Noni Csogor is Senior Research and Policy Manager at the Sixth Form Colleges Association, the membership body for sixth form specialist institutions. She leads on SFCA’s research and data projects, and supports the association’s policy, parliamentary affairs, and campaigning work. As part of this, Noni has worked extensively on the #ProtectStudentChoice campaign, which secured the new government’s ‘pause and review’ to Level 3 vocational defunding. Prior to SFCA, Noni worked in international educational philanthropy.

Laura-Jane is a passionate campaigner for youth employment and the rights for all young people to access employment and have their voices heard on the issues that affect them.

Laura-Jane is a CEO & Board Member with more than 15+ years’ experience of leading both for profit and non-profit organisations. With personal experience of social inequality and poverty, Laura-Jane founded Youth Employment UK in 2012, believing that there was a need to put young people at the heart of youth employment policy and services on a local and national level. Youth Employment UK is an internationally regarded not-for-profit, social enterprise supporting young people, employers, educators, third sector organisations and policy colleagues.

Recognised as a leading youth employment expert Laura-Jane provides support, insight and expertise to many groups Co-Founder & Chair of the Youth Employment Group, Secretariat and Advisor to the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Youth Employment, a founding Board Member of the Youth Futures Foundation and most recently appointed as a Governor of The Bedford College Group.

Laura-Jane has also co-authored a number of reports, and provided content for published works. Reports include: Role of the Family in Social Mobility, Commission on Post 16 Education, Impact of place on youth employment – APPG Report, Making youth employment policy work - APPG Report.

Laura-Jane believes that it is for all of us to create a youth friendly society so that young people can fulfill their potential.

Emily Rock is a talent and skills specialist with over 25 years of experience, including 14 years dedicated to the skills and apprenticeship sector. She began her work in apprenticeships as Head of Apprenticeships for a major banking employer, before moving into leadership as a Director at a national training provider. Most recently, she served as CEO of the Association of Apprentices, a national membership organisation created to improve apprentice outcomes through peer support and community. Under her leadership, the organisation grew from concept to a UK-wide network of over 50,000 apprentices, amplifying the apprentice voice and supporting thousands to succeed. Emily is Director at The St Martin's Group, a coalition of leading employers, training providers, and awarding organisations who advocate for a sustainable, high-quality, and employer-focused apprenticeship and skills system.

Zoe Bolger is Director of Commercial & Operations at SDN Mesma Group, Zoe leads a team who work with awarding organisations, providers and employers across technical and vocational education, supporting quality improvement, apprenticeship delivery and assessment practice. Her work focuses on helping organisations navigate change and deliver positive outcomes for learners and employers. Zoe brings expertise in assessment quality and the role qualifications play in supporting progression and skills development.

Partington is a qualified fitter and turner, journeyman class 1 who recently competed a four-year apprenticeship. A strong advocate for continuous learning and development, Partington has enhanced his knowledge through completing several professional qualifications with NEBOSH including the IGC in Health and Safety, International Diploma in Health and Safety, and International Environmental Management Diploma. He aspires to pursuing a master’s degree in sustainable development and is passionate about preserving the natural world around us.

After suffering a near-fatal work-related accident while working in the mining industry which resulted in him suffering third degree burns on over 60% of his body and losing a hand and a leg, Partington has dedicated his time to spreading his "Safety Gospel" by sharing his story, with the aim of educating others about the importance of workplace health and safety and preventing accidents. Having a positive outlook on life is central to Partington’s story: "The ideal man bears the accidents of life with grace and dignity, making the best of circumstances"(Aristotle).

In 2025, Partington won ‘Learner of the Year – Champion of Qualifications & Assessment’ at the FAB Qualifications and Assessment Awards. He has kindly returned this year to lend his expertise to the judging panel for this year’s cohort of awards nominees in the Celebrating People group.

Simon is currently the Director of Policy and Deputy CEO for the Association of Employment and Learning Providers (AELP) and is responsible for developing and implementing AELP’s policy approach including responding to and influencing stakeholder policy and ensuring it is in line with the Board’s short and long-term objectives.

AELP is a national membership body, proudly representing around 800 organisations. AELP members support thousands of businesses and millions of learners in England by delivering a wide range of training, vocational learning, and employability programmes.

Simon joined AELP in January 2017 and has worked in the further education and skills sector for over twenty years in a range of strategic and operational roles with different training providers and employers.

Simon currently represents AELP on the following external groups/panels:

• Institute for Apprenticeship and Technical Education’s Quality Alliance
• Department for Education’s Lifelong Loan Entitlement Ministerial Steering Group
• Ofqual’s Vocational & Technical Qualifications Reference Group
• East Midlands Chamber of Commerce: Local Skills Improvement Plan (LSIP) Advisory Board.
• Vice-chair of the Greater London Authority’s (GLA) Higher Skills for Londoners Advisory Group
  

Catherine joined AoC in June ‎2015 after working in further education for 14 years as a teacher, manager and latterly SLT member. While at college she had responsibility for 14-16 partnership provision including careers, LLDD foundation programmes, English and maths and was 14-19 strategic lead.

