Trustees

Alison Johns is currently the Chief Executive Officer of AdvanceHE, a UK-based membership organisation which supports higher education (HE) institutions in improving leadership, governance, and teaching practices. She was appointed in 2017 to lead the merger of three national HE agencies to create Advance HE in 2018.

With a strong background in higher education, Alison has held various leadership roles focused on enhancing institutional effectiveness, diversity, and inclusion. Under her leadership, AdvanceHE has worked to drive systemic change across the sector both in the UK and internationally, supporting universities and colleges in achieving their strategic goals. Alison is known for her commitment to promoting equality and fostering innovation within the higher education landscape.

She is an advocate for, and works widely in, the areas of effective governance and leadership, and has served on a variety of boards throughout her career and advises governments and higher education institutions around the world on HE development and reform. She is currently the Deputy Chair of Court (the governing body) for St Andrews University, and also chairs the Governance and Nominations committee and is a member of the Remuneration and Policy and Resources committees.

She is a past President and Chair of the Association of University Administrators (now AHEP), advisor to the Association of Commonwealth Universities and is a member of its Remuneration committee. She also sits on the British Council’s steering committee for Going Global, their major international higher education conference. She has extensive experience of regulation and funding from her time as Head of Policy for Governance and Management at HEFCE (The Higher Education Funding Council for England, now the Office for Students, the HE regulator for England).

Alison has extensive international experience and led the review of teaching and learning enhancement for the Australian government which established the Office for Learning and Teaching to enhance teaching quality across the Australian higher education sector. She regularly takes part in conferences and events, both nationally and internationally, and has been an invited speaker in over 30 countries on four continents speaking on all aspects of university leadership, governance and management.

Jeanette was elected as Chair of Council of the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges from July 2023. She remains a practicing consultant clinical oncologist at the Mount Vernon Cancer Centre in Hertfordshire focusing primarily on thoracic malignancies and providing radiotherapy for patients with haematological conditions.

Graham is a retired solicitor having been a partner at Allen and Overy for almost 20 years. Graham has been a trustee of Advice UK for nearly 15 years and has also been involved in professional education as a training consultant since 2017.

David has been CEO of Newham Primary Care Trust and Deputy CEO of the NHS Confederation, with over 10 years of chief executive experience. He is also a trustee of the New River Multi-Academy Trust and the National Fire Chiefs Council, where he is Chair of the Finance and Audit Committee.

Richard has 20 years’ experience in senior leadership roles within Wealth Planning and investment businesses. He is highly qualified in financial planning and investments as a CFA Charterholder, Chartered Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Securities & Investment (CISI), holder of Investment Management Certificate (IMC), Investment Advice Diploma, and a Chartered Wealth Manager.

Richard is also a Trustee and member (vice-chair) of a charity investment committee, as well as Governor at Roding Valley High School and member of the Chelmsford Learning Partnership Trust. Previously he was Trustee and Chair of the Finance Committee at Stratford School Academy, a diverse inner-city school.

Dr Daniele Bryden is a Consultant in Intensive Care Medicine in Sheffield since 2001.

Before becoming FICM Dean, she worked within the Faculty as Vice Dean, Chair of the Careers, Recruitment and Workforce committee and led national ICM recruitment. Other roles have included lead Regional Advisor for ICM, and ICM Regional Advisor for Yorkshire and Humber. Her clinical and research interests are focused on decision-making and frailty assessment in critical care, medical professionalism and leadership. Her other previous roles have included a secondment to NHS Resolution as an Assessment and Intervention Advisor, an Associate Postgraduate Dean for HEE Yorkshire and Humber and National Critical Care Tutor for the Royal College of Surgeons of England.

She is proud to be a committed trainer and ICM educational supervisor.

Kamila is Chair of RCGP Council. She has been a GP for 34 years, with 27 of them spent working in South Wales. She qualified from Somerville College, Oxford, in 1984, and completed her GP training in Nottingham in 1988. Kamila was Head of the Graduate Entry Medicine Programme at Swansea University and is on the Trustee Boards of the Kings Fund, and Cardiff Women’s Aid. She is also a Bevan Commissioner and a Fellow of the Learned Society of Wales.

Kamila has a deep interest in medical education, and believes that we should be training excellent, caring and inclusive clinicians, for a global society. She is passionate about the role of GPs in patient care and as advocates for patients.

Prof Bernard Chang (Bernie) is a Consultant Ophthalmologist who specialises in oculoplastics, lacrimal and orbital surgery. He has been a consultant for 17 years at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, one of the largest teaching hospitals in Europe. He is an Honorary Senior Lecturer at the University of Leeds.

He became the 13th President of the Royal College of Ophthalmologists (2020- 2023) in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Bernie has a strong interest in research, having published over 60 articles in peer reviewed journals and co-authored a textbook on anterior segment reconstruction.