Chris Moody OBE
Chair of Trustees

Chris believes that all young people deserve the best possible education, whatever their backgrounds or abilities.  

After teaching and leadership experience in schools and colleges, Chris was appointed Principal of Moulton College in 1992 – a post that he held for 19 years. Moulton became one of the first LSIS Beacons in 2004 and in 2008 was judged by Ofsted to be an ‘Outstanding College’ that provided ‘Outstanding Value for Money’. In 2009, it was also judged as ‘Outstanding’ under each of the six key Residential Care Standards areas: at the time, it was the only provider in England to have been rated as outstanding in all 12 key areas during the two categories of Ofsted inspection. By 2011, Moulton was one of the largest independent providers of specialist further education in the UK, having grown from 230 to nearly 5000 FTEs during his tenure.

Chris then became Chief Executive of Landex for 10 years. In this role, he worked with its members to continually improve the quality of provision across its college and university members; and with government and agency officials to build the sector’s reputation whilst negotiating improved funding rates.

Chris is a former non-executive director of the Association of Colleges, Principals’ Professional Council, and a range of private companies.  He has also served as a trustee of several national charities, and as a governor of both schools and colleges: he is currently vice-chair of Hartpury University.

Chris was awarded an OBE in the 2007 New Year honours list for services to further education and training.

Janet Duggan
Vice-Chair of Trustees

Before retiring, Janet worked in education for 37 years as a teacher, head of department and senior leader in various secondary schools. As a leader and manager, she led on quality assurance, training, safeguarding and wellbeing, examinations, school improvement and SEND, being responsible for a 75 place Unit Provision within a mainstream secondary school.

Janet believes that all children should have the opportunity to thrive in an educational setting, being challenged to do their best while developing essential life skills as they move towards greater independence.

Gerald Davies
 

Gerald is now retired but has 38 years' experience in land-based education and over 25 years' experience as a senior leader in the same sector.

He has significant experience of educational resource management, project management, delivery of projects to budget, education building design to meet curriculum needs. He's experienced at delivering a property strategy in conjunction with a strategic plan and a human resource strategy. Well-used to presenting and representing at board level, Gerald has significant experience of recruiting and managing staff and leading in a multi-site organisation.

Gerald is interested in supporting leaders and managers to deliver high-quality education and training that supports young people into work.

Rob Forde
 

Robert is a senior leader in the UK rail industry with over 20 years’ experience delivering large-scale transformation, innovation, and infrastructure programmes. He has held executive and board-level roles at Network Rail and the Global Centre of Rail Excellence, where he has shaped financial strategy, led high-performing teams, and built strong partnerships across government, industry, and international stakeholders.

He brings expertise in governance, strategic planning, and organisational transformation, with a strong track record of managing large budgets and ensuring accountability for public investment. Robert has also led workforce development and skills initiatives, including programmes to retrain workers and create long-term career pathways, aligning with national priorities around levelling up and inclusive growth.

As a trustee of The Creating Tomorrow Trust, Robert is committed to supporting the educational achievement and personal development of children and young people with special educational needs. He is passionate about ensuring that governance, resources, and strategy are focused on enabling every learner to reach their full potential, and he draws on his professional and community leadership experience to support the Trust’s vision of creating inclusive, high-quality education for all.

Kirstie Hill
 

Kirstie is a primary school teacher with a particular specialism in EYFS and special educational needs. She is currently training as a SENCO, completing the NPQ SENCO qualification. She has worked in a number of mainstream primary schools in Northamptonshire, an alternative provision supporting students with SEMH needs and a large ASD unit provision.

Kirstie is compassionate and thrives when providing the best possible opportunities for all students in their educational journey and preparation for adulthood. She strives to ensure all classrooms are supportive and inclusive for all students.

Ian McAllister
 

Ian is a transforming educational strategist with a strong background in successful school leadership. Described by Ofsted as a "visionary" head teacher, he is also practical and results-driven, and committed to ensuring value for money by being able to see beyond price to “overall value” solutions.

Ian has worked in a wide range of public sector educational settings, including schools in all phases, education administration, Local Authority Advisory Service, inspection and school improvement partnerships, Social Services, further education and higher education. Ian is able to demonstrate excellent interpersonal, problem-solving and negotiating skills, and has a real understanding of teamwork.

Following his time as Chair of Daventry Hill School LGB, Ian sees volunteering as a Trustee as a natural further involvement with Creating Tomorrow, and a way of assisting in the continuing development of an exciting project in making high quality local provision, across all phases, for students with special educational needs.

