Adam joined Bradford College in 2022 and is studying on our Education Studies Course. After completing the first year, Adam then put himself forward for the role of HE Educational & Welfare Officer. Since starting the role of Student Governor in July of 2023, he is really enjoying working with the students in his role and the experiences that this brings.

Adam is a member of the Q&S Committee and also sits on the Board as a member of the Corporation. Engagement with students is a high priority for Adam in his role as both a Student Governor and as the HE Educational & Welfare Officer, Adam hopes to unite HE students from the many HE courses to create a more inclusive experience. He wants to use the skills he is currently developing to progress in to a career in teaching.

Adam completed the Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award by completing the 3 peaks, Ben Nevis, Scarfell Pike and Snowden!

The majority of Adams time is spent volunteering at his local youth club, running the play scheme, hosting various events like pass the mic, the mental health barber shop and a boxing academy.

Barbara is a qualified accountant and a highly skilled Internal Audit Manager with almost 30 years experience in providing independent risk and assurance services to boards of directors and senior management within regulated industries, including financial service.

She has spent 25 years within internal audit at the Kelda Group, parent company of Yorkshire Water Ltd, developing her skills and expertise across a variety of roles including operational and finance audits, risk management, compliance, transformation, programme assurance, quality systems and fraud investigation.

Barbara believes that young people have the right to feel heard and to be empowered to help them make positive changes.

“Education and training is pivotal to helping them gain the knowledge and skills they need to become more confident and to broaden their horizons. This in turn helps them understand more about others and creates a better society for everyone. To quote Confucius, ‘Education breeds confidence. Confidence breeds hope. Hope breeds peace.’”

Billy Khokhar is an educational professional and holds Masters degrees in Education and in Computing as well as a PGCE in Post Compulsory Education. He is also a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

Billy has a deep-seated lifelong commitment to education especially for those disengaged, disenfranchised learners who may not have previously been able to take the opportunities available in Higher and Further education. His career has been framed by involvement, commitment, and support of lifelong learning and education.

Billy is particularly engaged in widening and enabling educational participation and pursuing educational equity. Furthermore, Billy has extensive experience of Chairing Institution Accreditation panels and their subsequent re-approval. He also Chairs curriculum and programme validation panels in the UK and internationally.

His research interests include the study and impact of educational technologies in enabling learning for students from all backgrounds and abilities.

He has also worked as a youth worker enabling and empowering young people to make informed choices and decisions and life choices.

Bulbul is a Non Executive Director at The Global Smaller Companies Trust, a FTSE 250 listed investment company. She was formerly CEO of DBS Vickers Securities Ltd, the UK brokerage arm of DBS Bank, the leading Singaporean bank. She has over 30 years’ experience in Financial Markets across firms such as Goldman Sachs, HSBC, UBS and ANZ.

Bulbul was born in India and grew up and attended schools in both Yorkshire and India, before graduating from Oxford University. She is multilingual, speaking Hindi and German, as well as English, and has experience working across several countries and cultures. Her own diverse background has led her to champion diversity and inclusion for many years.

She is passionate about education and the opportunities it can provide to improve and enrich students’ lives and broaden their horizons. Her mother was a lecturer at Bradford and Shipley College, and she herself worked as a language teacher in the UK and Germany. She recently completed a second degree in complementary health, which is one of her interests, along with gardening, foraging and enjoying walks in the beautiful Yorkshire countryside.

Cuthbert is a qualified accountant, as well as a holder of a Masters’ degree in Business Administration from the Katz Business School. He has vast experience across several industries. However, in the last fifteen years he has been working within the housing sector in various accounting roles.

Cuthbert has exceptional entrepreneurial skills and has been instrumental in setting up his own company in the healthcare sector. His skills base includes knowledge and expertise in the financial management of social housing and understanding the risk profile changes that have taken place in the sector over the past few years. The experience gained includes leading financial transformation through strategic implementation of overhead cost reduction initiatives, while enhancing and supporting business operations.

Cuthbert has served as a school governor and finance committee member at Wibsey Primary School. He has also served on the board as well as being a finance committee member for the organisation Mind the Gap in Bradford.

Cuthbert enjoys playing football in his spare time, networking and loves to spend time with family.

David has worked in a variety of sectors as a Human Resources professional over the last 25 years ranging from local government, health, media, charity and education. He is currently the HR Director for Bradford Academy where he has worked over 7 years. Having worked in his current role, and with his previous role with the children’s charity Barnardo’s, David has a strong belief that supporting every child throughout their education will build a pathway to social mobility and success.

Every day is a learning opportunity and David is passionate about continuous staff development to achieve high performance for both themselves and the learners around them.

