Trustees
The Board of Directors acts in the best interests of the Trust, governing in accordance with its Articles of Association and having governance arrangements that demonstrate visionary leadership, clarity of relationships, effective oversight and sustainability, and achieve the greatest possible economies.
Catherine Borel-Saladin
Trustee term of office 11/11/21 – 10/11/25
Skillset and experience
Catherine is a qualified accountant working in London as a Business Partner for a global bank, she has been with the same firm for just over twenty years. Within the organization Catherine is also a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Ambassador across the finance division and spent several years supporting mobility and career development initiatives.
Until 2020, Catherine was a parent governor at Skyswood Primary and Nursery School for 7 years, 6 of which she was the chair of governors.
She lives in St Albans with her husband and two children, both of which attend an AAT school. Catherine believes through equality, diversity and inclusion, individuals will be able to bring their full selves to all that they do and reach their full potential.
Outside of work Catherine enjoys spending time with her family, exercise, travel and music.
Duncan Gibbons
Trustee term of office 20/09/2022 to 19/09/2026.
Skillset and experience
A qualified solicitor who has worked as a senior in house lawyer in a Canadian bank with global management responsibilities and now works as a consultant.
Previously, Duncan worked as a solicitor in a private practice at a large global law firm, specialising in finance law. He has also been an Army Officer specialising in logistics.
Former Governor of Maple Primary School, Chair of Finance Committee and Chair of Governors in the final year, and former Governor of Sandringham School where over a 14 year period he was Chair of Resources, Chair of CAW and Vice Chair of Governors and is currently Chair of the Resources and Audit Committee.
Alan Gray
Trustee term of office 11/09/2021 – 10/09/2025
Skillset and experience
After graduating from the University of Exeter with a degree in Chemistry, Alan completed his PGCE at the University of Kent before entering the teaching profession. He has worked in six schools in London and Hertfordshire before moving to headship at The Hemel Hempstead School.
In 2005 Alan moved to Sandringham School and has led the school since then. He has been a National Leader of Education since 2010, chaired Hertfordshire Schools Forum for many years, and since 2018 had also been Chief Executive Officer of the Alban Academies Trust. He supports the Alban Federation (ITT provider) and the Alban Teaching School Hub based at Sandringham School and served for 6 years on the DfE Secondary Headteacher Reference Group. He has re-joined the ranks of Ofsted as an Inspector and has many years of experience helping schools to deliver high-quality education for all.
Lin Keen
Trustee term of office 11/09/2021 – 10/09/2025
Skillset and experience
Lin’s career was in business. After graduating from Edinburgh University, she started in Market Research in Birmingham, moving on to Marketing and eventually relocating to St Albans to take a position with Cadbury Schweppes. Lin engaged in freelance work whilst her children were young and worked with her husband to build up a Market Research company. She took on responsibility for the finance and company secretarial functions.
Lin has extensive experience in school governance, having first become a governor in 1999. She has been a governor at three different schools in various roles including being chair at two of these. She spent eight years as a National Leader of Governance, working with primary and secondary schools.
Now retired, Lin is a St Albans Green Badge tour guide and enjoys time with her grandchildren.
Norman Leinster
Trustee term of office 20/03/2022 – 19/03/2026
Skillset and experience
Norman qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1991 with the then Touche Ross and worked in various accountancy roles in the private sector, with firms such as Parity and Citigroup. Norman’s roles focused on financial and management accounting, budgeting, and installing financial systems. Norman then joined the diplomatic service at The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office in 2003, and has worked in various policy areas such as Syria and Lebanon, Iraq, the UK Overseas Territories, and also in corporate areas such as IT and Freedom of Information, and Data Protection. He is the lead on energy policy with China and Taiwan. He has been posted overseas to Kuwait and Pretoria, South Africa. Norman has lived in St Albans since 1988, attends a local church in St Albans and goes regularly to the National Theatre, Tate Modern, Tate Britain and the Royal Academy of Arts. He travels widely both with work and for leisure, including many of the Southern Africa countries when he was working in Pretoria. He worked for three years in Germany and France, and speaks both languages.
