As CEO of London Higher, Dr Diana Beech is responsible for leading the organisation’s aim of being a voice for London’s universities and higher education colleagues. She joined London Higher from the University of Warwick, where she led the institution’s government affairs function. Dr Beech has previously worked in government as a policy adviser to three Ministers of State for Universities, Science, Research and Innovation, prior to which she was the first director of policy and advocacy at the Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI).

With a career spanning more than 38 years, Sir David Bell has held a number of major posts across the education system. In 2012-2018, he was vice-chancellor of the University of Reading, prior to which he was permanent secretary at the Department for Education, serving four Secretaries of State and three Prime Ministers. He also served as Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Schools and was made a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath in 2011. Sir Bell is the non-executive chair of Karbon Homes, a trustee and advisory board member of the Higher Education Policy Institute, a governor of the Royal Shakespeare Company, and a member of the Aldridge multi-academy trust.

Before joining the University of Leeds, Professor Simone Buitendijk was vice-provost of education and professor of maternal and child health at Imperial College London, and vice-rector at Leiden University. At Leiden, she was responsible for education, student affairs and diversity, and played a major role in the strategic leadership and direction of the university. In addition to strengthening the links between education and research, Professor Buitendijk has led large change programmes, worked to further equality, diversity and inclusion and has extensive experience of driving the digital and online learning agenda.

Peter O’Brien was appointed as executive director of Yorkshire Universities (YU) in 2018. Prior to joining YU, he was the deputy local growth consultant at the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE). He is a visiting fellow at the Centre for Urban and Regional Development Studies (CURDS), Newcastle University, and a lay trustee on the board of the University of Sunderland Students’ Union. O’Brien has worked in local and regional development in the north of England for over 20 years, including holding senior roles with a local enterprise partnership, city-region partnership, and regional assembly.

Professor 'Funmi Olonisakin is vice-president and vice-principal (international) and professor of security, leadership and development at King’s College London. Previous roles have included founding director of the African Leadership Centre, which aims to build the next generation of African scholars and analysts generating cutting-edge knowledge for security and development in Africa; and director of the Conflict, Security and Development Research Group at King’s College London (2003-13). Prior to this, she worked in the Office of the United Nations as the special representative of the secretary-general for children and armed conflict.

Dr Ale Palermo is a former academic and researcher in the field of heterogeneous catalysis. She joined the Royal Society of Chemistry in 2002 to manage their science and technology programs, focusing on sustainable development across Africa, India, and Latin America. Dr Palermo currently leads the Royal Society of Chemistry’s inclusion and diversity strategy and its implementation. Some examples of her strategic reports include: Diversity Landscape in the Chemical Sciences (2018), Breaking the Barriers (2018); LGBT+ climate for the physical sciences (2019); Is publishing in the chemical sciences gender biased? (2019), and A framework for action in scientific publishing (2020).

Professor Alice Roberts is a biological anthropologist, author and broadcaster. She is interested in the evolution, structure and function of humans, and our place in the wider environment. Professor Roberts has presented a wide range of biology and archaeology programmes on television, including The Incredible Human Journey, Origins of Us, Prehistoric Autopsy and Digging for Britain, as well as several Horizon programmes on the BBC. She has also written nine popular science books, including The Incredible Human Journey, Evolution: The Human Story, The Incredible Unlikeliness of Being, and her latest - Tamed: Ten species that changed our world.

A former Minister attending Cabinet, Chris Skidmore has served across four departments. He was twice Minister of State for universities, research, innovation and skills, during which secured the government’s commitment to double its R&D budget. In 2019, he was appointed interim Energy and Climate Change Minister, where he signed the UK commitment to achieve net-zero carbon emissions into law by 2050 and secured the UK Presidency of the UN’s COP26, due to take place in Glasgow in 2021. He has been MP for Kingswood since he was first elected in 2010 and continues to pursue his initial career as a historian, writing Tudor and medieval history.

Professor Rama Thirunamachandran is the academic lead and chief executive of Canterbury Christ Church University. Since 2013, he has led the institution forward in a number of areas, including the establishment of the School of Engineering, Technology and Design, and a School of Medicine. Professor Thirunamachandran was chair of the Higher Education Academy in 2015-2018, UCAS Board member in 2010-2013, and a member of the Universities UK Board since 2017. He is a non-executive director of the Medway NHS Foundation Trust and chair of MillionPlus, the Association for Modern Universities.

David Woolley is director of student and community engagement at Nottingham Trent University (NTU), and co-chair of the Centre for Transforming Access and Student Outcomes in Higher Education (TASO). At NTU, he is the strategic lead for the agendas of social mobility and widening participation. His responsibilities include data analysis, research and evaluation, learner analytics, outreach across the student lifecycle, community engagement, and volunteering.