MEET THE TEAM
We’re only able to do what we do thanks to the support of our amazing volunteers, partner organisations and dedicated team of Trustees.
Phil Hawkins
CEO
Phil is the founder of Aprender. He has 20 years teaching experience in the UK working in schools in London. He holds a Post-Graduate certificate in Education, the National Professional Qualification for Headship (NPQH) and a Diploma in Whole School Evaluation. He was Deputy Head Teacher for 5 years before moving to Brazil for 6 years, returning to the UK in 2016, where he now works in international education development.
Neil Walker
Chair of Trustees
Neil currently works in the IT sector and brings business and corporate governance experience from the retail, financial services, information services and health industries to the Board. He is involved with a number of charities and community groups.
Helen Gash
Treasurer
Helen has a background in school finance and supporting educators in leadership roles. She is currently HR Manager for a Surrey Multi Academy Trust. She has also been involved in fundraising for local charities.
Mary Nima
Safeguarding Lead
Mary is a highly experienced secondary English teacher who has management responsibility in a large state school. Her areas of expertise include curriculum planning, assessment systems, pedagogy and teacher performance management. She enjoys building relationships with students and educators.
David Plummer
Trustee
David is an entrepreneur, experienced senior executive and turnaround specialist with a broad frame of reference and depth of experience gained within his own, private and public companies. He has held senior leadership positions in a number of public companies, worked in over sixty countries around the world and possesses a high level of functional expertise as well as thirty years experience of leading and managing change.
Waheeb Nima
Trustee
Waheeb is a Syrian-born university professor who has taught English Language and Literature in Syrian, Lebanese and Jordanian universities. For the past 16 years he has been based in the UK and now runs a computer-hardware computer solution company.