Trustees

Rik has held senior leadership positions up to director level in local authority children's services. He has a specialist background in SEND and inclusion and has had responsibility for a wide range of education functions within local authorities. He continues to work in a consultancy role and is also an accredited executive coach.

Brian is a Chartered Manager and Chartered Marketer, who brings a range of commercial and sector related skills to our board. In addition to a career in academia, Brian has been a senior manager within some of the world's largest private sector organisations.

Peter has wide experience of leadership in schools, local authorities and with academy trusts.

He has worked as a secondary headteacher, partnership headteacher and strategy leader for school improvement in Bristol City Council, and more latterly as an education design consultant with Building Schools for the Future and academy start-ups across the country. Virtually all this work in the public sector of education has been with schools in challenging circumstances.

Peter also has wide experience of the voluntary and charitable sector, both as vice-chair at ASDAN and with the St Monica Trust.

Marian is Principal of St Brendan’s Sixth Form College. Marian has a wide range of interests in post-16 education and represents the sector locally and nationally. Her interests vary from curriculum to ensuring that education secures social mobility for every student. She is currently our safeguarding lead for the Board of Trustees.

Victoria is a qualified CIMA accountant with an MBA. She has held chief financial officer and finance director roles in the commercial manufacturing sector, higher education, careers advisory services, independent schools and the arts. Victoria works as a strategic financial consultant in the education and charity sectors, and has been a trustee and board chair of a South West multi-academy trust. 

Alongside her trustee role with ASDAN, she is a trustee of a Bristol higher education arts charity and has been a trustee of a Bristol museums development charity. Victoria is the board's link trustee for the Chair of ASDAN’s Staff Forum, and sits on ASDAN’s Performance, Audit, Risk and Compliance committee.

Jemma is Head of Strategic HR Business Partnering at Great Western Railway. She brings expertise at a senior level in relation to HR, employee relations and employment law.

Jack is the Managing Director at Computershare Communications Services, Europe Middle East and Africa (EMEA). His commercial expertise will support the board in strategic decision making, particularly in relation to sales and return on investment. Jack is the vice-chair of ASDAN's Performance, Audit, Risk and Compliance committee.

Jaswinder is an experienced senior leader in a specialist residential school. She has designed bespoke curriculum and has a track record of improving the quality of education and achieving strong outcomes for SEND learners. A trained practitioner within the further education sector, Jaswinder has a master’s degree in Autism, an MBA in Educational Leadership and a keen interest in improving autism practice.

Kala Parasuram has wide international experience in inclusive education. Her career has spanned across roles in teaching in schools and universities, research, community-based practice, and leadership positions in strategy and policy making. Kala currently leads on Equity and Inclusive Education at the International Baccalaureate (IB), giving an organizational vision and implementation to develop inclusive and accessible IB programmes and inclusive education in IB schools worldwide.