In his spare time David likes walking his dog, cycling and watching his son play for the local football team.

Emmanuel Osei Boateng is a dynamic data professional in a leading internet of things(*) company. He holds a BSc (Hons) degree in International Business & Management, and Masters in Big Data. He is also a member of the British Computer Society with a keen interest in continuous professional development and strategic management.

Emmanuel is passionate about the education of young people and believes that every individual deserves the best education in order to fulfil their full potential and life ambitions. He is an ambassador of AI Tech North, which is the largest artificial intelligence community in North England, with the scope of helping multinational companies, small-medium enterprises, and individuals to democratise AI.

Emmanuel’s experience spans across different sectors and industries, ranging from energy management and automation, manufacturing and water to luxury retail.

* Internet of things describes the network of physical objects—“things”—that are embedded with sensors, software, and other technologies for the purpose of connecting and exchanging data with other devices and systems over the Internet.

An early introduction to work with the Inland Revenue in her home town of Solihull led Fiona to seek refuge at the University of Birmingham, as a mature student, in the mid-eighties. With a degree in Theology under her belt she found a new career at Yorkshire Television and her new life in Yorkshire in 1987. After a number of years as a programme maker, predominantly in religious programming and current affairs, Fiona took up the challenge of part-time lecturing at Trinity and All Saints (now Leeds Trinity University). Combining telly, biblical studies and lecturing was the perfect combination for Fiona as she progressed through the University structures, moved to York St John University, and eventually retired in January 2019 as Deputy Vice Chancellor after 25 years of service to the academic community and to many thousands of graduates. Her biblical studies continued with a Masters and a PhD through the University of Leeds.

In 2011, Fiona decided this was not sufficient and undertook an MA in Radio and Television Scriptwriting at the University of Salford. She has stopped taking further academic qualifications…for now.

Fiona has been a reviewer for the Quality Assurance Agency since 2010, has been a Governor at York College and is delighted to be continuing her passion for, and involvement in, education in her role as a Governor at Bradford College in her home city.

Fiona continues her work with the TV community through her role with the Royal Television Society Yorkshire Committee. She also volunteers for the Cinnamon Trust (an animal charity that seeks to help people retain their pets at home during times of illness or crisis) and with the Royal Voluntary Service via their NHS Good Sam App.

In her spare time Fiona likes reading, writing, golf, and music – she is in two LGBT identified choirs and she also plays the ukulele badly. Fiona also likes nothing more than spending time with her partner, Rachel, and their two cats…whilst plotting for the day when they can have dachshunds again. Fiona is also the proud author of a very niche book based on her PhD. Entitled ‘The Text of the Synoptic Gospels in the Writings of Origen’, it was published in 2023 and Fiona looks forward to the time she can live exclusively from the royalties.

After a 38 year career in the finance industry working for major UK banks, John took early retirement from his role as Head of Lloyds Bank’s North Region – Education, Community and Government team, to pursue his interest in the voluntary and not for profit sectors. He is currently a board member of a housing association in North Yorkshire, trustee of an almshouse and educational charity in Hull, a governor of two further education colleges at Bradford and Askham Bryan near York, and a Committee Member for the National Lottery Heritage Fund in the North.

John’s particular interests are in how we can improve an individual’s life chances and the communities and surroundings that they live in, specifically through education and housing.

John was born in Yorkshire but has lived and worked throughout the country. In his spare time he is involved in motorsport as an official and organiser. He is also a keen walker, particularly in the North Yorkshire Moors countryside where he currently lives.

Lendy Ho is Head of Procurement for The Calico Group which offers a range of social, community and housing provisions. She has 20 years of experience across a plethora of private and third sector organisations: From retail, e-commerce, utilities, charities to housing incorporating project experience from construction, corporate to property compliance.

Lendy grew up to the backdrop of the de-industrialisation of North-East England to first generation Chinese parents in a port-side town called Hartlepool. She is passionate to promote social mobility through better education prospects and supported life experiences. Her commitment remains aligned to Bradford College’s values and aspirations. She is proud to support Bradford College to deliver future state-of-art estates to promote the student experience and transform lives.

Lynette is an experienced serving Vice Principal at in FE college with responsibility for Curriculum and Skills. She has 15 years’ experience in the sector and has held multiple roles across the college during her career.

Lynette is a firm advocate for social inclusion, she is passionate about education and training, and is connected to skills needs and economic development. She believes that stakeholder collaboration locally, regionally and on a national scale, will serve to address the specialist technical skills gaps and emerging skills trends we see in FE, and that such challenges can be supported through a ‘grass roots’ approach to education, training, and wider skills development.

