The governance of ABE is overseen by its Board as laid out in its Articles of Association. The ABE Board comprises of people with extensive experience and expertise in their field. Governance responsibilities for the operation and management of ABE reside fully and solely with the Board of Directors, led by its Chairman. The Directors are also Corporate Members of ABE.
Meet the Board
Nicola Rylett-Jones is a highly experienced business leader and consultant, specialising in leadership, cultural alignment, and strategic transformation across the academic, medical, charity, recruitment, energy, and publishing sectors.
With over 25 years in senior management, she has held multiple board-level positions. Nicola is currently engaged with the Business Wales Accelerated Growth Programme, where she advises SMEs and start-ups on strategic growth and leadership development. Her expertise encompasses business transformation, revenue optimisation, operational efficiency, and team leadership.
Committed to fostering leadership and innovation in young people, Nicola’s work as a school governor has provided valuable insights into the academic and vocational education landscape, ensuring that future generations are equipped with the skills needed to thrive.
Ginny is a business academic with over 15 years leadership experience in education. She has held numerous roles including Deputy Dean of Henley Business School and Faculty Director of Teaching and Learning at the University of Reading. She has been an auditor for the Quality Assurance Agency and is an expert in e-learning as a member of the EFMD e-learning accreditation board. She is committed to Diversity & Inclusion leading Henley's Women in Leadership Forum and a founding member of the CREW Network UK, supporting women in the real estate industry.
Mariane has worked in the Adult, Further Education (FE) and Skills sectors for 25 years, and was Principal and Chief Executive of two large FE Colleges for 15 years. She now runs her own business, supporting colleges in the development of strategic plans, is a board member with two awarding bodies and a Professor with two Universities in China.
Her areas of expertise include strategic leadership of business growth, organisational development, cultural change, turnaround, mergers and acquisitions, and customer service. She has a keen interest in the development of entrepreneurial teaching and learning and in developing in students the skills of creativity and innovation and was a founder Director of the Gazelle Colleges Group.
Following a career in finance of more than 20 years, Martin moved to the education sector. Initially building the international network of Henley Business School, he then developed the provision of banking degrees at the London Institute of Banking & Finance (formerly the Chartered Institute of Bankers), where he was Managing Director. He is also a Board member of the Institute of Contemporary Music Performance and has been a committee member of national bodies regulating the banking and higher education sectors. After many years as a school Governor, he was Chair of a Multi-Academy Trust in Hertfordshire. He is currently the Chair of Trustees at Amersham Museum and a Councillor in Amersham Town, Buckinghamshire.
Radha Chakraborty is a Director of Development Media International, an NGO that works on improving child health and cognitive outcomes across 14 countries in sub-Saharan Africa. She is also Vice Chair of BookTrust, the UK’s largest children’s reading charity and a Non-Executive Director of Screen Yorkshire. After a mathematics degree at Imperial College, Radha qualified as a Chartered Accountant and Chartered Tax Advisor at PwC and worked at Shell before becoming a partner at Towers Perrin (now Willis Towers Watson) where she led one of the GB lines of business. She was also Operations Director at Comic Relief.
James has served three UK Prime Ministers as a Minister, working in Downing Street, Whitehall and across Africa. He worked in ten government departments and spent four years as Minister in the Foreign Office. He worked with the World Bank, the African Development Bank, other global development finance institutions and the United Nations. He is an Afrophile, having visited and worked in 46 African countries. He is currently a Non-Executive Director of South Essex Homes.
James helped set up the tech unicorn YouGov. The company provides global market research and is floated on the London Stock Exchange with a market cap peaking at over £1bn.
James worked for Barclays for ten years. His last role was as the Operations Director Barclays in Botswana, managing over 1,000 staff across 45 locations.
In 2022 he was made Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG), awarded for Public and Political Service.