Frances Manning
Trustee term of office 20/09/2022 – 19/09/2026
Skillset and experience – Frances has worked in Hertfordshire for over 23 years, firstly as a Deputy Headteacher at Cheshunt School and for the past 15 years as Headteacher at Hitchin Girls’ School. In this role she has served formerly as a Governor and then Trustee on the Trust Board. She has worked as a National Leader of Education (NLE) since 2013 supporting schools in Hertfordshire, Luton and London and is a qualified coach and mentor.
Frances is a former Chair of Hertfordshire Association of Secondary School Headteachers (HASSH) and a long serving member of the HASSH Executive group. She has been a member of the Hertfordshire Safeguarding Children’s Panel for many years and has also served on the Hertfordshire SEND Executive group. Frances has also served 9 years as a Trustee for a local Hitchin charity, Phase, which provides support for mental health for local young people.
On leaving Headship in August 2022 Frances will be working as an independent educational consultant, facilitating and coaching for the specialist NPQs, NPQH, NPQSL and the Early Headship Coaching programme, as well delivering leadership coach, mentoring and support for schools.
Jeremy Loukes
Trustee term of office 28/01/2022 – 27/01/2026
Skillset and experience
Former Headteacher of a Hertfordshire Academy judged outstanding by Ofsted. Jeremy has spent three years as one of Her Majesty’s Inspectors, based in the London region. Jeremy currently has a leadership role in a schools’ company providing school improvement services to primary schools in and beyond Hertfordshire.
Having started his teaching career in London, Jeremy taught across the primary age range, having held teaching and leadership posts in Hertfordshire and London schools. In addition to leading inspections of maintained schools, independent schools and academies, the role included reviewing local authority arrangements for school improvement and inspecting initial teacher education providers. It also involved carrying out a broad range of quality assurance tasks and leading training for school leaders, Governors and Ofsted Inspectors. He is committed to promoting high standards, including those of disadvantaged students.
James Rodea
Trustee term of office 19/11/2020 – 18/11/2024
Skillset and experience
James is employed as a Chief Operating Officer within in a Financial Services company based in London, he has been with the same firm for twenty years. The varied nature of his operational role has provided him with a breadth of experience in many areas of running a medium sized business.
Prior to becoming a trustee James was a parent governor and then a co-opted governor for Wheatfields Infants School, a role he undertook for five years.
He lives in St Albans with his wife and three children, all of whom are pupils within schools of the A.A.T. He is passionate about the idea of encouraging everybody to ‘give something back’.
James enjoys most sports.
Deborah Strazza – Chair of Trust Board.
Trustee term of office 18/09/2022 – 17/09/2026
Skillset and experience
Deborah is an experienced HR practitioner, with both operational and strategic experience.
Passionate about learning and leadership development she works across a variety of sectors as an independent HR consultant. Her experience includes Adult Learning, Retail, Professional Services, Tech and not for profit sectors. She is also an associate with KPMG, in people consulting.
Prior to establishing her consultancy business, she has worked at a senior level in both commercial and HR roles most recently for John Lewis Partnership, as Head of Organisational Effectiveness and Talent Management. She has also led large teams including as the Managing Director at John Lewis Milton Keynes and High Wycombe branches. Deborah was a member for the MK Chamber of Commerce Board for three years and has a long standing relationship with Young Enterprise Board in Hertfordshire.
She lives in St Albans with her husband and two children. Her daughter attended Marlborough Science Academy, before moving onto university in Nottingham, and her son attended Verulam, before moving onto Hartpury College for A levels.
Jonathan Sweet
Trustee term of office 19/11/2020 – 18/11/2024
Skillset and experience
Jonathan graduated with a degree in philosophy from Hull University and is a qualified solicitor, living in St Albans. Jonathan’s current role is as a Director of Legal and Compliance at the Abbeyfield Society, a charity providing care and housing for older people. Previously Jonathan worked as in-house Counsel for VSO, the international development charity and before that, was a solicitor with an international law firm in London.
Jonathan and his wife have recently become parents and Jonathan has said he is delighted to be involved in the world of education and is looking forward to supporting the children and staff in any way he can.