Karen Sanders
 

Karen is a senior executive with over 25 years of board-level experience across education, health and social care, central government, and public service. 

Karen’s professional background includes leading complex change, national pay negotiations, and workforce transformation, with a consistent focus on employee engagement and equity. Her leadership has helped organisations achieve recognition as ‘Best Companies to Work For’, ‘Great Places to Work’ and Investors in Diversity.

Karen is deeply aligned with the Trust’s values of respect, inclusion, and community. She brings a people-centred approach to governance and a strong belief in creating environments where every young person—regardless of need or background—has the opportunity to thrive. 

Kevin Simons
 

Kevin Simons had a long career with BP and has worked on multiple mergers and acquisitions linked to a private equity company.  His role was focussed on transformation and change management, and since leaving BP he has worked as a business change consultant through his own business.  He formally retired in 2020, but a recent opportunity has arose and he is now involved in producing toiletry items for supermarkets.

Kevin is very active in his local community: he has previously been a parish councillor and he is the Police Liaison Representative for the four villages which make up his local parish.  He is also a director of Northampton Town FC Supporters Club and has been an active fund-raiser to ensure the long-term status of the club in the area, and is passionate about enhancing their facilities for wider use in the region.

Whilst he had many successful years as a business executive and was the strategy director seconded to oversee a joint-venture business in the US, Kevin keeps his feet firmly on the ground and is a still a member of the Northants Litter Wombles steering group, which keeps the area tidy and removes the excess of litter dumped by passers-by.

Kevin has an understanding of SEND as he has a son (now in his late twenties) who has Asperger’s Syndrome, and also a step-daughter who has a rare genetic disorder which has caused disability. 

Lawrence Watson
 

Lawrence has a strong background in operations management and engineering. He currently works at Amazon, where he helps drive innovation and efficiency across complex systems.

Throughout his career, Lawrence has been passionate about creating meaningful impact beyond the workplace, particularly in the area of inclusive employment. At Amazon, he has partnered with several SEND schools to deliver tailored workplace experiences and supported internships, helping young people build confidence and gain valuable skills for future employment. These initiatives reflect Lawrence’s commitment to building more accessible pathways into industry and fostering environments where everyone can thrive.

Combining strategic insight with a hands-on approach, Lawrence strives to create operational excellence while championing inclusive practices that benefit individuals and communities alike.

Mike Fargher
 

Mike has over two decades of governance experience in a range of school settings and often in challenging times. He understands and has created strong academy boards and is very aware of the governance requirements and how these are most effective.

Mike has been a Chair, Director and Trustee of a SAT and understands the requirements of the role in detail. Over the years, he's had the pleasure of many Ofsted inspection visits and is well-versed in working with the RSC and the team in forming strategic plans and relationships.

Mike continues to work well with the local authority and has strong links with the officials where he still offers his support. He has a good network with local schools that allows him to enjoy both the benefits of mutual support and the constructive challenge it also brings.

Phil O'Neill
 

Phil is Chief Operations Officer for Ambition Education Trust in Hertfordshire. He's people-focused, solutions-driven and passionate about progress. 

After 25 years in the leisure industry, making the switch to education felt like the right next chapter—and a long-overdue one. Today, he's proud to be Chief Operations Officer for a growing family of schools committed to doing things differently for the communities they serve.

Phil has always thrived in roles where service matters and expectations are high. Whether it’s been managing multi-million-pound budgets, leading business transformation, or creating safe, high-performing spaces for teams and customers, his focus has remained the same: deliver with purpose and never lose sight of the people at the heart of it all.

His background brings a commercial edge to the education space, with a strong track record that includes:

• Managing operations at scale with budgets over £60 million
• Winning national recognition—including the Customer Service Excellence Award and Flame Centre of the Year
• Securing funding to develop and upgrade key facilities
• Strengthening HR, finance, operations, and marketing systems to deliver reliable data and drive decision-making at board level

Phil is passionate about creating environments where both students and staff can thrive. He believes operational excellence and strong culture go hand in hand—and that schools deserve the very best support behind the scenes to succeed out front.

Stuart Welch
 

I feel privileged to be a Member for Creating Tomorrow. My background is in business management. As a Member, my role is to ensure that we use excellent processes to develop and deploy our goals, and that the Trust team is equipped to deliver. 

With experience of business leadership in the steel industry, in 2017 Stuart became one of the founding members of the Trust. He is a Chartered Engineer, a Fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers and has a Master’s degree in Business Administration.