Working with a small team Catherine oversees AoC Policy work for 16 to 18-year-olds including SEND, careers, digital, student enrichment and qualifications including T levels. Catherine is currently working on the implications of qualification reform and Curriculum and Assessment Review for colleges and their students. She has recently been part of a joint AoC UCL team undertaking a Nuffield funded project on 14 to 16 provision in colleges and is working on UFI project supporting use of digital technologies in colleges.

Fiona is CEO at Skills Federation, the voice of employer-led sector skills bodies; Non-Executive Director at Youth Futures Foundation, the What Works Centre for youth employment; and member of the Mayor of the West Midlands’ Council of Experts. She has more than 25 years' experience of developing and implementing evidence-based policies and programmes across lifelong learning, skills and employment.

Prior to her current role, Fiona was Head of Insights and Intelligence at West Midlands Combined Authority, where she led the development of its Employment and Skills Strategy and on negotiations for the employment, skills and careers elements of the WMCA trailblazer devolution deal. She was previously Director of Policy and Research at Learning and Work Institute.

As Chief Growth Officer, Chris makes sure ETF delivers the needs of our customers and members as the professional body for further education and skills (interacting with over 130,000 professionals and 4,000+ providers), along with a wider remit across all of the Education Training Foundation for brand, marketing, communications, sales, and regional engagement. Supporting ETF customers to unlock the value of funded contract work, alongside accountability for the growth of our commercial offering for individuals and partners (colleges, training providers and employers) across our portfolio of professional development, statuses, training, and CPD.

Chris has worked across professional, technical, vocational, and higher education sectors for nearly 20 years. Including extensive international experience which has supported learning, student recruitment and assessment in France, USA, China, Southern Asia and Australia. Growing brands, customer value, and revenue through customer-first, product-led culture change and digital transformation. He has previously held executive positions at City & Guilds, and most recently at UCAS, along with leading international business development at the French online EdTech start-up, OpenClassrooms.

Sam is the CEO of GTA England, the leading membership organisation and voice for group training associations, other providers, and employers involved in technical training. GTA England represents the interests of tens of thousands of employers and apprentices and provides dedicated resources and services to its members as well as trusted advice and support to government in developing successful apprenticeships and technical qualifications.

Prior to his role at GTA England, Sam was a Senior Civil Servant, responsible for policy at the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (IfATE). He oversaw the design and introduction of many aspects of policy as part of the reform of the technical education system over recent years, including apprenticeship funding changes, reform to the use of qualifications in apprenticeships, technical qualification approval, and the introduction of the revised occupational map system.

Sam has a wealth of experience as a leader across government, with over 20 years leading large teams in operational settings, delivering various cross-governmental programmes and projects, and providing advice and support to ministers and senior officials.

Patrick has worked in e-assessment for over 30 years in all its aspects around e-testing, e-marking and e-portfolio. During this period, Patrick has worked with both large and small e-assessment vendors, UK and International regulators as well as organisations using e-assessment technologies. Most recently, Patrick has been working in companies using AI to support e-assessment to improve assessment and better support candidates.

As CEO of the e-Assessment Association, Patrick represents the interest of over 5,000 individual members and key industry suppliers located around the world. Under Patrick’s leadership the eAA, a not-for profit organisation, has extended the range of eAA services and events, sharing industry best practice and celebrating the benefits that technology brings to learning and assessment.

Anthony has a background in research, policy and social innovation across learning and skills, institutional change, future of work, and public service reform. He recently joined Ufi VocTech Trust as their Director of Strategic Engagement where he oversees the development of high-level relationships and initiatives to support Ufi’s mission and long-term goals.

Prior to joining Ufi, Anthony was Director of Policy and External Affairs at the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) and Chief Research & Impact Officer at the RSA where he led social and policy impact programmes from 2016 to 2022. Anthony’s work at the RSA included the Ufi-supported “Cities of Learning” programme, a precursor to Ufi’s ongoing Strategic Partnership with the RSA.

Paul McKean is the Director of further education, skills and training at Jisc. Paul provides Jisc with strategic direction around its work in Further Education and Skills (FES). He works with colleagues across Jisc, funders from the four nations, sector bodies and learning providers, to ensure Jisc helps its members and their staff, utilise digital, data and technology. In addition, Paul leads the training team which supports FE and skills, HE and research members with their digital, data and technology CPD needs. While Paul has been an Association of Colleges Beacon award assessor for ten years.

Paul was a returner learner who retrained in multimedia and web design, as a mature student. He became a FE lecturer, then FE manager while continuing his studies, achieving an MSc in elearning and multimedia in 2012. Paul joined Jisc in 2014.