education UK (REUK). Jo established and leads the international Hub for Education for Refugees in Europe (www.hubhere.org).

Laura Tarantini-Amor has been a teacher, SENDCo, head of department and leader in challenging secondary settings for 23 years. She is an MFL specialist in Spanish and an examiner for Edexcel. She has an MA in Bilingual Learners in Urban Educational Settings, is a qualified SENDCo and a Specialist Assessor.  She has founded a consultancy called Tarantini-on-Teaching, has written a blog called EAL Made Easy and has delivered hundreds of CPD sessions in EAL best practice and pedagogy, SEND and the cross-over between learning and language acquisition needs. She currently works as an EAL&SEND Consultant for the Harris Federation across secondary and primary settings. Her great interest is the interplay between language and cognition. As the child of EAL immigrants to the US, she remains deeply inspired by the children, families and educators working hard to overcome significant barriers.

Christian Turton is the EdTech Lead at Chiltern Learning Trust and has been a teacher for almost 25 years. He recently led on the development of AI training and guidance for the Department for Education where he is still engaged to develop further materials particularly around the opportunities and risks for learners with SEND. He is passionate about the opportunities technology brings to education, particularly in improving equity and learning outcomes for pupils, as well as ensuring that learners are prepared for a technology-rich world. Early in his career, he secured funding for a computer suite to engage students through music technology and media projects. Since then, he has led major EdTech initiatives, including developing a course for the Queen Rania Teacher Academy in Jordan, taken by over 18,000 teachers across the Middle East, and an introduction to AI course for the Teaching School Hubs network. Christian has also contributed to Education Endowment Foundation trials focused on technology in education.

Flora Burt works for the School Improvement Team at Chiltern Learning Trust with a focus on reading and pedagogy. Flora started her career as a history teacher before moving into a variety of leadership positions, from head of department to a senior leader. 

Fiona Gallagher currently works at Pivot Academy (Leeds & Kirklees) as the Strategic lead for Send and Inclusion, leading SENDCO and inclusive practice across specialist SEND settings including Day 6 provisions. Fiona has worked as a teacher in both primary and secondary education for over 25 years. She is passionate about inclusion and keeps it at the heart of what she does, always promoting a strengths based approach. She has worked in senior leadership roles leading educational practice in primary and secondary settings including leading SENDCO and inclusion strategically for 14 years. Other responsibilities include Designated Child Looked after lead, Dyslexia assessor; Autism Lead and Trauma trained practitioner.

Bruna Boscaini is the CEO of the Indoamerican Refugee and Migrant Organisation (IRMO), a south London-based charity led by and for the Latin American community, reaching over 4,000 people each year. At IRMO, Bruna leads a growing team working to ensure that Latin Americans and other Spanish and Portuguese-speaking migrants can access their rights and build integrated futures in the UK.

She oversees the organisation's delivery teams, partnerships and advocacy efforts, ensuring that IRMO remains a trusted space for the community to access wrap-around support tailored to their needs, including high-quality advice and development opportunities for all ages.

Karen Torres is the Advocacy, Research and Campaigns Manager at IRMO. She leads the organisation’s research and influencing work, developing evidence-led campaigns to tackle inequalities affecting Latin American migrants.

She oversees participatory research and human-rights-based advocacy across education, housing and migration, and supports IRMO’s leadership within CLAUK (the Coalition of Latin Americans in the UK).

Beth Mitchell is the English as an Additional Language Leader at Leeds City Academy, an inner-city high school and part of the White Rose Academies Trust. 

Beth leads a team of 10 EAL Teachers and Student Support Workers at the Academy, a large department necessitated by the 72% of learners who use EAL; around half of whom are at the New To English or Early Acquisition stages. 

The Academy, described by Principal Richard Chatto as ‘an EAL school’, welcomes students from around the world throughout the school year and has developed a variety of pathways for multilingual learners to maximise students’ development of English, access to a broad curriculum and post 16 opportunities on leaving Year 11. 

Leeds City Academy EAL provision was presented as a case study in the Refugee Education UK and The Bell Foundation report ‘Education for late arrivals’ published in 2024. 

Rachel Öner is a freelance Education Consultant and teacher trainer specialising in Essential Skills in Further Education, in particular English and ESOL, CPD delivery and resource development. She is a former Co-Chair and current Trustee of NATECLA, as well as sitting on the East of England Branch Committee. She is a Fellow of SET, a holder of QTLS, ATS and CTeach, as a Member of the Chartered Institute of Teachers. Rachel has been awarded with an Advanced Virtual Trainer qualification and runs various online training and networking events. She has experience in various FE settings including work-based, community and prison learning.

Gemma Duffy is an innovative educator passionate about ed tech. During her years teaching ESOL at Manchester Adult Education Services (MAES), she consistently sought creative solutions to enhance learning through technology. Her expertise spans Google Workspace for Education and emerging AI tools. When the pandemic hit, Gemma created crucial online resources for ESOL learners. Her natural affinity for technology led to her transition to Learning Technologist at MAES. As Learning Technologist, she conducts training sessions within and beyond MAES on AI and Google Workspace tools, empowering educators with practical digital skills. Gemma is committed to driving innovation in adult education, ensuring technology enhances accessibility and learner success.

Beatrice is an education consultant with over 19 years’ international experience across the UK, Europe, Latin America, and projects in Asia and the Middle East. She has led research, curriculum, and teacher development initiatives for ministries, universities, NGOs, and publishers. Her current work focuses on AI integration and digital transformation in education. Through her consultancy, ELTSpecialist.com, she supports institutions worldwide to design sustainable strategies for innovation, quality assurance, and teacher capacity building. Beatrice holds an MA in TESOL with ICT and a Postgraduate Diploma in TESOL, alongside specialist training in human–computer interaction, mentoring, and coaching. A published researcher and policy adviser, she regularly speaks at sector events including IATEFL, UKENIC, ECEL, ELTOC, and EnglishUK. Her professional interests include teacher competencies, cross-team AI adoption, change management, and educational innovation. She contributes actively to sector research, publications, and policy development.

Chelle Charlesworth is Director of Curriculum at Oldham College, responsible for English, Maths, ESOL and NEET provision. She is passionate about widening participation and improving outcomes for post-16 learners, particularly within English, maths and ESOL. Chelle actively contributes to sector discussions on curriculum and assessment reform and works collaboratively across the FE sector to support innovation and learner success.

Katie Howard is a Senior Lecturer in Psychology and Education at the University of Exeter. Her research falls at the intersection between mental health, migration and multilingualism. She has been involved in several interdisciplinary projects, including exploring access to mental health support for multilingual children, school-based mental health interventions for migrant young people, and bilingualism and wellbeing in the family context.

Matt Lunt is Head of ESOL at The City of Liverpool College, the largest ESOL provider in the Liverpool City Region. Prior to this, Matt worked as an ESOL lecturer and as Director of Studies at a well-established language school in Liverpool, and has also worked as an English Language teacher in Ethiopia, New Zealand and Italy. His professional interests include educational leadership and management, teacher wellbeing, and emergent language teaching.