Becks is the Chief Executive Officer of Lift Schools. An experienced school leader, Becks was Director of Secondary at Ark Schools from 2017 to 2021. Prior to that, she worked for the Department for Education as Regional Schools Commissioner for south-west England. Becks also worked at Oasis Community Learning for eight years, initially as a Vice Principal and Principal in Bristol, before becoming a Regional Director and then National Education Director. Becks is a council member at the University of Exeter, and a trustee at Ambition Institute and Jamie's Farm.
James Browning is the Chief Operating Officer for Lift Schools. James took up the position of Chief Operating Officer in November 2022, after first joining Lift Schools as Chief Information Officer in February 2021. He holds strategic and operational accountability for our trust-wide operations, including technology, data, estates, HR services, marketing, and health and safety. Before joining Lift Schools, James spent 13 years at RM Education in a variety of strategic, operational, sales and product-based roles. James is a board member of Open Education AI, chair of the Queen Street Group EdTech Expert group, a trustee for Abingdon Learning Trust and a primary-school governor.
Joe Guy is the Chief Talent Officer for Lift Schools. Joe has a background in human resources, and talent and organisational development in particular. Joe joined Lift Schools from Network Rail, where he was Head of Integrated Talent solutions for four years. He has an established track record in partnering organisations that are going through change, with a particular focus on talent management, resourcing, graduate and apprenticeship schemes, assessment, learning and development, and leadership programmes.
David Hatchett is the Director of Standards and Inclusion for Lift Schools. David leads Lift Schools' work on quality assurance, safeguarding, SEND and attendance. David joined Lift Schools in 2017 as National Director of Secondary Schools. Prior to this, David spent more than five years at E-ACT, where he held senior and executive-level roles, including National Director of Quality Assurance and Regional Director of Education. David is an experienced Ofsted inspector, and has been a trustee for the national charity Parentkind since 2020. Since 2023, he has been a trustee at the English-Speaking Union, where he chairs the education committee.
Phil Humphreys is the Director of Education for Lift Schools. Phil brings a wealth of experience as an executive education leader with a demonstrated history of leading change management, educational transformation and collaborative networks in schools. Before joining Lift Schools, Phil held key leadership roles at Oasis Community Learning, including Regional Director for the south coast and the south west. He also served as Deputy Regional Director and Executive Principal at Oasis from March 2017 to April 2022. He is a trustee for the Mountbatten School, a Hampshire secondary.
Unity Jones is the Director of Network Advancement for Lift Schools. Before joining Lift Schools, Unity was the Director of New Schools Network, an independent charity improving the life chances of young people by supporting the creation and long-term success of new schools. During her time at NSN, Unity personally helped more than 50 new free schools to open. A policy specialist, Unity has authored numerous reports on the future of the schools system in England.
Ele Lewis is the Director of Strategy for Lift Schools. Before joining Lift Schools, Ele spent 15 years at management-consulting firm Bain & Company, where she worked with clients in the private and not-for-profit sectors on strategy, performance improvement and large-scale transformations. In addition, Ele has worked for several charities focused on young people and serves as a governor for a south London primary school. She is a trustee of The Little Angel Theatre, a charity that puts on and promotes educational plays for children.
Simon Newitt is the Chief Financial Officer for Lift Schools. Simon joined Lift Schools in May 2024. As Chief Financial Officer, he has overall responsibility for the financial strategy and sustainability of Lift Schools, and leads the finance and procurement teams. Before joining Lift Schools, Simon spent nine years first as Finance Director of the University of Sunderland and then as Chief Financial Officer of the University of Northumbria. Before moving into the higher-education sector, Simon spent 13 years at PwC, working with government and public-sector clients in central and local government, the NHS and further and higher education.
Kevin Parish is the Director of HR for Lift Schools. Kevin has worked for more than 25 years in the public and private sector, giving him a wealth of human-resources and training experience. Before joining the education sector in 2005, Kevin held a national role leading the human-resources function for one of the largest multi-site motor-retail organisations in the UK. There, he led on remodelling the reward strategy and systems to drive business improvements. He has significant commercial knowledge and, having worked with a cluster of academies in the north east before joining Lift Schools in 2012, he has a sound understanding of the education sector. He also worked on various projects for a consultant for the Department for Education and for other academy chains.
Jo is the Chief of Staff for Lift Schools. An experienced school leader, Jo was a successful headteacher with executive responsibilities in a well regarded trust in Bristol. Prior to this, Jo helped found a free school and worked as a senior leader for Oasis Community Learning. At Oasis, he co-led the development of the trust's learning policy and associated adoption of instructional coaching. Before moving into teaching, Jo spent five years working at Goldman Sachs.
Every Lift School is led by an Academy Council at local level. The Council is made up of two parents, two community members, two staff members (one teaching and one support staff), one Trust link member (eg School Support Services, other Lift School principal or senior leader) and the school principal.
We know that a positive relationship with parents, staff and the community is the key to an effective school so we’re tapping into these resources to provide insights into the experiences of pupils, parents, staff and the wider community.
Academy Councils are local advisory committees and their roles include:
An Academy Council isn’t a governing body. It doesn’t have a set of delegated functions or powers, and doesn’t make decisions about school-level finance, health and safety, safeguarding or education.
Being a member of an Academy Council is a fulfilling role and enhances your skills and career prospects. If you’d like to be a Council member, just fill out this form.
Lift Schools is committed to protecting the privacy of the individuals whose data we process and to doing all data processing in a lawful, open and transparent way in accordance with the Data Protection Act 2018 and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
Here are useful documents that explain how and why we collect and use your data.