Over the years she has developed a particular interested in how non-technical skills, specifically core and character education influence the advancement and prospects for FE students and as such believes qualifications alone are not enough.

Aligned to this she believes that the wider curriculum experience is equally important in bringing about positive change, enabling young people and adults to flourish in life and work. Lynette is an AoC research further scholar, investigating the role of core and character education in context of narrowing the non-technical skill gap and tackling socio-economic inequalities in education outcomes for FE students.

Lynette holds a master’s degree in educational leadership along with other non-executive roles including Trustee at the ETF, Board of Advisors for the Humber TechWeek, and Co-Chair for the Hull and East Yorkshire LEP Skills Network.

Paul Birtles is the Operations Director for Produmax Limited, an aerospace components manufacturer based in Bradford, West Yorkshire. Paul is Bradford born and bred and has been in manufacturing since 1981.

He is a time served engineer completing his apprenticeship in 1985 at Renold Gears in Bradford while attending Bradford College on day release, being one of the first apprentices in the UK to complete the CNC programming modules.

He has led teams in the textile and medical design fields achieving his first directorship in 2005 before moving to the aerospace industry with Produmax in 2012.

His principal interests include business transformation, culture change and lean manufacturing. Produmax has recently undergone many changes working with Sharing in Growth and making significant local investments allowing products to be transferred from off shore to UK manufacture.

Being an active champion of youth engagement, Paul chairs the Advanced Manufacturing Engineering board for the ICE program and is also on the district board of the CTE. He is also vice chair of governors for Bradford College, believing that young people are the key to the future.   Paul takes a holistic view of problem solving leading to innovative solutions involving many areas of the business. He has been involved in developing true partnerships with key customers enabling Produmax to grow in reputation and size.

Sharon’s professional background is as a lead Governance Professional (company secretarial) to public sector, charitable and not for profit organisations including Colleges,  Academy Trusts, Housing Associations and a national membership organisation. She is semi-retired.

Sharon is a strong believer that ‘every day is a learning day’ and that everyone should have access to education, housing and healthcare in order to enable them to achieve the best of their potential.

“My involvement with Further Education has shown me that whenever individuals are given the chance to learn and develop, that they can achieve great things”.

Originally from Bermondsey (London), Sharon has lived and worked in Yorkshire for over 20 years. She is currently based in York and is a member and Secretary of a Community Co-operative, Trustee of a local charity and a Director of the management company for the development where she lives.

Taqi joined Bradford College in September 2018 and studied on our Level 1 in Business Course. After progressing to Level 2 Business, Taqi then completed his Level 3 Peer Support course which focusses on supporting people with their mental health. Taqi then put himself forward for the role of President of the Students Union. Since moving in to the role in July of 2022, he is really enjoying working with the Students and his role as a Student Governor and the experiences that this brings.

Taqi is a member of the Q&S Committee and also sits on the Colleges H&S and ED&I Committees as well as the Academic Board.  Engagement with students is a high priority for Taqi in his role as both a Student Governor and as the President of the Students Union. He wants to use the skills he is currently developing to progress in to a career in Student Support, which he is very passionate about.

Tiffany joined Bradford College in 2007 as an English Lecturer and has 18 years of experience in teaching. Before starting at Bradford College, Tiffany taught Business Studies, Literacy and Numeracy in secondary schools and training centres.

Tiffany is a literacy specialist with extensive experience in teaching a diverse range of students from the UK and overseas and has a Master’s in Education, specialising in Leadership and Management. Tiffany teaches GCSE English Language and for the last 10 years has mentored trainee teachers undertaking PGCE and PCET qualifications at the college.

Umar is passionate about the role education plays in people’s lives and, having been born and bred in Bradford, knows the important impact the College has on the many diverse communities within the City.

Umar has both been a student and member of staff at the College since 2010 as well as serving as Vice-President of Bradford College Students’ Union, as a student governor, been a representative on various committees and boards, and worked with young people and adults as a Progress Coach and Intervention Officer.

He is currently the Team Leader for Personal Development at Bradford college and has experience in areas such as leadership, strategic oversight, finance and project management.

He has previously contributed to College governance on a number of issues including the appointment of senior leadership positions such as the CEO, Ofsted inspections, developing the College strategy and much more.

Umar’s experience and position at the College has given him the opportunity to build relationships with both curriculum and business support staff, meaning he has a sound understanding of what happens in and outside of the classroom and the challenges that our students, staff, community and the College face.

Umar helps to influence positive change and ensure student and staff voice is embedded at every level of decision-making processes. He believes that the College has made significant progress over the last 4 years and has now achieved an OFSTED rating of ‘Good’ and he looks forward to playing my part in the Colleges journey to achieving ‘outstanding’.