Alison is the CEO of the Amaya Trust. She is the only black, female CEO in the country. She is also an independent education consultant.
Alison was born in Cape Town, South Africa, during the apartheid regime. She had teenage parents who worked hard to provide for their children despite the challenges of political oppression and financial hardship. The family lived in a range of countries before settling in England when Alison was 15. After gaining a BEd Hons at the University of North London, one of London Met’s predecessor institutions, Alison chose to teach in inner-city schools, working mainly in Hackney.
Alison’s first headship was to set up a new primary school which grew from 75 to 470 pupils. It was quickly established as a high performing, oversubscribed school. Her second headship turned around a failing school within a deprived area of London from the bottom 1% to the top 0.1% in three years and went on to sustain the success of the school for a further six years with the school consistently being listed within the top 100 schools nationwide. The school won many prestigious awards including Gold School Status, SSAT Award winner for Attainment and Pupil Progress, National Pupil Premium Award winner. Both schools are listed in the Sunday Times Top 500. Alison’s excellence in leadership has been consistently recognised in every Ofsted inspection.
Alison is a regular speaker and panel member at conferences speaking on a wide variety of subjects including courageous leadership, turnaround schools, breaking through the glass ceiling and diversity.
Alison is the CEO of the Amaya Trust. She is the only black, female CEO in the country. She is also an independent education consultant and is currently setting up aboveandbeyond.education, a web platform to change the conversation about education, providing a place for schools to share their best practice and connect educators who want to form collaborative partnerships.
“As headmistress of a school it was frustrating not to be able to share the things we were most proud of with others. There is so much to learn from others, so much to share and empathise with.”