Phil Huggon

Chair of the Board

Phil has a lifelong passion for language and cultures. He studied French and Latin at Oriel College, Oxford. He has lived in Paris, Lisbon and Brussels – qualifying as a professional bilingual tour guide in Paris. Phil travelled extensively in his executive career with BP, MARS and Shell. He has over 20 years’ experience in marketing, customer service and transformation, and led Shell UK’s biggest ever change programme. He now has a portfolio of non-executive and trustee roles, including chairing a Further Education consultancy and an NHS consultancy, and he is Vice-Chair of Healthwatch England. Phil lives in Manchester with his wife and 3 children (all 5 of them are linguists, of course!). 

Julie Wallis

Julie is currently a Director at The London School and holds this position since 1990. Julie has significant experience in the ELT sector and has numerous qualifications including a MA in Professional Development for Language Education. In addition to the role at the London School, Julie also holds roles at EAQUALS as a trustee, AISLI Associazione Italiana di Scuole di Lingue, as a committee member, Didactic Inspector Academic and Events Coordinator and a DELTA trainer at NILE and BELL. 

Samantha Grainger

Samantha creates, scales, and optimizes EdTech businesses. Currently working for Oxford University Press, she leads on identifying and developing innovative new digital businesses and commercial partnerships within ELT. Prior to working for OUP, Sam held the position of Global Director, Online Learning for the British Council. She has over 20 years’ experience in English language education, with various roles in her career from teacher to centre manager to regional director.  She has lived and worked on every continent in the world, and currently resides in Lisbon with her husband, two children and dog!

Roy Cross

Vice-Chair of the Board

Roy is currently a Senior Adviser, Evaluation and Partnerships, English and Exams Strategic Business Unit with the British Council. 

He has more than forty years of varied experience in the ELT sector, much of it to do with English Language Teaching, high profile public facing directorial roles. Roy has led partnerships, UK sector relations for the English for Education Systems team and has also been on secondment to the Education team at UK Trade and Investment and led their ELT export work. His previous engagements with IATEFL and British Council roles have enabled Roy to have a wide network of ELT and government contacts around the world.

Gareth Hughes

Chair of Finance & General Purposes and Audit & Risk Committee

Gareth is a seasoned NED with experience in governance and Human resources and has held Chair and Trustee positions in a number of charitable institutions. Gareth’s qualifications include a Chartered Member of the Institute of Personnel and Development, MA (Hons), University of Oxford in Modern Languages, and MA, University of Westminster in Film & TV Studies

His previous experience with Royal Bank of Canada included Managing Director, Global Head of Regulatory Compensation (2015 – 2018) and Managing Director, Head of Human Resources, Europe (2004 – 2015) Gareth’s current engagements are with the Theatre Centre where he has been Co-Chair since October 2018 and the International Refugee Trust where is also Co-Chair. 

Tomasz Mazgaj

Tomasz is a project lead who specialises in running global strategic projects in the educational sector. Currently working in LEGO Education, he focuses on developing ‘go to market’ strategies, teacher training programmes and STEAM learning projects across Europe, China, MEA and Asia Pacific.  Prior to working in education, Tomasz worked in global strategy roles with Bentley Motors and the VW Group. Born in Poland, and educated in the UK, he is an Economics graduate, and certified Project Manager

Maxwell Nye

Chair: Social Values Committee

Max’s professional background is in media and communications, having spent 8 years working in some of the largest media agencies in the UK. As a Global Investment Director he oversees USD $0.5 bn in advertising investment across 80 countries for some of the world’s best-known brands. He also brings strong experience in implementing culture change in the workplace, having launched programmes for mental health and eco-sustainability at work. Max is passionate about language learning; he studied English and Modern Languages at Oxford, taught English abroad with the British Council, and has volunteered with charities mentoring disadvantaged students in their application for language study at university.

Dr Isabel DiVanna

Isabel is a Director-level strategist and business development professional. She is currently the Director of Business Development and Partnerships at Engineering UK, having previously held the post of Commercial Director at RenewableUK, at the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and at the Bar Council. Her specialism is strategic growth, with a focus on sustainability as underpinning all forms of growth, and ESG compliance, leadership and reporting. Isabel has worked in the professional services (consulting, research and advisory) and not-for-profit sectors (education, charities, Royal Charter and local authority) seeking to grow their revenues through partnerships, commercial activities and fundraising. Isabel is experienced in change-management projects to improve revenues while controlling costs. She has worked internationally and trans-nationally, her remit extending into external affairs,  marketing and communications. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society for the Arts, of the Chartered Management Institute and of the Institute for Leadership and Management. Isabel has two PhDs in history and moral & political philosophy, various professional certificates from learned institutes. Outside of work, she is a Trustee of IHL and the Chartered Accountants Benevolent Association (CABA), having sat on various charity Boards and held NED posts for over 10 years.

Vincenzo (Enzo) Raimo

Vincenzo (Enzo) Raimo is an independent higher education consultant and Visiting Fellow at the University of Reading where he previously served as Pro Vice-Chancellor (Global Engagement) from 2014 to 2019.   He co-developed the now widely used Global Engagement Index, a free bench-marking tool available to UK universities, and he has written and spoken widely on transnational education, international student mobility, global engagement strategies and role of education agents. His co-edited book ‘Student Recruitment Agents in International Higher Education: A Multi-Stakeholder Perspective on Challenges and Best Practices’ is due for publication by Routledge in 2023.

Arif Mansoor

With nearly four decades in Banking and Finance spread over a dozen geographies, attaining fluency in English, what was his third language, played a significant role in Arif’s career. He therefore has a deep regard for organisations like the International House Trust.

Arif specialises in Risk, Audit Review and Governance, with over ten years as Country CEO with Standard Chartered Bank and Qatar National Bank. He spent another ten years in senior Risk roles with Standard Chartered Bank, including heading the Credit Risk function covering the Middle East and later as Chief Operating Officer Risk of the bank’s largest operation in Hong Kong China. He has also worked as advisor to a bank in the City. He holds a Masters degree in Economics and Certified Credit Professional accreditation with trainer rating from Standard Chartered Bank and Omega Performance and has attended management courses at the London Business School and Templeton College Oxford University.

Arif is married with two boys who have since flown the roost. Retired from active service he now lives in Sunbury Village in Surrey with his wife, with a once in a quarter outing to the College of Policing, where he works with the Senior and Executive Selection Team as independent appraiser.